Wendy Strobel Gower serves as the Thomas P. Golden Executive Director of Cornell University's K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Employment and Disability Institute in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Leadership and collaboration to promote disability-inclusive workplaces form the foundation of my professional work. I have worked in higher education at disability-focused institutes for the majority of my career. This work has allowed me to develop and apply innovative approaches to employment for everyone.
Working at Cornell allows me to collaborate with intelligent, dedicated, and determined professionals. I value the chance to teach others about disability employment and community participation through training and professional writing. Serving as a Principal Investigator and Project Director for Federal Grants has not only helped me grow as a leader but also taught me a great deal about managing teams and budgets, and fulfilling our commitments to our funders.
Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of serving as the YTI’s executive director. YTI has a multimillion-dollar operating budget and over 60 employees. In this role, I work closely with our leadership team to balance opportunity, innovation, and fiscal responsibility. As a leader, I aim to create an environment where belonging is more than just a goal—it's a real experience for our staff, faculty, and workplaces nationwide.