Gina brings 25 years of experience across employment, vocational rehabilitation, and professional development pedagogy to the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability. Her career has included experience at the local, state and national level through the direct provision of vocational habilitation and rehabilitation services in Ohio, professional development of preservice and current practitioners across the country, and leadership at the national level in rehabilitation organizations.
At the Yang-Tan Institute, Gina is currently a Senior Extension Associate and Principal Investigator of the NYS Consortium for Advancing and Supporting Employment (CASE) project. She also oversees the Disability Workforce Development Center (DWDC) and provides trainings to support vocational rehabilitation counselors, employment service providers, and other workforce development partners across the nation. Her key areas of interest and research focus on rural rehabilitation, universal design, best practices in employment services, transition-aged youth services, assistive technology, inclusive STEM education and makerspaces for all, and health and wellness.
Prior to coming to YTI, Gina held faculty positions at the University of Maine at Farmington, Wright State University, and Maryville University of St. Louis. She also worked as a state vocational rehabilitation counselor, campus-based transition-aged youth program coordinator, job developer and coach, and facility-based service provider. Her experience spans multiple states, diverse geographic and demographic regions, and unique populations. She is a certified rehabilitation counselor and certified vocational evaluator.