.png){kind=small}
Meet The Team
Co-Founder & CEO
Dr. Lisa A. Schoenbrodt Ed.D., CCC-SLP
Dr. Lisa Schoenbrodt is a speech-language pathologist who is certified by the American Speech Language Hearing Association and is licensed by the Maryland Board of Examiners. For over 30 years, she has been a Professor of Speech Language Pathology at Loyola University Maryland as well as a practicing Speech Language Pathologist. As an SLP, Dr. Schoenbrodt has provided in-depth assessment and individualized treatment with school-age children and adolescents who have language deficits as a result of a wide range of language and learning disabilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and more. She also has many years of experience in collaborating and consulting with teachers, professors, counselors, psychologists, and other specialists.
Co-Founder & COO
Dr. Leah Katherine Saal, Ph.D.
Dr. Leah Katherine Saal is an adolescent and adult education/literacy teacher and researcher. Dr. Saal’s scholarship explores literacy skills as a social determinant of public health. Passionate about life-long learning, she has over 17 years of experience teaching, designing, and evaluating educational and training programs for adolescents and adults with and without disabilities. Her expertise lies in the assessment and evaluation of individual learning as well as the creation, implementation, and evaluation of human service programs and systems.
Public Relations & Communications Manager
Dave Myers
Dave comes to Leadability after over 10 years in Maryland State Government working in the Maryland Legislature and the Maryland Department of Transportation. He has served on several boards and commissions at the state and local level. He brings a wealth of experience and connections with our government officials, non-profits, and vendors.
Our Self-Advocate Educators
Patrick Chaney
"Not only does the LeadAbility program give people with IDD’s the chance to learn how to advocate on behalf of themselves and a positive cause, but the officers we’ve worked with come away with an opportunity to interact directly with members of a community they protect. It is both a responsibility and an honor to be a part of LeadAbility because it makes me feel included as a part of these valuable learning experiences."
Elaina Camacho
"I'm seen for abilities and not my disability. I enjoy training first responders through roleplaying as gives them a 'hands-on' approach to working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rather than just learning from a lecture."
Candice Herget
"Being a Self-Advocate Educator is important to me. As a person with a disability, I want to speak for myself and want others to be able to do the same. Learning to be a self-advocate gives an individual more confidence and self-esteem."
Christopher Schoenbrodt
"I can help the Police and EMS know how I feel when I’m hurt or scared and now I know that they want to help me and other people with Downs… they talk to me so I can understand them. I know they are my friends!"
Adam Hays
"Being a Self-Advocate Educator helps others see that I can be a contributing member of society, not defined by intellectual disability. It is exciting to be able to share from our perspective with our EMS and Law Enforcement partners the best way to interact with our population through the use of improv training and hopefully have a better society where we are all 'included' in a meaningful way."
Kayla Grange
"It’s important to be a Self-Advocate Educator because you’ll be able to bring police officers in perspective on how people with disabilities are in the real world since police brutality in the disabled community is incredibly big."
Raven Shields
"I'm proud to be a Self-Advocate Educator because I can teach others with or without disability. It is important to me because I’m slowly getting out of my comfort zone and letting others know about me and my disability and how to communicate with others like me."
David Godoy
"I want to encourage others with disabilities to be the best they can be – to never give up, never look down, and always look forward to a brighter future with a disability. Through my role as a Self Advocate Educator, I hope to show others that they should have determination and perseverance! Don’t focus on the negative. Try to stay positive!"
Bailey Mewhinney
"I like being a Self-Advocate Educator because I want to help First Responders work with people who have disabilities. It’s important that they get to have practice helping people like me when there is an emergency."
Rohan Rai
"As a person with a Traumatic Brain Injury, it is important that first aid responders should realize the physical and cognitive challenges people like me have. I use a wheelchair, so my day to day life is very different compared to other people. It’s hard for people to understand the challenges that disabled people face. Through this program, I want to help first aid responders learn about it, teaching them how to effectively help people like me."
Annu Singleton
"I am a person with a disability and I'm proud of it! I like my job as a self-advocate educator because I can help others understand how much I am just like them."
Kelsey Franklin
"I love being a self advocate educator, so I can teach police and EMS workers how to help people with disabilities. I want to show that people with disabilities can do lots of things. It is also fun to learn some acting skills."
Eva Huether
"I want to be a self advocate educator because I want to help police, fire and EMS officers. I can use my improv skills to help teach them how to work with people who have disabilities like me."
Luke Veneable
"I am a self advocate educator so I can help others understand how to communicate with people with disabilities."
Alexea Wentz
"I love self advocating for myself and others with disabilities. I am proud to be a Self Advocate Educator! It is important to bring awareness to our communities on treating those with disabilities equally and using my voice to spread inclusion. Working with our First Responders in being more familiarized with providing care to our special needs population is vital."
Monique Matthews
"I would like to be a self advocate because there was a boy with Down syndrome on the news and he went to the movies and the police did not know about his condition. I want to help people have better ways to communicate with people with disabilities."
Stacey Hull
"Being a self-Advocate helps others understand how I am contributing member of society, not to defined by intellectual disability. It is exciting to be able to show the experience with others all levels of first responders. So they understand how treat us."
Kegan Zimmerman
"I want to be a self advocate educator so that I can change the lives of people with disabilities around the world."
Dan Tucholski
"I like to help people. Participating in the trainings help the police learn how to interact with people with an IDD and then that ends up helping others with IDDs."