16th Annual Coleman Conference

Richard Ellenson, CEO, Cerebral Palsy Foundation

Richard Ellenson brings enormous vision and energy to his role as CEO of the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. In his first two years at CPF, he has greatly expanded the Foundation’s range of work as well as its profile. He has led a initiative to transform basic healthcare for women with disabilities, created a diverse network aimed at adapting Kinect technology to provide an innovative interface for gaming for people with disabilities, and brought an increased level of attention to the needs of people with CP though the “Just Say Hi” media campaign. Prior to this, Richard was founder and CEO of two assistive technology companies (Panther and Blink Twice) which helped transform and reimagine the field of assistive technology for people with disabilities. Said Alan Brightman, Founder of Apple Computer’s Worldwide Disability Solutions Group and now Vice President for Global Accessibility at Yahoo, “The mass market mentality Richard Ellenson brought to this market was unprecedented in the history of assistive technology.“ Richard is also the father of an 18-year-old son who has Cerebral Palsy. He has worked tirelessly to create awareness about people with disabilities and to share stories about their vibrant lives. He and his son have been featured as ABC World News People of the Year, on CNBC’s Squawk Box, in a New York Times Sunday Magazine cover story, and as a feature on ESPN’s E:60. Prior to this work, Richard was an advertising executive who created campaigns for brands such as American Express and Remy Martin. He also penned the classic tagline, “It’s Not TV. It’s HBO.” Richard has been honored with the 2012 Visionary Leadership Award from Resources for Children with Special Needs, as a Caregiver of the Year by United Cerebral Palsy of NYC, and by many other organizations within the world of disabilities. He has served on the Advisory Council of the NIH’s National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders and on the boards of the Center on Disabilities at California State University at Northridge, the United States Society for Alternative and Augmentative Communication, and the Assistive Technology Industry Association.

Websites: Cerebral Palsy Foundation

Tom Wheeler, Chairman, FCC

Tom Wheeler became the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on November 4, 2013. Chairman Wheeler was appointed by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. For over three decades, Chairman Wheeler has been involved with new telecommunications networks and services, experiencing the revolution in telecommunications as a policy expert, an advocate, and a businessman. As an entrepreneur, he started or helped start multiple companies offering innovative cable, wireless, and video communications services. He is the only person to be selected to both the Cable Television Hall of Fame and The Wireless Hall of Fame, a fact President Obama joked made him “The Bo Jackson of Telecom.” Prior to joining the FCC, Chairman Wheeler was Managing Director at Core Capital Partners, a venture capital firm investing in early stage Internet Protocol (IP)-based companies. He served as President and CEO of Shiloh Group, LLC, a strategy development and private investment company specializing in telecommunications services and co-founded SmartBrief, the internet’s largest electronic information service for vertical markets. From 1976 to 1984, Chairman Wheeler was associated with the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), where he was President and CEO from 1979 to 1984. Following NCTA, Chairman Wheeler was CEO of several high tech companies, including the first company to offer high speed delivery of data to home computers and the first digital video satellite service. From 1992 to 2004, Chairman Wheeler served as President and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA). Chairman Wheeler wrote: Take Command: Leadership Lessons of the Civil War (Doubleday, 2000) and Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War (HarperCollins, 2006). His commentaries on current events have been published in the Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and other leading publications. Websites: Federal Communications Commission