Jennifer joined Relay Resources in July after relocating from Sacramento to the Portland area. She succeeds Alysa Rose, who worked with Relay for eight years before retiring in June.
Margaret Van Vliet, Relay’s board chair, said, “It was hard to say goodbye to Alysa given her many accomplishments during her eight-year tenure. The board selected Jennifer from an impressive slate of candidates based on her extraordinary background, credentials, and clear commitment to disability justice.
“We have every confidence that Jennifer will build on Relay’s strengths and carry our mission forward during this time of social change and program modernization with renewed energy and a fresh perspective.”
Jennifer brings more than 25 years of experience in senior leadership positions in accounting and finance, learning and development, and sales and marketing within Fortune 1000 companies and higher education.
Most recently, she was the Senior Vice President and Chief Workforce Inclusion Officer for PRIDE Industries, where she led the company’s workforce inclusion programming strategy and operations to develop competitive, integrated, community-based employment pathways for people with disabilities. She also influenced employment policies that impact people with disabilities by working with federal, state, and local legislative offices, and community advocacy organizations.
Recently appointed to the Board of Trustees for the national United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) organization where she serves on the policy and research committees, Jennifer brings nonprofit depth through her work in the disability and education fields.
She co-founded Ability Revolution, which produces film and media projects that influence the way society views people with disabilities and advocates for students with disabilities and their families.
She previously served on the boards of Project Attain, Best Buddies California, All Belong Center for Inclusive Education, and the State of the Art Conference on Inclusive Postsecondary Education.
“I am honored by the board’s confidence in me to lead Relay Resources as we advance the mission of cultivating meaningful work for people with disabilities,” Jennifer said. “I look forward to leading a team of dedicated professionals who share a common vision of disability inclusion, justice, and pride in the workplace.
“I am excited to grow our business services and solutions and expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities.”
Conducting academic research on leadership beliefs and practices that inform disability-inclusive learning communities, Jennifer earned a Doctor of Education (Ed.D) with a concentration in organization and leadership from the University of San Francisco, where she also completed her MBA. She received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
In 2022, she was recognized as one of the Most Influential Filipina Women in the World™ (Global FWN 100™) by the Filipina Women’s Network (FWN) and a Top 25 Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Change Maker by the Sacramento Bee. She was also a 2017 Jefferson Award Winner for Public Service (now known as Multiplying Good) for her portfolio of disability research and advocacy work.
She produced the 2018 award-winning documentary You Can Be BRAVE: Breaking Barriers to Inclusion about her journey as a parent advocating for her son, who has an intellectual disability, to be included in all areas of society.
For Jennifer, disability inclusion is all in the family. She is married to Christopher Luebke, an intermediate and secondary public school special education teacher and inclusion specialist. Their adult son, a recent graduate of the EXCEL program for students with intellectual disabilities at Georgia Institute of Technology, is employed full-time and lives independently.
About Relay Resources: Relay Resources is a leading social enterprise in the Pacific Northwest with a mission to cultivate meaningful employment for people with disabilities. Since 1951, Relay Resources has been committed to doing things differently to make a difference so that people with disabilities can lead more fulfilling and independent lives through training, jobs, and housing. Relay employs more than 700 team members in janitorial, landscaping, document services, and supply chain solutions businesses, and manages over 900 affordable housing units with over 1,600 residents in the Portland Metro area. Learn more at our website: relayresources.org