YTIOnline Faculty Instructors
Susanne Bruyère, PhD, CRC
Susanne M. Bruyère, PhD, CRC, is the Academic Director of the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability and a Professor of Disability Studies at Cornell University. As Academic Director of the Yang-Tan Institute, she is responsible for the strategic and financial direction of a multimillion-dollar research, training, technical assistance, and information dissemination organization devoted to improving employment outcomes and inclusive communities for people with disabilities. She is the PI/Project Director of the National Policy, Research, and Technical Assistance Center on Employment of People with Disabilities, which is funded by the U.S. DOL Office of Disability Employment Policy. She is the author/co-author of five books and over 180 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on workplace disability inclusion.
Dr. Bruyère is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association (APA), a former Chairperson of the Global Applied Disability Research and Information Network (GLADNET), an executive board member of CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities), and Past President of the Division (22) of Rehabilitation Psychology of the American Psychological Association, the National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE), and the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA).
Raymond A. Cebula, III, Esq.
Raymond A. Cebula, III, Esq. is a faculty member of the Employment and Disability Institute in the ILR School at Cornell University. As a faculty member, he provides technical assistance and training to an array of stakeholders on social insurance issues as well as protection and advocacy supports. As an experienced social security disability attorney Mr. Cebula practiced with the Disability Benefits Project as a Senior Staff Attorney with the Disability Law Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He has also served as a Managing Attorney of the Disability and Medicare projects at Southeastern Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation. He is a graduate of Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, NH and received a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship upon graduation. He is also a graduate of Merrimack College and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. His practice has concentrated in the area of social security practice and has brought several pieces of significant litigation on behalf of low income, disabled social security beneficiaries. While working with the Disability Law Center, Mr. Cebula taught at Harvard Law School's Legal Aid Bureau for a period of three academic years. He is the co-author of the MCLE publication An Advocate's Guide to Surviving the SSI System, as well as several SSI practice manuals published by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, and is a regular presenter of social security related programs at local and national conferences of social security practitioners.
Adene Karhan, MSW, LCSW
Adene Karhan is an Extension Associate at the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability at Cornell University. She specializes in training, technical assistance, and consultation on trauma-informed care and mental health, with a focus on supporting professionals who serve individuals with disabilities. Adene earned her Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University at Albany (SUNY) in 2013 and is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with expertise in working with youth and families affected by trauma and life stressors. At Cornell, she contributes to a range of grant-funded and fee-for-service projects addressing topics such as mental health, trauma, disability, and the transition of youth to postsecondary education and employment. Her work spans local, state, and national systems. Adene partners closely with vocational rehabilitation counselors and workforce development professionals to enhance their skills in counseling and trauma-informed practices. Her work supports these professionals in effectively engaging individuals and families who have experienced complex trauma and adversity. Bringing a unique interdisciplinary perspective that bridges the fields of mental health, disability, and employment, Adene is committed to translating research into practical tools and strategies. She provides cross-sector training and technical assistance to help systems create safer, more supportive environments for those navigating employment and service systems. Alongside her colleagues at Cornell, she develops and delivers customized training curricula for workforce professionals nationwide, supporting their efforts to promote equitable employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.
Tiffany Miller, M Ed, CRC
Tiffany joined the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute (YTI) on Employment and Disability in 2023. She is an extension associate with over 10 years of experience in vocational rehabilitation as a practitioner, advocate, and educator.
Prior to joining YTI, Tiffany worked for The Arc providing home and community-based habilitation and supported employment services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Tiffany went on to complete her degree to become a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC), working in state vocational rehabilitation supporting people with a wide range of disabilities, though she later specialized in supporting transition aged youth and adults with IDD and autism in their transition or introduction to competitive integrated employment. She spent time in and outside of sheltered workshops introducing competitive employment to populations who were previously not receiving employment services. Tiffany also worked for a nonprofit agency supporting veterans, military spouses/partners, and military-connected individuals in their goals to integrate into their communities, whether through paid employment or other avenues.
Kimberly J. Osmani, PhD
Dr. Kimberly J. Osmani is a nationally recognized leader at Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute, where she directs programs that advance transition and postsecondary outcomes for youth and adults with disabilities. With a background in special education and state-level leadership in vocational rehabilitation, she brings deep expertise in secondary transition, Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS), interagency collaboration, and benefits planning. Dr. Osmani has led multiple federally funded projects focused on improving competitive integrated employment outcomes, especially for opportunity youth. She is known for developing and delivering professional development to VR professionals, educators, families, youth, and service providers across the country. Her work emphasizes compliance with IDEA and WIOA regulations, data-driven program improvement, and the creation of tools to support effective documentation and reporting. As a former Statewide Transition Coordinator and special education teacher, she bridges systems to align education, VR, workforce services, and other partners. She has authored training guides, evaluation tools, curricula, and research manuscripts focused on partnership-building and service delivery. Dr. Osmani supervises multidisciplinary teams and supports staff capacity-building through coaching and technical assistance. Her leadership ensures grant and contract initiatives are grounded in evidence-based practices and sustained through strong cross-system partnerships.
Gina Oswald PhD, CRC, CVE
Gina brings 25 years of experience across employment, vocational rehabilitation, and professional development pedagogy to the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability. Her career has included experience at the local, state and national level through the direct provision of vocational habilitation and rehabilitation services in Ohio, professional development of preservice and current practitioners across the country, and leadership at the national level in rehabilitation organizations.
At the Yang-Tan Institute, Gina is currently a Senior Extension Associate and Principal Investigator of the NYS Consortium for Advancing and Supporting Employment (CASE) project. She also oversees the Disability Workforce Development Center and provides trainings to support vocational rehabilitation counselors, employment service providers, and other workforce development partners across the nation. Her key areas of interest and research focus on rural rehabilitation, universal design, best practices in employment services, transition-aged youth services, assistive technology, inclusive STEM education and makerspaces for all, and health and wellness.
Prior to coming to YTI, Gina held faculty positions at the University of Maine at Farmington, Wright State University, and Maryville University of St. Louis. She also worked as a state vocational rehabilitation counselor, campus-based transition-aged youth program coordinator, job developer and coach, and facility-based service provider. Her experience spans multiple states, diverse geographic and demographic regions, and unique populations. She is a certified rehabilitation counselor and certified vocational evaluator.
Jeffrey J. Tamburo, LMSW
Jeffrey is an Extension Associate at Cornell University’s K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, where he brings more than three decades of experience in disability employment, training, and technical assistance. He is widely recognized for his work on the New York State Consortium for Advancing and Supporting Employment (NYS CASE), a statewide initiative funded by ACCES-VR to enhance the skills of employment service professionals.
Jeffrey also serves as a training and content development specialist for Cornell’s Northeast ADA Center, one of ten federally funded ADA Centers in the U.S., where he delivers education on both the legal and human aspects of the ADA. His interests and focus are on Title I of the ADA—the employment provisions. His work emphasizes making training engaging, relevant, and impactful for businesses, employment professionals, and job seekers with disabilities alike.
In addition to his work in New York, Jeffrey collaborates on training projects with state vocational rehabilitation programs across the country. His expertise includes job development and employer engagement, assessment and employment planning, job coaching, documentation and reporting, disability disclosure and reasonable accommodation, and supporting individuals with challenging behaviors in the workplace, among other topics.
Jeffrey is a former co-president of New York APSE and currently serves on the boards of National APSE, New York APSE, and the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse. In addition, he was appointed to the New York State Rehabilitation Council in 2023.
Aleyda Toruno, JD
Aleyda joined the Yang-Tan Institute in 2023 where she provides work incentives training, technical assistance and support.
Aleyda has been advocating for the rights of people with disabilities for over 20 years. Prior to her current position at the Yang-Tan Institute, she represented clients in mediations and hearings in Social Security work incentives, vocational rehabilitation, special education, California Regional Center services, and Medi-Cal. Her passion to help clients through the employment continuum led her to the world of work incentives counseling. Most recently she was the project manager and work incentives counselor through the federally funded WIPA project at Disability Rights California.
Debora L. Wagner, JD
Debora Wagner spent 25 years working with legal services and law school clinical programs. She started her career at the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati, where she represented individuals with disabilities in benefits cases before the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration, with a specialization in work incentive planning. She taught at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and Saint Louis University School of Law, focusing on clinical legal education and poverty law.
Throughout her career, she has taught disability benefits, including post-entitlement and return to work issues for attorneys, vocational rehabilitation professionals, agency staff, individuals with disabilities, and their families. She is frequently invited to present on the intersection of VA benefits and Social Security benefits, with a focus on how work impacts benefits for Veterans. Prior to coming to Cornell, she led the statewide network of work incentive training and technical assistance for benefits planners in Ohio.
In December 2021, Debora joined the Cornell staff, where she continues to provide work incentive training and technical assistance. She also serves as an instructor on ytiONLINE, the institute's distance learning program for benefits planners and others interested in learning about Social Security disability, VA disability, and work incentive programs.