Joyce Bender

Joyce Bender is the Founder and CEO of Bender Consulting Services, Inc., and the Bender Leadership Academy, located in Pittsburgh, PA. She has hosted the radio show, Disability Matters with Joyce Bender, on voiceamerica.com for over twenty years. As a woman living with epilepsy and hard of hearing, she has dedicated her life and career to a crusade for youth and adults to gain the dream of competitive employment and works tirelessly to break down employment barriers and stigma.

Joyce served as a disability employment expert for the U.S. State Department in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Panama, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Libya, and Nigeria. She conducted training for female entrepreneurs for Austria. She serves as the Chair of the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA, the Vice-Chair of the American Association of People with Disabilities, Trustee for The Bazelon Center on Mental Health Law, and on the President’s Advisory Board for Carlow University and boards for the World Institute on Disability (WID), Homeless Children’s Education Fund, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (CLO), Disability Rights of PA, and the Advisory Board of the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee.

Joyce holds a B.S. in psychology from Geneva College.