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What Powers Us:

2008 Paul G. Hearne AAPD Leadership Award Winners

Brett Einsenberg of New York, NY

Brett Eisenberg is Disability Coordinator at American International Group (AIG) in Manhattan. In this capacity, he leads the corporation's Disability Initiative programs in various areas, including recruitment and retention, corporate affairs, assistive technology, and products and services. He has created programs whereby AIG is able to focus on the disability population to better serve their needs as well as the needs of AIG. As a graduate of the renowned Henry Viscardi School in Albertson, New York, Eisenberg joined AIG in 2006 as an Analyst in the Human Resources Corporate Staffing division. He was responsible for preparing all reports regarding hiring activity and cost per hire worldwide in addition to assisting in all aspects of the budget process for five different departments. Eisenberg now serves on the AIG Corporate Diversity Council but his extensive involvement and outreach to assist people with disabilities in finding employment goes beyond his daily work at AIG.

Eisenberg contributes his time, talent and energy as a member of five Business Advisory Councils, including Abilities, Inc., Just One Break, Inc. (JOB), and Fedcap. In addition, he is the founder and Director of the New York chapter of the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation. While in college, Eisenberg worked at Merrill Lynch in various areas including Private Wealth Management, Global Philanthropy, and the Office of General Counsel and Litigation Department. Eisenberg was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, with a concentration in Management, from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. He also attended Adelphi University and Baruch College.

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Rahnee K. Patrick of Chicago Ilinois

Rahnee Patrick joined Access Living, a leading disability advocacy organization run by people with disabilities, in Chicago, Illinois in 2002, and since mid-2004 has been the organization's Youth and Education Team Leader. In this capacity, she addresses equal educational access for students with disabilities in Chicago Public Schools and the holistic well being of youth with disabilities which include their self-esteem, sexual health, and the development of leadership and self-advocacy. Patrick came to Chicago from northern Indiana, where she was highly involved in the disability rights movement. In 1992, she was a disabled student leader for Students Together Able and Respected (STAAR) at Indiana University South Bend, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with a minor in Women's Studies. In 2006, Patrick organized the first national ADAPT Youth Summit, an initiative to ensure youth with disabilities use direct action tactics and to keep ADAPT alive in the next generations of disability rights. Patrick currently serves as the co-leader of Chicago ADAPT, is an active member of Not Dead Yet, and co-founder of Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA). She is an award-winning writer with her literary interestes surrounding disability, race, and women's issues. She also is a graduate of Partners in Policymaking (1997) and the New Leadership Development Advocacy Training (1999). Patrick is the oldest of four children, the daughter of a Thai immigrant and a Vietnam Veteran. On Labor Day weekend 2006, she married Mike Ervin and they live in downtown Chicago.

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