Michele Lawton
I founded Special Needs Advisors after a career in accounting as a Certified Public Accountant and Accounting Consultant. Creating a group home for my severely autistic son in Westchester County, NY, led to a new path as a full-time housing and services advisor for the I/DD population. I have worked with the Westchester Institute for Human Development as a NYS Housing Navigator assisting clients in finding and creating housing and residential supports and am very active in statewide discussions on issues facing the Autism and I/DD population. With agency partners, I was able to set up a model home for high needs individuals with challenging behaviors, and my dream is to have it duplicated around the state.
My education is a B.S. in Accounting from St. John Fisher College. I hold a certification as a NYS Housing Navigator and an Independent Self-Direction Broker and completed the Cornell Course in Work Incentives for Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare Benefits Navigation. I am a member of the Westchester Institute for Human Development Community Taskforce on Disabilities, GROW, Inc., and a former Board Member of Cardinal McCloskey Community Services. I have also given presentations on Housing and Self-Direction in New York City, Brooklyn, Westchester County, and Orange County.
Musa Klebnikov
In New York City I have been involved in numerous volunteer organizations including the Mayors Office for People with Disability’s Housing Panel, NYC Fair, the Manhattan Developmental Disabilities Council and Citizen’s Committee for Children. As an advocate I have testified at OPWDD meetings, attended Statewide conferences and visited elected politicians. I have certificates from the Yang Tan Institute and Partners in Policymaking programs at Cornell University, and am a trained facilitator for Supported Decision-Making Agreements. My education includes a Master’s degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. I am a board member of numerous organizations and have worked in both Federal and State governments in urban design and development, as well as created and ran a foundation now merged into the Harriman Institute at Columbia University.