NICOLE HOMERIN, M.Ed. (she/her) is the Director of CVI Education in The CVI Center at Perkins School for the Blind. She is excited to return to Perkins, where she began her career as a Teaching Assistant in the Deafblind Program. Nicole formerly served as a special education teacher for students with a variety of disabilities, including CVI, in both Boston and Los Angeles. Most recently, she served as the Inclusion Communities Manager at Partners for Youth with Disabilities. In this role, she oversaw the Dinah F.B. Cohen NDMC DREAM Fellowship, a national fellowship for college students and recent graduates with disabilities. She also wrote curriculum and provided trainings to mentoring organizations, non-profits, schools, communities, and corporations on disability inclusion, accessibility, and a variety of other disability-related topics.

Nicole is passionate about disability advocacy and making learning accessible and equitable for students and teachers alike.She was named the 2023 Steve Bartlett Award recipient by RespectAbility for her work in disability advocacy, leadership, and empowerment. She was also named the recipient of the 2023 Trailblazer Award from Boston University Wheelock School of Education and Human Development for her exemplary leadership in the fields of education and disability advocacy. She serves on the Heumann Education Advisory Council for the Just Say Hi! Inclusive Education Curriculum created by the Cerebral Palsy Foundation.Nicole holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Boston College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Boston University.

Editor's Note: Nicole has also completed six marathons.'

HomerinEducationalServices@gmail.com

https://www.perkins.org/cvi-now/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/homerinn/

Company: Homerin Educational Services

Partners for Youth with Disabilities: https://pyd.org/

HOSTS

KATIE CORBETT iis a marketing professional and entrepreneur who brings passion for accessibility to all she does. Katie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and a certificate in human resources from Madison College.

AKIRA NAKANO is the Program Officer for the Fox Family Foundation and the Producer of the "Innovating Inclusion" Podcast. He runs the Los Angeles Inception Orchestra which is currently working to provide music education to people of all abilities. He was the host of the previous Fox Family Podcast and the Inception Podcast.

www.innovatinginclusion.org