Member Webinar: Protecting Employees with Disabilities

Deanna Keenan is an Associate Director on the Qualitative Team at Seramount. She is the team specialist on employee resource groups and inclusive language practices in the workplace and has led team projects such as the Return to Office series, Awareness Month best practices, and the production of a variety of guides centered on tackling difficult conversations in the workplace.

Deanna is passionate about elevating employees from historically excluded communities, such as women of color, employees with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ employees. She is especially interested in creating best practices for employee resource groups in order to generate meaningful impact on business metrics and goals.

Deanna holds an MSW concentrated in children, youth, and family and global policy from the University of Southern California and a dual BA in psychology and Africana studies from Binghamton University.

Outside of work, Deanna is a mom of two young children, loves hiking with her family and dogs, and can be found baking breads and knitting intricate blankets for fun.

Russell Shaffer is Executive Vice President, Strategy & Programs, at Disability:IN, where he oversees the organization’s strategic plan, performance measurement, and signature programs such as the Disability Equality Index and NextGen Leadership. Before joining Disability:IN in 2022, he held senior roles at Walmart Inc., including Senior Director of Global Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Senior Manager of Constituent Relations for disability and aging strategies. He has also worked in advertising, communications, and journalism, and has served on boards including the American Foundation for the Blind, where he was Chair and received the Stephen Garff Marriott Award. Diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at age 10, Russell draws on his lived experience with blindness to inform his commitment to advancing disability inclusion.