Wednesday, October 22, 2025

7:30 - 9:00 a.m. Networking and Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00 a.m. General Session 2, Keynote

Keynote: You Belong Here - Creating Communities Where Everyone Matters

Many people across Wisconsin feel lonely. Some people have barriers that make it hard for them to connect with others. How can we support each other to feel connected? We’ll hear from leaders of community-based organizations that are working to do just that. They’ll share strategies they use to support people with disabilities and families to build community. Through their activities, people find friendship, support, and a sense of belonging.

Presenters include leaders from community-based organizations around the state, including:

Elsa Díaz-Bautista is the Executive Director of ALAS (Alianza Latina

Aplicando Soluciones), a nonprofit dedicated to empowering people with diverse abilities through education, advocacy, and peer support. As a disability rights advocate and inclusive education activist, she is committed to creating communities where everyone has the opportunity to belong and thrive.

Shanice Baquet is a holistic health practitioner, educator, and community advocate based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is the founder of Mommy's Beautiful Sunrise Inc. and co-founder of Aja Healing and Masika Health Wellness Clinic, where she promotes wellness, healing, and support for families and underserved communities.

Hector Portillo is the Executive Director of Padres e Hijos en Acción, a grassroots organization that empowers Latino families of children with disabilities through advocacy, resources, and community support. He also hosts the organization's monthly radio show on La Movida 1480 AM, connecting families with valuable information and resources.

Delores Sallis is the founder of Parent University, a Milwaukee-based organization that helps families navigate systems and access resources for loved ones with disabilities. A mother, grandmother, and

great-grandmother, she is passionate about empowering families with hope, support, and the relationships they need to succeed.

Lang Xiong is a Project Coordinator at the Hmong American Friendship

Association in Milwaukee, where he helps strengthen and support the

Hmong community. An active community leader and interpreter, he has served in leadership roles with local nonprofits and was named Hmong Man of the Year in 2011.

10:00 - 10:45 a.m. Networking Break and Exhibitors

10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Really Good Learning Sessions

Assistive Technology: Your Life, Your Direction

Everyone wants to live a self-determined life. This session shows how assistive technology can help you be more independent and make your own choices. Assistive technology can give you more control in your daily life. We will share real examples of tools that help you make decisions, stay safe, do everyday tasks, and be part of your community. We will talk about everyday challenges and work together to match each challenge with a tool that helps you be more independent.

Room: Africa 10

Presenters: Dana Glinski, Deanna Daniels Self-advocate

Session Materials

Your Experience Matters: Building Disability Leaders

Learn how the Wisconsin Disability Policy Program helps people with disabilities and family members gain real-world experience in disability policy and leadership. A current Fellow and Intern will share their experiences, the skills they have learned, and the work they are doing to create change. The session will also highlight how technology and accommodations can support success in the workplace and policy roles. Participants will take part in a short activity to identify strengths gained through lived experience and discuss how those strengths could support leadership and advocacy.

Room: Africa 20

Presenters: Sally Flaschberger, Tiffany Schanno and Mackenzie Wann

Session Materials

Connected and Protected: Online Safety for Every Ability

Stay safe online when using the internet, email, social media, and mobile devices. Participants will learn how to spot scams, make strong passwords, protect personal information, and what to do when you see suspicious messages or websites. We will talk about privacy settings, safe online communication, and easy tips for feeling more confident online. Participants will look at sample emails, messages, websites, or social media posts and decide if they are safe or may be a scam.

Room: Africa 30

Presenters: Priscilla Battle, Stephenie Mlodzik and Kristi Scheunemann

Session Materials

Creating Connection for Individual and Community Health

Loneliness and social isolation are now recognized as public health concerns, an epidemic in fact. Join us for an informative discussion on factors that impact social connection, as well as information on personal and public health effects. We will then explore solutions to increase connections, including personal perspectives from self-advocates and resources available through the Wisconsin Coalition for Social Connection.

Room: Africa 50

Presenters: Gerardo Barrios Garcia and Jill Renken

Session Materials

The Intersection of Assistive Technology, the Internet, and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world of assistive technology (AT) at a fairly quick pace. We need to consider how AI and AT can integrate and impact how we access the community, attend school, go to work, and simply live our lives. This session will provide a background on AI along with all of the factors we need to consider around its intersection with AT.

Room: Africa 70

Presenter: Laura Plummer

Session Materials

12:00 - 1:15 p.m. Lunch and Networking Break

1:15 - 2:30 p.m. Really Good Learning Sessions

Finding Your Third Place

Come and listen to Hannah share how she found her 3rd place, the place where everyone knows your name and you are missed when you’re not there. Learn how to discover potential 3rd places in your community or how to develop or create a space that could become a community 3rd place.

Room: Africa 10

Presenters: Kristy Bridenhagen, Shonnon McKinley and Hannah Medo

Session Materials

Spaces Within Spaces

Niketa Krisko is queer, disabled, and proud. They have found support in various communities and have navigated successful and difficult situations between and within his identities. If you feel as though you don't quite fit into one box or the other, or if you have a loved one you'd like to support through thick and thin, listen to the lived experience and advice of someone who's been there. Learn how to find (and keep) your community.

Room: Africa 30

Presenter: Niketa Krisko

Session Materials

Virtual Advocacy

Advocacy is a core part of the Independent Living Philosophy and a main function of Independent Living Centers. Join WCILC Director Jason Glozier and other advocacy leaders from the Wisconsin Independent Living Network in a discussion about ways to get involved in advocacy without leaving the comfort of your own home. In a digital world, virtual advocacy is becoming more and more important to spreading the message and getting people with power to do what is best for the disability community. This session will focus on how to best use digital tools to enhance the impact of your advocacy.

Room: Africa 50

Presenters: Jason Glozier and other advocacy leaders.

Session Materials

Certified Peer Mentors- Panel Discussion

Peer mentors will discuss the steps involved with becoming a peer mentor, what services they provide, and who they work with. The panel will discuss their relationship with and support they receive from the BPDD, the Inclusa Foundation, and Aptiv. The panel will share how the Peer Mentor service has grown, what barriers they have worked through and goals related to Direct Service workforce impact, agency wide employee training and impact at community and state levels.

Room: Africa 60

Presenters: Shawn Ihrcke, Hunter Markle and Sara Schumacher

Session Materials

Exciting New Opportunities in IRIS!

InControl WI has developed “What’s New in the 2026-30 version of IRIS. Tips for participants and families and a user-friendly overview of the most important changes that are now in effect in IRIS The session will focus on the new opportunities participants can do to improve their IRIS plans and their self-direction experience. Time will be allotted for discussion and questions about these new opportunities.

Room: Africa 70 & 80

Presenters: Lynn Breedlove and Tyler Engel

Session Materials

Making (and Keeping) Friends as a Disabled Adult

People joke that making friends as an adult is hard. But being disabled adds new layers. Access needs, communication, money, and transportation are all challenges. Some of us had fewer friends as kids and aren’t as practiced at some of the social skills expected of people our age. We will talk about where to look for potential friends, strategies for getting to know people and keeping the friends we make, and how to stay safe while making friends. We will practice with each other and test out our new strategies today!

Room: Africa 70 & 80

Presenter: Emery Rankin Utevsky

Session Materials

2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Wrap up Video and Door Prizes! - Africa West Ballroom

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Assistive Technology: Your Life, Your Direction

Your Experience Matters: Building Disability Leaders

Connected and Protected: Online Safety for Every Ability

The Power of Participation: YOUR VOTE!

Creating Connection for Individual and Community Health

It’s not me, It’s Them!

The Intersection of Assistive Technology, the Internet, and Artificial Intelligence

Empowering You: Access to technology in Family Care and IRIS

Finding Your Third Place

The Impact of Confinement to People with Disabilities

Spaces Within Spaces

Just Ask!

Virtual Advocacy

Certified Peer Mentors- Panel Discussion

Exciting New Opportunities in IRIS!

Making (and Keeping) Friends as a Disabled Adult