Bio - Staff - Leadership Archives

Graciano Petersen

Graciano Petersen, Senior Director for Talent, Culture, and Leadership Development

Graciano Petersen is the Senior Director for Talent, Culture, and Leadership Development at RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community. Graciano is dedicated to advancing equity across all sectors and providing accessible opportunities for upskilling and advancement. Graciano holds an MA in Second Language Acquisition from Tulane University, is fluent in Spanish, and is working towards fluency in Brazilian Portuguese.

Prior to joining RespectAbility, Graciano worked in adult education and school leadership. He has over 13 years of Adult Education experience and is passionate about making education accessible to all types and levels of learners. Graciano is currently on the Board at the Adult Numeracy Network as the Equity Officer where he focuses on working with board to make sure there is equity across the inner workings of the board and its committees.

Outside of work, Graciano is a carnivalist (a carnival enthusiast) and can be found engaging in carnival culture and leads the Vavá United School of Samba in DC.

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Ben Spangenberg

Ben Spangenberg, Senior Manager, National Leadership Program

Ben Spangenberg (he/him) is the Senior Manager of RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program where he recruits and trains talented young leaders for careers in public policy, advocacy, and media. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.

Spangenberg was previously RespectAbility’s Special Assistant to the President and was responsible for scheduling appointments and travel for the president, coordinating monthly Board updates and assisting with the day-to-day administrative operations of the office.

He also assisted with RespectAbility’s democracy work, spending several weeks in Iowa and New Hampshire interviewing presidential candidates. He met 100 percent of the 2016 candidates on both sides of the aisle, educating their campaigns on the importance of not only ensuring accessibility of events and materials but also creating thoughtful policies for helping people with disabilities achieve employment goals.

Prior to working with RespectAbility, Spangenberg worked on Capitol Hill and spent seven years working with a government contractor on several disability-related projects pertaining to employment, education and community living. Spangenberg received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Contact Ben Spangenberg

Reach Spangenberg at BenS@RespectAbility.org.

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Jake Stimell

Jake Stimell, Disability Training and Consulting Bureau Associate

Jake Stimell is the Disability Training and Consulting Bureau Associate at RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.

In his work, Stimell recruits, trains, and places leaders with disabilities as trainers and consultants within the Disability Training and Consulting Bureau. He evaluates the needs of organizations, including nonprofits, corporations, and educational institutions, and designs training materials for them. [continue reading…]