Bridgett
Perry B.S.,: Health science/community
health, M.Ed.,educational technology; Chair,
Whirlwind Women’s Advisory Board; CITTI Project Director and principal
consultant of Perry & Associates, a socially progressive firm working
with a range of non-profits. Her expertise in
assistive technology dates from 1987, when she worked to establish one
of the first assistive technology resource centers in the
Joan
Rogin: Secretary, Whirlwind Women’s
Advisory Board; Writer; WW
and WWIvolunteer; editor of Newsletter.
Jane
Maxwell: WW Advisory Board member;
with the Hesperian Foundation in Berkeley since 1982 as writer/researcher/editor
for self-help healthcare publications including Where There Is No Doctor,
Disabled Village Children, and Where Women Have No Doctor; currently
researching/writing health care book for women with disabilities; has worked
in women’s health, disability, health education, and communication in Brazil,
Central African Republic, China, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Uganda,
and Zimbabwe; believes strongly in free dissemination of information so
people can take the lead in their own health care.
Dana
Bolles: Wheelchair rider; congenital
quad amputee; BS inMechanical
Engineering, CSU-Long Beach;Master’s
Certificate in Rehabilitation Engineering and Technology, SFSU; payload
safety engineer, NASA Kennedy Space Center; safety engineer, NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center; currently Environmental Compliance Specialist, NASA
Ames Research Center; volunteer teaching assistant in wheelchair-building
class at SFSU; volunteer in WW program in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
Judith
Rogers, O.T.R. (Occupational Therapist) Bio: Working
at Through the Looking Glass (TLG) since 1990, Judi has worked with both
parents and children with disabilities. She has designed, developed and
researched the impact of adaptivebabycare equipment
for parents with disabilities. Growing up with a disability has influenced
Judi to turn personal issues into action. Having children inspired her
to write a book on pregnancy and disability entitled Mother to be: A
guide to pregnancy and birth for women with disabilities. Judi works
as an occupational therapist at the
Ralf
Hotchkiss: Engineer,
inventor; for 35+ years a wheelchair-designer, -builder,
-trainer,
-rider; co-founder with Peter Pfaelzer of WWI; member, WW Advisory Committee; MacArthur
Foundation Fellow and recipient of countless other honors and awards; has
worked in 42 countries teaching people who need wheelchairs how to build
and maintain them for themselves.
Honora
Hunter:
BA psychology, Boston College; now a graduate student at San Jose State
University in Occupational Therapy; volunteer teaching assistant in WWI
wheelchair classes; WW technician since 1999, has worked in Uganda and
Mexico; avid watercolorist; sees well-made Whirlwind as work of art; embraces
WWI mantra of rider-as-boss in wheelchair design and construction; dreams
of helping develop seating system workshops to complement Whirlwind wheelchair
shops.
Alicia
Contreras: Executive Director,
Women Pushing Forward (Formerly Whirlwind Women); wheelchair rider;
citizen of Mexico; in the US, while being a New Voices Fellow, got the
Paul Hearne Award; in San Luis Potosí (SLP), negotiated first city
funding for disabled people and founded first independent living center
for women in Mexico; Mexico Coordinator for Mobility International USA
(MIUSA) organizing international exchange programs for US young disabled
teens in SLP; in 1995, Mexican Delegate to United Nations/NGO Forum in
Beijing.
Cathy
Cade: Ph.D.,
sociology; co-founder with Patty Ruppelt and Jan Sing of Whirlwind Women;
member WW Advisory Committee; accomplished photographer. Administrative
Assistant to Ralf Hotchkiss 1991-95: organized office and shop, handled
correspondence, developed database, helped in editing proposals and developing
WWI Board, organized first WWI Board retreat. Worked to get four-woman
delegation to
Jan
Sing: Architect, rehabilitation
engineer, inventor; SFSU Certificate in Rehabilitation Engineering Technology;
co-founder with Cathy Cade and Patty Ruppelt
of Whirlwind Women, currently WW Technical Director. Wheelchair designer,
-builder, -trainer; WWI and WW work in 11 countries in Africa and Latin
America teaching men and women to build and maintain their own wheelchairs.
Patty Ruppelt:Physical
therapist, feminist, co-founder with Cathy Cade
and Jan Sing of Whirlwind Women; wheelchair-builder, -trainer since 1991;
initiated WWI Kids’ Wheelchair project; Whirlwind Women work in Mexico
and Brazil.
Peter
Pfaelzer:Design engineer; professor
of mechanical engineering at SFSU for many years; co-founder with Ralf
Hotchkiss of WWI; Principal Investigator for Whirlwind Women and WWI at
the
Jenny
Kern: Attorney;
wheelchair rider; 1997-00 WW Program Director; member, WW Advisory Committee;
organized 1997 WW metalwork pre-training in Kenya for disabled women; instrumental
in initiating disabled women’s wheelchair training in Kampala for program
that grew to become [Mobility Appliances by Disabled Women Entrepreneurs]
MADE in Uganda; helped initiate WW program in San Luis Potosí,
Mexico.
Monica
and Bob Incerti:Both
volunteered to be trainers with the first Whirlwind Women project in
Edith
Friedman: Associate
Director, Whirlwind Women; coordinated WW work in Mexico and Brazil; helped
train women founding Whirlwind wheelchair workshop in San Luis Potosí,
Mexico; writer; disability rights movement worker since 1986; has worked
as an attorney and as a labor and community organizer.
Kurt
Kornbluth:BS, MS
in Mechanical Engineering, emphasis on design. Since 1994, WWI wheelchair-designer,
-trainer; jig builder; Traveled with Jan Sing to work with WW partners
in
Marc
Krizack: Attorney;
writer; collaborator for 20 years with Ralf Hotchkiss and WWI in the