Laura Owens

Laura A. Owens, Ph.D., CESP, has over 30 years of experience as a national leader in the transition and disability employment field. She started her career as a teacher (both general and special education) and is currently a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) where she coordinates the Graduate Transition Certificate program. She is the president of TransCen, Inc. (TCI), a national organization based in Rockville, Maryland, that provides direct placement services to individuals with disabilities, develops and evaluates new service models through research of evidenced-based practices leading to improved employment outcomes, and provides training and technical assistance to organizations and school districts focusing on the improvement of educational and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. In 1991, she founded Creative Employment Opportunities, Inc. (CEO) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an employment agency for individuals with disabilities, and ArtWorks for Milwaukee, a nonprofit jobs-training program in the arts for youth with and without disabilities in 2001. Dr. Owens served as the executive director of APSE, a national organization focusing on the advancement of integrated employment for citizens with disabilities based Washington, DC, from 2008 to 2014, and along with Pat Keul and Wendy Parent- Johnson was instrumental in establishing the CESP, a national credential for employment support professionals. Dr.Owens is an internationally known speaker and has published widely on transition and employment topics. Laura earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.