We’re pleased to honor EY for their incredible leadership and commitment to diverse abilities to build a better working world — with increased trust and confidence in business, sustainable growth, development of talent in all its forms, and greater collaboration.
Most recently, EY was a presenting supporter of and hosted the America’s Disability Rights Museum on Wheels in New York City. It has taken the bold leadership and countless contributions of people around the world to form the leading global organization EY is today. Their roots go back to the 19th century and their founders Arthur Young and Alwin C. Ernst. Starting with their founder, Arthur Young, EY has always embraced differing abilities. Trained as a lawyer, Arthur was deaf with low vision and he wasn’t able to comfortably practice. He turned to finance and the new field of accounting to build his career. His “disability” drove him to innovation and entrepreneurship, which played a pivotal role in the development of the firm.
Their steadfast commitment to helping people with disabilities work comfortably and productively is illustrated through their ongoing investment in professional networks, educational resources and accessible work spaces. This includes providing accessibility in the technologies they build, buy and deploy. For example, they are the first of the Big Four to sign the Business Taskforce on Accessibilities Technology (BTAT) Charter.
At EY they believe that only the highest-performing teams, which maximize the power of different opinions, perspectives and cultural references, will succeed in the global marketplace. Their focus on diversity and inclusiveness is integral to how they serve their clients, develop their people and play a leadership role in their communities. That is because creating an inclusive workforce, where all difference matter, allows EY to identify the risks and opportunities they might not otherwise see. A. C. Ernst and Arthur Young would surely be proud of the result — a global organization of 212,000 people sharing their ideals and passion to help build a better working world.
Stephen J. Mastrocola is an Assurance Partner and is the Area Leader of Ernst & Young’s New England Assurance Practice, primarily serving clients in the technology and life sciences industries. Based in Boston, Steve has more than 25 years of experience with a significant focus on working with privately-owned and publicly-held companies in the technology sector including software, medical devices and e-commerce. Steve is a Member of the Board of Directors of PYD now for five years and is steadfast in his care and support in a plethora of ways. He gives of his time and expertise as a member of the finance committee, is a champion in giving and encourages, invites, and welcomes the participation of his family, friends and colleagues at PYD.
Steve graduated from Boston College with a BS in Business Administration, Accounting. Steve is a CPA in Massachusetts and New York and is a member of the AICPA and Massachusetts Society of CPAs. Steve also serves on the Board of The New England Aquarium. Steve and his wife Donna live in North Andover, Massachusetts with their three children – Katy, Andrew and Emily.
Cheri Blauwet, MD is a former Paralympic athlete in the sport of wheelchair racing, competing for the United States Team in three Paralympic Games (Sydney ’00, Athens ’04, Beijing ’08) and bringing home a total of seven Paralympic medals. She is also a two-time winner of both the Boston and New York City Marathons, and has been nominated for the ESPY Award, the Laureus World Sports Award, and Women’s Sports Foundation Athlete of the Year. She is the Chairperson of the International Paralympic Committee’s Medical Committee and serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). As an Instructor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she also serves as the Disability Access and Awareness Director for Spaulding Rehabilitation Network. She is a graduate of the Stanford University School of Medicine and completed her residency training in PM&R at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where she served as Chief Resident, followed by a sports medicine fellowship at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Eli A. Wolff co-founded and co-directs the Inclusive Sports Initiative at the Institute for Human Centered Design, the Royce Fellowship for Sport and Society at Brown University, and also the Power of Sport platform, a new initiative to fuel and magnify the power of sport movement. Eli helped to establish the ESPY Award for Best Male and Female Athlete with a Disability, and he organized the national disability sport organizations to support professional golfer Casey Martin in his successful case against the PGA before the U.S. Supreme Court. Eli has helped to lead a national effort for the inclusion of student-athletes with disabilities in high school and college athletic opportunities. He is currently involved in a global collaborative effort to develop an International Mentoring Day on January 17 in connection with Muhammad Ali’s birthday. Eli was a member of the United States Paralympic Soccer Team in the 1996 and 2004 Paralympic Games. Eli is a graduate of Milton Academy and Brown University and is pursuing his PhD in Sports Studies at the German Sport University of Cologne. Eli serves on the board of directors for the United States Olympians and Paralympians Association and on the board of Partners for Youth with Disabilities.
Carol Curtin, PhD is the Associate Director of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center and also Director of the Shriver Center’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) programs. She maintains faculty appointments in the UMMS Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, the Department of Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine, and the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University. Dr. Curtin received her MSW from Boston University School of Social Work and her PhD in Clinical and Population Health Research from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Curtin has over 30 years of experience working with individuals with developmental disabilities and behavioral health /psychiatric disorders and their families in a variety of settings using a variety of clinical modalities, and has directed programs in clinical, community, academic, and research settings. Her current research is focused on health promotion with an emphasis on identifying unique modifiable risk factors for obesity in populations of children and adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities and devising targeted and tailored interventions to meet their needs.
Ellen Perrin, MD went to Barnard College in NY City, and then medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio. While there she participated in a program in which we provided books and activities for children who were living in the inner city of Cleveland. For the next few years she did her pediatric training at the University of Rochester and at Children’s Hospital National Medical Center in Washington DC. Since then Ellen has been on the faculty in pediatrics at the University of Rochester, Vanderbilt University, the University of Massachusetts, and since 2000 at Floating Hospital at Tufts Medical Center. She has done a lot of teaching and research about children with special health care needs of all kinds, especially helping practicing pediatricians to partner with their parents to identify their needs and find ways to meet them.