Ken Taunton, CSC (Moderator)

President and CEO, The Royster Group Inc

In 2001, Taunton leveraged his proven track record of leading mid- to senior-level executive searches for public and private companies and founded the Royster Group. Prior to establishing his company, Taunton was a senior associate with Korn/Ferry International and held various recruiting and sales positions at Merck & Co. The Royster Group recently completed the Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection Program and the Small Business Administration’s Emerging 200 Initiative Program—a federal training initiative that specifically focuses on executives of businesses poised for growth in historically challenged communities. Taunton is chairman of the ASA inclusion, diversity, and equality advocacy interest group.

Nishith Parikh

ceo, Rangam Consultants Inc.

Parikh is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Rangam, a New Jersey-based company specializing in developing a range of innovative solutions for special needs education, vocational skills training, and inclusive employment. He is also the founder and executive director of LetUsConnect, an employment research park designed to identify and implement sustainable self- and community employment practices for the disabled in Princeton, NJ. Parikh serves on the external executive board of the undergraduate research and innovation (URI) programs at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He has collaborated with researchers, board-certified behavior analysts, cross-industry thought leaders, and transition coaches to build cost-effective tools for special needs management from preschool through adulthood and employment.

Jenny Taylor

vice president of career services, Goodwill of North Georgia

Jennifer Sheehy

deputy assistant secretary, Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor

The mission of the Office of Disability Employment Policy is to develop policy that increases job opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities. In 2016, she was also appointed by the president to the AbilityOne Commission. Prior to her current position, Sheehy spent 10 years at the U.S. Department of Education in many roles—including acting director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, acting deputy commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, and special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Sheehy came to the Department of Education from the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults With Disabilities, where she was senior policy advisor and served a detail as associate director in the White House Domestic Policy Council. Before she joined the taskforce staff, she was vice president of the National Organization on Disability and director of its CEO Council. Sheehy has received many civic and achievement awards, including the 2019 Presidential Rank Award, the Accenture Women in Government "Rising Leader" award, and the Diet Coke/Glamour magazine "Women at Their Best" award.