Our next jobsite excursion will take place on Thursday, August 25th. We will be visiting Serena Olsen, who currently works at the Japan Society of Northern California here in San Francisco. She incorporates a wide range of office management skills as part of her work, including event planning and membership coordination.

Serena earned her BA in global & international studies and linguistics from UC Santa Barbara with an emphasis in East Asia and Japanese, respectively. In 2006, she completed a master’s degree in international policy studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She has traveled extensively throughout East and Southeast Asia for personal, academic and volunteer excursions, including a 2001 Pacific Rim Study Abroad program, a 2006 volunteer project with Tabitha Cambodia building stilt houses and several visits to dear friends in Indonesia.

After completing her graduate degree, Serena entered an intensive adult training program to learn how to effectively use Braille, a cane, JAWS and other important non-visual tools allowing her to pursue her personal and professional dreams.

Serena relocated to the Bay Area at the beginning of 2010 and quickly found work in two areas dear to her heart: Asia and improving livelihoods. In addition to her work at the Japan Society of Northern California, she teaches Braille at the Lions Center in Oakland and looks forward to a long and meaningful career as a non-profit professional. In her spare time, Serena enjoys delicious food and wine, cooking, spending time with friends, yoga and just about anything Asian.

In recent weeks we have visited a blind scientist, a blind massage therapist, a blind city budget analyst, a blind student accessibility coordinator, a blind attorney and a blind CEO. We look forward to our visit with Serena, as it will without a doubt be another inspiring installment of the LightHouse’s Jobsite Conversation Series.

Please RSVP by Tuesday, August 23, as space is limited. To register for the Jobsite Conversation Series, or to find out more about it, please contact:

Rich Russo
Community Services Program Assistant
(415) 694-7352
rrusso@old.lighthouse-sf.org

The next installment of our Jobsite Conversation Series will take place on Wednesday, August 3. We will visit Anita Aaron, who is the Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability (WID).

WID strives to eliminate barriers to full social integration and increase employment, economic security and health care for persons with disabilities. WID creates innovative programs and tools; conducts research, public education, training and advocacy campaigns; and provides technical assistance.

Ms. Aaron has been a resident of California for over thirty years and active in disability concerns at both the local and state level. She has published several articles in professional journals on the role of organizations serving individuals who are blind and visually impaired. As a visually impaired person, Ms. Aaron is both personally and professionally committed to the inclusion of all people with disabilities into mainstream society.

Prior to assuming the Directorship of the World Institute on Disability, Ms. Aaron served as Executive Director/CEO of the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco. In addition to her duties as Executive Director at the LightHouse, she served on the San Francisco Commission on Aging and Adult Services, the San Francisco In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority, the Curry Senior Center Board of Directors and on the Executive Committee of California Agencies for the Blind & Visually Impaired (CABVI).

As you all know, in recent weeks we have visited a blind scientist, a blind massage therapist, a blind city budget analyst, a blind student accessibility coordinator and a blind attorney. They have all been wonderful opportunities, and our time spent with Ms. Aaron will be no different.

Please RSVP to Rich Russo by August 2, as space is limited. Or talk to Rich about joining us for future visits. He can be reached at 415-694-7352 or rrusso@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

If you are a jobseeker and would like to meet and learn from some of the Bay Area’s most successful blind professionals, we invite you to come along with us on a visit. Please contact Rich Russo at 415-694-7352 or rrusso@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

Our next visit will take place on Wednesday, July 27. We will visit Dr. Joshua Miele, who is an Associate Scientist at The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center in San Francisco. He has made major contributions to tactile map technology, auditory/haptic display research, audio/tactile graphics techniques and Braille technologies.

Josh is an alumnus of the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his BA in physics and his Ph.D. in psychoacoustics. He is also an active member of the Bay Area disabled community. In addition to his current position as Vice President on the LightHouse Board of Directors, he has served on the boards of both the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program and the Ed Roberts Campus. He has also been a member of the City of Berkeley’s Commission on Disability and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Elderly and Disabled Advisory Committee.

Please RSVP to Rich Russo today, as space is limited. Or talk to Rich about joining us for future visits. He can be reached at 415-694-7352 or rrusso@old.lighthouse-sf.org.

If you are a jobseeker and would like to meet and learn from some of the Bay Area’s most successful blind professionals, we invite you to come along with us on a visit. Please contact Rich Russo at 415-694-7352 or rrusso@old.lighthouse-sf.org.