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PANELIST BIOS FOR FORUM ON EMPOWERMENT, ACCESSIBILITY, AND DISABILITY SERVICES IN CNY

Photo of Tania Anderson, CEO of ARISE

Tania Anderson has been CEO of ARISE since April 2016. Before working at ARISE, she served on the ARISE Board of Directors for 17 years, including 8 years as Board President. Tania is a lawyer, having spent most of her career working as a law clerk for judges in the state and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She graduated from SU College of Law with her JD and Masters in Professional Studies. Tania is the mother of a 16-year-old daughter with disability and decided to follow her passion for advocacy in the disability community through her current role at ARISE.

Photo of Paul Joslyn, Executive Director of ARISE

Paul has served as Executive Director of AccessCNY since August 2016. Prior to joining AccessCNY, Paul held senior management positions in both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations including serving as Chief Operating Officer of Unity House of Cayuga County and President of RCB Fund Services, an organization that distributes recovered funds to victims of securities fraud. In 2020, Paul was appointed by Governor Cuomo to serve on the Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council. He also serves on the boards of New York Disability Advocates, LIFEPlan CCO NY, and the Omnes and Inclusive Alliance Independent Provider Associations.

AccessCNY serves over 3,300 people a year who have either a mental health diagnoses, developmental disability or physical disability. The agency’s services empower individuals to create and achieve their own success in a community where all people belong. In 2015 AccessCNY was created from the merger of two agencies that served individuals with disabilities: Enable and Transitional Living Services. The agency expanded again in 2018 with the merger of Spaulding Support Services. Onondaga CASA, a program that serves abused and neglected children in foster care became part of AccessCNY in 2019. In 2020, the agency formed a partnership with L’Arche Syracuse to provide administrative and operational oversight of L’Arche’s residential programs. AcccessCNY looks to continue to grow to meet the needs of
our community.

Photo of Tanisha Wiggins, Certified Peer Specialist and ARISE client.

Currently, Tanisha Wiggins is a Certified Peer Specialist. She is on the Board of NAMI Syracuse (National Alliance of Mental Illness), doing most of her work presenting and ending the stigma on mental illness.

As a Peer, Tanisha takes her Mental Health very seriously, seeing a counselor at ARISE once a week and participating in ARISE Continuous Quality Improvement Committee meetings, as well as being a winner of ARISE’S UNIQUE Art & Literary Exhibit. (The picture in the background of Tanisha’s photograph was a Winner for UNIQUE at ARISE.)

Angela Palmieri, AccessCNY client and AccessCNY Community Habilitation participant

Angela is a participant AccessCNY’s Community Habilitation program.  She is very
active in her community, including volunteering at her church food pantry.  She is also a
member of the church’s woman’s group and she is involved with the Red House.  She
has a long list of hobbies and activities including playing sports such as bowling,
basketball and baseball.  She also enjoys fishing, karaoke and reading.  Angela lives in
her own apartment in Liverpool.

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