2025 NABWIS Award winners

Latosha has worked for Warren County Board of Developmental Disabilities for 23 years, serving individuals with developmental disabilities in many capacities. She has devoted her career to being an advocate, friend, and mentor to those she serves, their families, and her co-workers.  For the past 9.5 years, Latosha has been a devoted work incentive coordinator, obtaining her CWIC from Virginia Commonwealth University. She provides benefit consultations and analysis for those enrolled in services. She also assists with the application process for various benefits, overpayment issues, Medicaid errors and discrepancies, along with a gamut of other benefit related needs that may arise. Not only is she the only Work Incentive Coordinator for this agency, serving over 2,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities, she is actively involved in many initiatives across the state. Since obtaining her certification, she has become a common name throughout the state.  In addition to providing direct benefit services, Latosha is involved with developing and presenting cross agency public benefit education in many facets. She has presented at state conferences providing education to benefit recipients and professionals. She regularly trains new Service and Support Administrators through the Southwest Council of Governments as part of their new hire orientation to provide them with an introduction to public benefit systems. She is also an integral part of developing F.E.A.R. Factor training's, online training's breaking down the fears and stigma associated with working and receiving benefits, so recipients and professionals can build a foundational knowledge and make informed decisions. This series is in collaboration with other county boards of developmental disabilities, the Ohio Association of County Boards, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD)- the state vocational rehabilitation agency, and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. The training's are available to professionals, families, and individuals with disabilities. Additionally, Latosha presents information on public benefits and working each year at S.A.L.T.S (Student to Adult Life Transition Series) in collaboration with OOD and other county boards of developmental disabilities. This educational series is aimed at providing students who are receiving services, and their parents’, education on the next steps after leaving high school.  Latosha is well known for her positive, calm, and welcoming demeanor. She has been a long-time champion of promoting education so those receiving benefits can make informed decisions about work, benefit management, and maximizing their full potential. She has built great relationships with the local Job and Family Services office as well as multiple Social Security offices in Warren and surrounding counties. Prior to becoming a Work Incentives Coordinator
full time, Latosha worked as an Employment Developer, assisting individuals with developmental disabilities in obtaining gainful employment. Through her experience with state vocational rehabilitation, employment knowledge,
and understanding how various public benefit systems work together she has helped countless individuals feel empowered to make educated decisions in their best interest.

 
I am not sure if Jolene ever sleeps!  Jolene is the Program Director for the Utah WIPA Project and is also the Program Coordinator for the state ABLE program.  As the NABWIS Vice President, Jolene has taken the lead on both membership and organizational website. She is also a vital part of every conference planning committee, leading registration and awards for many years.  Jolene encourages work incentive planners across the country to integrate ABLE into their work. She shares stories from the state of Utah to help NABWIS in policy advocacy work to support the field of work incentives planning.  In many ways, Jolene is the heart of NABWIS.  As she prepares for retirement, I wonder how NABWIS will survive without her ceaseless commitment and energy.   Jolene's contributions reflect the highest standards of service and professionalism.
I first met Marlene when I worked for a Benefits Planning, Outreach and Assistance (BPAO) grantee in the early 2000’s. At the time, Marlene worked for the Social Security Administration (SSA) in Florida as an Area Work Incentive Coordinator (AWIC). Marlene’s dedication to people with disabilities was evident based on her behavior across multiple domains: 1) her responsiveness to questions from Beneficiaries and Recipients, benefits planners, service providers, families and supports; 2) her willingness to show up and provide training in community settings to increase the knowledge of stakeholders across Florida; 3) the extra effort she took to work within and across SSA offices to address practices that created confusion and barriers to work. I recruited Marlene to join National Disability Institute to bring her passion, commitment and expertise to move forward our work and mission which focuses on improving the employment and economic empowerment of people with disabilities.  At NDI, Marlene operates as an in-house expert on Social Security disability benefits, Medicaid, Medicare, ABLE accounts and other public benefits. She is uniquely equipped to support people who want to go to work and/or increase their hours, wages, savings and other goals. Marlene’s drive for understanding and relaying high quality, comprehensive information to individuals and to the field makes Marlene an incredible asset to this field. Marlene researches, connects with people within and outside of SSA and other systems, brings together partnerships like NDI with James R. Sheldon, former Supervising Attorney of the Disability Law Unit of Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS) and a host of other technical experts to ensure that guidance to the field on new opportunities like ABLE accounts is robust, comprehensive, accurate and accessible.  Marlene contributes to all of NDI’s programmatic work on public benefits, all of our policy work on social policy solutions and creates and reviews content that raises the level of expertise of NDI staff and partners. As a result, NDI has trained more than 365 trainers who have informed more than 18,000 people, about SSA work supports in the states of Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. In addition, Marlene supported training to more than 125 financial counselors and coaches in the states of California, Kentucky, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania,
and Texas, ensuring that people with disabilities who are experiencing financial hardships are informed of SSA work supports, and ways to address overpayments.
 
Ray worked as an attorney for 23 years prior to joining Cornell University Work Incentive Support Center in 2000.  Ray has dedicated his career to helping people with disabilities manage their public benefits and supporting return to work programs through policy advocacy, litigation, national education, and leadership at NABWIS.  Ray currently serves as President of NABWIS. He has been actively involved in litigation and to improve SSA programs, and in legislative and administrative policy advocacy.  He provided input in the drafting of the TTWWIA and help with BPAO, WIPA, and WIP-C education and technical assistance from Day One.
Ray inspires students daily in his education and technical assistance roles.  He shares stories of success and strategies to overcome barriers.  He has helped several states create statewide networks of work incentive planners, including New York and North Carolina.  Under Ray's leadership, the membership of NABWIS has grown significantly.  He has actively served on the continuing education and policy committees while on the NABWIS Board.
Ray leaves a legacy of work incentives planners that are truly instilled with his lifelong belief that people can be lifted and guided out of poverty. His efforts have had a meaningful impact on the continued future of work incentives planning.