Susan Costlow is vice president of leadership and learning communities at the Manufacturer’s Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). MAPI is a nonprofit professional organization designed to help manufacturing leaders make smarter business decisions through its membership programs for manufacturing executives, professional development events, and manufacturing-focused business insights and research.

Prior to her work at MAPI, Costlow was director of corporate development for the Lockheed Martin Corporation, where she executed M&A transactions and was responsible for leading the corporation’s venture capital activities. She created Lockheed Martin’s $100M Emerging Technology Fund in 2007 and made key investments in early stage companies with technologies of strategic interest to Lockheed Martin and its operating units.

Earlier, Costlow served in Corporate Treasury, where she was director of corporate banking and, prior to that, director of project and trade finance. She managed Lockheed Martin’s commercial lending group, rating agency relationships, leasing activity, project finance activity, and was responsible for the corporation’s trade finance portfolio. She lead several important initiatives during this period, including issuing $3 billion in corporate bonds in a key capital structure initiative, negotiating and syndicating a $2 billion credit facility to ensure liquidity, syndicating a $300 million synthetic lease for the corporation’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Launch Pad, and issuing the largest letter of credit in the corporation’s history ($2 billion).

Before joining Treasury, Costlow was a corporate auditor and served in a variety of increasingly responsible finance positions within Lockheed Martin’s Electronics Systems and the Information Services and Global Solutions businesses.

Costlow served as chairperson of the Board of Directors of National Industries for the Blind prior to joining the Board of NSITE.

She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science in procurement and materials management. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Rutgers University and a master’s certificate in international business from The George Washington University.

Dennis Steiner is president and chief executive officer at VisionCorps.  A nonprofit organization headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, VisionCorps’ mission is to empower people who are blind or vision impaired to attain independence by providing them with the tools and training, including employment. The organization serves almost 2,000 individuals with rehabilitation and employment services in Lancaster, Lebanon, Chester, York, and Adams counties.  

Since Joining VisionCorps in 1983, Steiner has led the expansion and construction of VisionCorps’ Lancaster facility and the development of facilities in Lebanon, Philadelphia, and Somerset counties. Under his leadership, VisionCorps expanded its rehabilitation services to Chester County and facilitated a merger with ForSight Vision that resulted in the expansion of service into York and Adams Counties.
 
Steiner is a member of the Board of Directors for National Industries for the Blind and is NIB’s liaison to the World Blind Union. He served as the former chairperson and is the current treasurer of UniqueSource and as president of the National Association for the Employment of People who are Blind. 
 
Active in his community, Steiner is a member of the Lancaster Lions and a Leadership Lancaster alumnus. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Steiner holds a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation and a master’s degree in Rehabilitation and Counseling.

Angela Hartley is executive vice president at National Industries for the Blind (NIB), where she leads a team of professionals devoted to creating employment opportunities for people who are blind through world-class workforce training and development. Since joining NIB in 2002, Hartley has led diverse initiatives and taken on new challenges throughout the organization in the areas of workforce development, government relations, corporate communications, strategic planning and direction, human resources, marketing, compliance and regulatory affairs, fundraising, and program development.

After initially serving NIB as director, external affairs, Hartley was promoted to vice president, communications and public affairs, and later to vice president, external affairs and public policy. Hartley’s accomplishments at NIB include consolidating public relations and marketing functions to drive consistent messaging; expanding the organization’s involvement and reach in government affairs; strengthening NIB’s network of contacts, coalitions, and partnerships; and developing an award-winning management training program for high-potential professionals. She works closely with NIB’s Board of Directors on strategic and business planning, as well as ethics and governance matters.

A Certified Association Executive (CAE), Hartley received a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from the Georgetown University Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership. She holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law, a Master of Business Administration from Salisbury University’s Perdue School of Business, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas, El Paso.

Hartley is a member of the Maryland State Bar, American Bar Association, American Society of Association Executives, National Association of Workforce Development Professionals, and Leadership Greater Washington. She serves as chairperson of the World Blind Union’s Employment Working Group, which launched Project Aspiro, a career planning and employment website for people who are blind or visually impaired, service providers, friends, family, and employers. In her community, Hartley serves as the 2022 chairperson of the board of directors of the Alexandria, Virginia, Chamber of Commerce.

Andy Marks is a senior insight and analytics professional with 10+ years of experience leading research at global multi-billion dollar technology and entertainment corporations. He is currently director of consumer research at Audible, an Amazon company, where he leads the U.S. Consumer Research team managing all aspects of market research and consumer insight projects. Prior to joining Audible, Mr. Marks worked in Consumer Insight, Measurement, and Analytics at The Walt Disney Company.

Marks serves as vice chairperson of the Board of Directors of Success Beyond Sight, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to empowering individuals who are blind or have low vision to advance professionally and fully engage in community life by eliminating barriers to their equal opportunity for success. He also volunteers with the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation and Braven Accelerator as a Rutgers Leadership Coach. 

Marks earned his Bachelor of Science in psychology and Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Michele McDonnall is the director of the National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision and Research Professor at Mississippi State University. Prior to this, she was a research assistant professor at the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for Persons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing at the University of Arkansas. Earlier, McDonnall was a cognitive specialist at Healthsouth Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital, a vocational case manager at CRA Managed Care, and a behavior specialist at Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation.
 
McDonnall holds a Master of Science in vocational rehabilitation counseling from Mississippi State University and a Ph.D. in rehabilitation education and research from the University of Arkansas. A certified rehabilitation counselor, she has published dozens of papers on blindness, low vision, rehabilitation, and employment, and made dozens of presentations on these subjects. She has been the principal investigator for dozens of successfully funded grants. 
 
She was recipient of the John H. McAuley Award from the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Corine Kirchner Research Award from the American Foundation for the Blind, along with numerous awards from other organizations. McDonnall is associate editor for The New Review, a member of the editorial board for Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, and a member of the advisory board of the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. She is a member of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education, the International Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Mississippi Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. 

Alayna Effron is a principal at ARE Consulting, LLC, where she focuses on curriculum development, professional education activities, brand awareness, fundraising, business development, proposal development and strategic content development for clients.  With nearly two decades of experience in public health and health education, Effron has worked across a variety of professional settings worldwide, including corporate, non-profit and non-government organizations, and hospital-based and community centers for the advancement of care access through a transformation of education, information and partnership. 
 
Effron has trained, educated and collaborated with thousands of educators, scientists, researchers, practitioners, members of the interdisciplinary care team, and stakeholders on the delivery of health education programs and public health initiatives that address health inequities and health disparities across a myriad of national health topics. 
 
She obtained her doctorate degree in health education with a specialty in health equity from Columbia University.  Her research focused on the interface between provider education and patient health outcomes, with a dual concentration in global health care system management and population health, social determinants and health equity.  She has a master’s degree in international health promotions and public health, with a concentration in public policy and health communication from Indiana University, Bloomington, and has been a Certified Health Education Specialist with the National Commission of Health Education Credentialing since 2006.

Jonathan Lucus is the executive director of NSITE, the talent management enterprise of National Industries for the Blind providing a continuum of employment services that connect employers with talented, dedicated people who are blind, visually impaired, and/or veterans to meet their workforce needs.

Lucus is an internationally recognized expert with nearly 20 years of workforce development experience supporting people with disabilities, immigrants, and other underserved populations. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. State Department, the European Union, and numerous countries on workforce issues, including serving as a State Department fellow advising the Egyptian Parliament and several ministries on implementation of national disability workforce initiatives.

His contributions to migrant workforce integration and training programs have been recognized by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees as an international best practice. He holds a doctorate in organizational change and leadership from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, an executive master’s degree in leadership from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Mary Jane Surrago is Assistant Secretary of NSITE.  Before retiring in February 2025, she served in a similar role for NSITE’s umbrella organization, National Industries for the Blind, the nation’s largest employment resource for people who are blind.

Earlier, she was NIB’s vice president-administration, responsible for corporate governance, communications, event management, and rehabilitation services, and has been affiliated with NIB for 50 years. For NIB’s 75th anniversary, Surrago authored “Empowering People: the Story of National Industries for the Blind,” to chronicle NIB’s history. For NIB’s 50th anniversary, Surrago led a communications team that generated significant national, regional, and local media for the organization culminating in a Presidential Proclamation, Congressional resolution, Congressional record articles, and a PBS documentary. As a result, NIB received IRIS Awards of Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators for NIB’s communication program and commemorative history.  For many years, Surrago was editor of NIB’s quarterly magazine, Opportunity. 

Surrago is a life member and past president of the Glen Rock Volunteer Ambulance Corps. She was elected to three terms on the Borough Council in Glen Rock, New Jersey, and held the positions of Borough Council president and chairperson of the divisions of Public Works, Public Safety, Community Affairs, and Building Development and Public Property.  

A graduate of Queens College in New York, Surrago holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting. She is a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians.

Ken Fernald is president and chief executive officer of the Association for Vision Rehabilitation and Employment (AVRE), located in Binghamton, New York. He began his tenure with the agency in 1990 on the manufacturing floor, later overseeing quality assurance and then manufacturing operations. Prior to his current position, Fernald was the vice president of operations. AVRE comprises a manufacturing and vision rehabilitation services facility in Binghamton and three Veterans Administration hospital switchboard operations in the Bronx and mid-Hudson Valley. AVRE offers products and services in the state, federal, and commercial markets.

Fernald represents AVRE within the industry at the state and national levels, serving on the boards of Empire State Employment Resources for the Blind (ESERB) and the New York Vision Rehabilitation Association (NYVRA). Within his local community, he serves on the United Health Services (UHS) Foundation Board.

Fernald holds a degree in business administration from SUNY-Broome. Through National Industries for the Blind’s (NIB) Business Management Training program, he earned a certificate in business management from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Graduate Business Administration.