Starkloff Disability Institute
2023 Gratitude and Impact Report
Years of Transforming Lives
…and we’re just getting started
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Disabled People Thriving.
A decade into the ADA era, barriers continued to exclude people with disabilities from everyday life. Max and Colleen Starkloff and David Newburger knew real belonging requires not simply access, but also economic opportunity. Employment was the key. They founded SDI to tackle the problem from both sides: empowering disabled professionals and educating employers and the community.
Careers are at the heart of full community participation. Our flagship program, the Starkloff Career Academy, empowers professionals with disabilities with the confidence and skills to launch and grow careers they love. We do not place people in jobs, but show them how to step into their own power as disabled professionals for lifelong success.
Having the skills and confidence doesn't matter much if employers don't view disabled candidates as equally capable as nondisabled peers. We are changing that through education for companies and communities to break down barriers and stereotypes that exclude people with disabilities.
A Milestone More Than 20 Years in the Making
In 2003, Max and Colleen Starkloff and David Newburger founded the Starkloff Disability Institute on a belief that was radical at the time and remains urgent today: disabled people deserve to fully participate in every part of community life. Not just survive. Thrive.
Twenty years later, SDI has empowered more than 880 people with disabilities, trained thousands of employers and community members, and grown into the region’s recognized Workforce, Workplace Disability Advisor. We celebrated that milestone in style (disco balls and all) and we are nowhere near done.
Max Starkloff is disabled in a car accident.
Now a wheelchair user, the many barriers in a world not built for him force Max to move into a nursing home at age 25.
Max was forced to live in a nursing home after acquiring his disability. Exiled to St. Joseph’s Hill Infirmary and excluded from the workforce and the opportunities his peers pursued, his faced a future of long, solitary days. He learned to paint, holding the brush with his mouth.
Max founds Paraquad with Colleen. It is one of the first federally funded Centers for Independent Living (CILs) that work to support disabled people living in our communities instead of institutions.
Max founded Paraquad while still living in the nursing home, the foundation of his plan to escape incarceration in an institution and participate fully in his community.
The Rehab Act of 1973 is enacted.
Section 504 prohibited disability discrimination in federally funded programs, though those regulations were not signed until 1977, after protests across the country, including a 25 day sit-in led by disability rights advocates, pressured officials to act.
Judy Heumann, the Mother of Disability Rights, was a leader in the movement and an organizer of the famous occupation of the federal building in San Fransico. Judy was a close friend of the Starkloffs and served on SDI's board of directors in its early days.
Max marries Colleen Kelly, a physical therapist in the nursing home where he lived.
Five years later, they adopt the first of their 3 children.
Max and Colleen met while Colleen was working as a physical therapist in the same nursing home where Max lived. They fell in love and Colleen joined Max's fight for freedom and equal rights. They married and became parents of three children.
After decades of advocacy by disabled people, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is signed into law.
After decades of grassroots organizing, the disability community finally had their civil rights codified in federal law. This landmark legislation was signed on July 26, 1990. President Bush was joined onstage during the ceremony by Disability Rights leaders Disability Rights advocates: Evan Kemp, Rev. Harold Wilke, Sandra Swift Parrino, and Justin Dart.
Colleen Starkloff helps establish the St. Louis Affordable Housing Trust Fund that leads to the country’s first Universally Designed apartment building and increases accessible housing.
6 North was the first Universally Designed apartment building in the U.S. It is located in the vibrant Central West End neighborhood and is near a public transit hub. A beautiful place to live for disabled and nondisabled people alike.
Leveraging their long record of advancing disability rights, Max and Colleen and David Newburger found the Starkloff Disability Institute (SDI) to address the inequality and exclusion people with disabilities continued to endure in our communities.
Dear Partners and Friends,
Twenty years! I’ve been with Starkloff for ten of them, and the work that felt urgent when we started feels even more urgent now.
I know this mission personally. I am a graduate of the Starkloff Career Academy. I am legally blind. There was a time I was afraid to share that. Starkloff changed everything. I became an empowered, proud disabled professional, unafraid to share all of who I am. That confidence is what we give our candidates every single day.
I am proud to step fully into the role of CEO, appointed by our board this June, and energized by what we will accomplish together.
In 2023, we expanded Dream Big to middle schoolers, launched three career tracks in the Starkloff Career Academy from first jobs to C-suite goals, hosted our biggest-ever Disability Employment Summit, and welcomed five new Board members, including two Career Academy graduates. We also said a profound goodbye to Susan Menhard, who built our flagship program and transformed more than 500 careers.
None of this happens without you. Thank you for being part of it.
With gratitude,
Lori Becker
Chief Executive Officer
Starkloff Disability Institute
Starkloff Career Academy Class of 2013
Our Mission
Starkloff Disability Institute builds inclusion where we live, learn, work, and play through disability-led programs that advance economic opportunity and transform lives.
Our Vision
Disabled people thriving.
#DisCo
Short for Disability Community, people with disabilities use #DisCo to connect across social media.
SDI partners with Maryville University, creating a Disability Studies program taught by disabled educators for students in fields that serve people with disabilities so they can be more welcoming.
SDI convenes the second of our 7 global Universal Design Summits educating architects, designers, and more to go beyond basic ADA compliance, creating buildings and products that are attractive and practical for everyone regardless of age, size, ability or disability.
Recognizing the persistence of attitudinal barriers SDI develops expanded disability inclusion education for the nondisabled community.
Most people don't set out to exclude people with disabilities—they're simply unaware of the barriers. Our expertise in accessibility and lived experience as disable professionals positions us to educate others, and help corporate partners strategize solutions for their workplaces.
To close the employment gap for disabled professionals, SDI partners with our first 5 Role Model Companies: Centene, Enterprise Bank & Trust, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Nestlé Purina, and SSM Health Care.
Role Model Companies work closely with Starkloff to build more inclusive workplaces and hiring practices. Partnering with leading companies is a strong signal for smaller companies that inclusion is the expectation, not the exception.
Addressing the other side of the problem—disabled job candidates discouraged by immense barriers—SDI launches the Next Big Step class to empower them with the skills and confidence to succeed in the workforce.
Professionals with disabilities who have college degrees or comparable work experience are not on an level playing field with nondisabled candidates in the competitive, mainstream workforce. The Next Big Step teaches foundational job-search, resume, and interview skills that underpin lifelong career success. The impact is more than getting hired right now, it supports a person’s promotions and transitions down the road.
SDI is recognized as St. Louis’ Workforce, Workplace Disability Advisor, partnering with companies across the region and educating HR professionals to attract, hire, and retain talented employees with disabilities.
In addition to working with individual companies, Starkloff expands our impact with public awareness campaigns promoting inclusive employment. We emphasize how this approach benefits everyone: the employee, the employer, and the region.
SDI’s signature disabled candidate education class grows into the Starkloff Career Academy, combining the recruiting insights of our corporate partners with our expertise as disabled professionals, to level the playing field for people with disabilities in the job market.
Our strong partnerships with employers helps level the playing field for disabled candidates who gain cutting-edge job-seeking skills. As volunteers, real hiring professionals review candidates’ resumes and conduct mock interviews, giving actionable feedback to the candidates based on what employers are really looking for.
Real Impact: Data and stories of our mission in action
Expanding Impact: The Numbers
Julie
“Starkloff gave me back my self-esteem.”
Julie already had a successful career when an injury changed everything. Her disability isn’t visible, and she didn’t know how to talk about it, so she hid it, wedging herself into a company’s narrow idea of what an acceptable employee looks like. What had worked before simply didn’t work anymore. She was exhausted.
She found SDI. For the first time, she was in a room full of people who said, “I KNOW, RIGHT?!” People who had been there, with workarounds and firsthand advice. Julie found her people. She learned to say the word “disabled” with pride, asked for the flexible schedule that let her talent shine, and landed the job she’d wanted for 20 years but never had the courage to pursue.
Today she works as a Management Consulting Delivery Analyst, training teams on systems used around the world. She did that. Starkloff gave her the tools.
The Starkloff Career Academy was the first time Julie felt completely accepted by professional peers, building her confidence to land her dream job!
Salome tests the weight of a gold bar at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' Money Museum with Dream Big Career Camp.
Salome
Big dreams and a digital braille writer
Big dreams and a digital braille writer
Salome joined Dream Big as a middle schooler, one of the first to benefit from the program’s expansion to younger students. She used company visits to practice navigating unfamiliar environments on her own, showed her digital braille writer to curious peers, and soaked up every conversation about careers and disability history.
Outside of camp, she placed second in her age group nationally at the National Braille Challenge. She wants to be a disability rights attorney. At the rate she’s going, watch out!
Lily
The difference one accommodation makes
When Lily joined Dream Big, she was getting by without ASL interpretation, relying on context clues the way she always had. She is Deaf, and it had become second nature to fill in the gaps on her own.
With support from Starkloff’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Outreach Coordinator, Lily started to see what she was actually missing. Accommodations aren’t charity. They’re what you need to fully show up. By the end of camp, Lily was working with her interpreter, participating in every activity, and connecting with peers in a way she hadn’t before.
Lily connected with peers in new way thanks to her accommodations during Camp, as well as some furry friends from the Purina Incredible Dog Team.
Justice faced barriers as a person with a disability and, as a new resident of the U.S., encountered cultural barriers around employer expectations and disability in general.
Justice
From student to colleague
Justice came to Access U as a university student navigating the barriers so many disabled professionals face. He left as a professional.
He now serves as Continuing Education Coordinator at the University of Washington’s Northwest ADA Center, helping others navigate the same systems he once struggled with. That ripple effect is exactly what SDI’s programs are built to create.
To counteract the impact of society’s low expectations for youth with disabilities, SDI pilots Dream Big, a summer career exploration program for disabled high school students.
Dream Big helps students with disabilities raise their expectations for their own futures. Pairing inclusive workplace visits with our “Adulting with a Disability” curriculum, students learn that disability does not mean settling for less and gain thriving disabled professional role models.
College career centers lack the expertise to prepare disabled students for discussing their disability with an employer or requesting accommodations. SDI launches Access U to fill that gap, teaching disabled students how to land internships and launch careers.
Online classrooms become SDI’s biggest tool and connects us to disabled candidates across the country and beyond.
Demand for disability-focused career development skyrockets during the Covid-19 pandemic as disabled people lose jobs at a rate almost 40% higher than their non-disabled counterparts.
The Starkloff Career Academy expands to 6 classes each year to meet demand and employers are more experienced with accommodations like working from home and flexible schedules that attract and retain talent.
SDI launches a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Outreach initiative to deepen our connections in the community and help more talented Deaf professionals get hired in jobs they love.
Dream Big grows into a year-round program with Career Club and Parent Roundtables during the school year and summer Career Camps offering accelerated career exploration and mentorship from Access U college students.
Left: Karyn Houston, Deaf professional and SDI's Deaf and Hard of Hearing Outreach Coordinator, has the expertise to advise Deaf students and candidates navigating unique barriers. Right: The is no other program like Dream Big and demand continues to increase for the engaging, empowering, and fun programming!
Scenes from our 20th Birthday Bash (left to right): Justin Kauflin and the Justin Kauflin Trio’s concert was a highlight of the night. Former Dream Big student Holly Connor led a fabulous rendition of Happy Birthday! SCA grad Christopher Gaines travelled from the east coast to celebrate and had the honor of blowing out the birthday candles.
Celebrating Our 20th Birthday Bash
On April 29, 2023, we threw a party worthy of 20 years. The SDI Birthday Bash at the Four Seasons featured jazz from the Justin Kauflin Trio, a showstopping birthday song from Dream Big student Holly Connor, and Christopher Gaines, Career Academy graduate, traveling from Washington, D.C. to blow out our birthday candles.
SDI honored two champions:
- Gina Hilberry, AIA, received the Max J. Starkloff Lifetime Achievement Award for a career spent making landmarks from the Gateway Arch to the 9/11 Memorial welcoming to everyone.
- Centene Corporation received the Champion of Inclusion Award for two decades of partnership and commitment to hiring disabled talent.
The event itself was fully accessible by design: the entire menu gluten-free, audio description, live captioning, and ASL interpretation from the start. Inclusion isn’t just what we talk about. It’s how we run a party.
A expert and champion of Universal Design, Gina's work shapes some of St. Louis' most beloved spaces to ensure everyone in our community can participate fully, including the Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium, St. Louis Symphony, and Missouri Botanical Garden.
Accepted by Adewalé Soulade, Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Centene Corporation is a Starkloff Disability Institute Role Model Company and longtime partner in our work to help disabled people thrive.
Gratitude
Thank You
To our donors, board members, corporate partners, volunteers, and community members: this is your impact too. Every gift funds a candidate who finds their confidence. Every training session plants seeds that become more inclusive workplaces. Every conversation shifts the culture, one person at a time
The Max Starkloff Society
Est. 2003
Celebrating a decade of making a difference through leadership giving
- Anonymous (4)
- United Way of Greater St. Louis
- Adele Braun Charitable Foundation
- Anonymous
- Centene Corporation
- The Tilles Foundation
- William R. Orthwein Jr. & Laura Rand Orthwein Foundation, Inc.
- Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
- Steve Degnan
- The Tilles Foundation
- American Direct Marketing Resources
- Carol Benoist
- BioSTL
- David A. Blanton, III
- The Dana Brown Charitable Trust, U.S. Bank, Trustee
- CLA Foundation
- Enterprise Mobility Foundation
- The Four Leaf Clover Foundation
- Good Developments Group
- Harvest
- Sally Lemkemeier
- Nick and Gabrielle Molnar
- Nestlé Purina PetCare
- Trent Barnes Phelps
- Jean Raybuck
- Karen and Jim Stewart
- Trio Foundation of St. Louis
- Richard and Josephine Weil
- Herbert and Adrian Woods Foundation
- Ameren Missouri
- BJC HealthCare
- Robert Butler and Susan Brown
- Cigna Foundation
- Emerson
- Employees Community Fund of Boeing
- Hugh and Janice Grant
- Greater St. Louis Inc.
- Mary Ranken Jordan and Ettie A. Jordan Charitable Foundation
- Donna Moog and Leonard Landsbaum
- Lodging Hospitality Management
- Mackey Mitchell Architects
- Jack and Kathy MacDonough
- Metro
- Regions Financial Corporation
- William E. Siedhoff Foundation
- St. Louis Philanthropic Organization
- Saint Louis University
- World Wide Technology
- Nancy Barnidge
- Kitty Bollinger
- Anne and Bill Chao
- November and Mike Champion
- Compass Design
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
- Christopher Gaines
- Graybar Foundation
- Kara Kopplin and Tony Krawat
- Christina and Bryan Lawrence
- Let’s Build Hope
- Sue McCollum
- MilliporeSigma
- Permobil Foundation
- Lynda and Steve Peyton
- PGAV
- St. Louis Community College
- Debbie Strobach
- Thompson Coburn LLP
- Wells Fargo
- Allstate Foundation
- Lori Becker
- Milton and Ruth Berman Family Foundation
- Amy and Bryan Bird
- Marion Black
- Blueprint4
- CannonDesign
- Brian W. Chao
- Charlie and Katie Claggett
- Rose Mary Dieckhaus
- Tiffany and Andrew Dill
- Edward Jones
- James and Lionelle Elsesser
- Patsy and Dean Farmer
- David C. Farrell
- Harriet Felman
- FleishmanHillard
- Karen Foss
- Joe and Mary Kay Freund
- GadellNet
- Reva Gaines
- J.W. Kisling and Mildred A. Kisling Charitable Foundation
- Sam and Hilary Klein
- Steffani and Lanny Lautenschlager
- Amy and Steve Levin
- Leslie and Jeff Lewis
- Lighthouse for the Blind – St. Louis
- Kathy Lovell
- Maggie Mahoney
- Kelly Martin
- The McPheeters Family
- Amanda Luckett Murphy
- Permobil, Inc.
- Cynthia Ross
- Judy Smith
- Pam and Greg Trapp
- Marty and Susie Tendler
- Sue and Tom Terrell
- Hobart Truesdell
- Randy and Elisa Wang
- Jean and William Wasko
- Richard Miles and Pat Whitaker
- Jeff and Stephanie Zornes
- Anne and Jack Bader
- David and Angela Baker
- Ed and Ann Barnidge
- Wendy and Les Borowsky
- Mary Lou Chao-Shoemaker
- Tom and Meg Claggett
- Sally Coleman
- Marilyn and Dan Claggett
- Blair Dammerman
- Yoshiko Dart
- Sue and Jim Denigan
- David Dollar
- Richard Engelsmann and Diane Buhr Engelsmann, Engelsmann Charitable Fund
- Sean Fitzgerald
- Daniel and Caroline Fort
- Peter Fuerst
- Karen and Lawrence Goering
- Tom Giles
- Robert and Susan Goldstein
- Good Sport Captioning
- Gina Hilberry
- Jesse and Linda Hunter
- Thomas Ott and Steven Koehler
- Eddie and Betsy Lawlor
- Scott Littlejohn
- Frank Jacobs and Marylen Mann
- Metropolitan Build
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- David and Merle Millar
- Toni Monaghan
- Wendi Moseley
- Dan and Gail Nielsen
- Katherine Ricks and Clarence Olsen
- Paul Prifti
- Eva Frazer and Steve Roberts
- Debbi and Ed Schwarz
- Lillian C. Selle
- Kent Splaingard
- Faith Stevison
- Sarah Trulaske
- Scott Turner
- Wipfli LLP
- Amazon Smile Foundation
- Anonymous (3)
- Diana Arand
- Erin Archuleta
- Diana and Scott Armstead
- Linda Baker
- Richard and Iona Baldwin
- Jamie Ball
- Karen and Steve Barney
- Christine and Robert Barrett
- Gavin Barrett-Hayes
- Diane and Mike Bauhof
- Vernal and Nancy Beckmann
- Gavin Bettcher
- Sarah Birdsall
- Andrea Blaylock
- Susan Block
- Boeing Company
- Robert and Claudia Bommarito
- Hara Ann Bouganim
- Aaron Bowden
- Rachelle Branch
- Meaghan and Mark Breitenstein
- Nikki Schwent and Reid Burnett
- Mary Burns
- Phil Chicoineau
- Nikolas Chkautovich
- Kaci Conley
- Laura Conley
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- Bryan Parrish and Holly Cooksey
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- Steven and Susan Cox
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- Betty Davidson
- Libby Davidson
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- Marianne Degnan
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- Patrick Dorsey
- Kevin Drollinger
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- Sarah Felts
- Lance Finne
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- Patsy French
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- Jenny Garofalo
- Carol Ann Giles
- John Gillis
- Dawn and Michael Gipson
- Judith and Richard Glassman
- Michael Goad
- Paula Godar
- Victor and Cara Goines
- Ed Golterman
- Shannon Grass
- Margaret Gray
- Nadia Green
- Sheila Greenbaum
- Duane and Catherine Hagen
- Arthur and Abby Hailand
- Linda Hale
- Jean Hamilton
- Ross and Debbie Hammond
- Elizabeth and Bob Hanson
- Melissa Harlan
- Jennifer Harpring
- Bruce and Diane Hartsfield
- Cathy and Ward Hebert
- Sarah and Chad Henry
- Emma Grace Hersom
- Jane Hickenlooper
- Joe Vitale and Jenna Horrell
- Karyn and Charles Houston
- Donna Hughes
- Lisa and Ben Humphreys
- Brooke Hurst
- Alishea and Walter Johnson
- James and Suzanne Johnson
- Lori Jones
- Lana Jordan
- Eugene and Constance Kahn
- Megan Fox and Jonathan Katz
- Julie A. Kauffmann
- Megan Kennedy
- Paul Khawam
- Robert Krebs
- Ladue Chapel Women’s Association
- John Lamb
- Ben Larks
- Anna Leavey
- Jason Lesko
- Long Parent Teacher Organization
- Steve and Diana Louer
- Sharon Lyons
- Kate Mahoney
- Mimi Newsham Mahoney
- Kate and Dale Mansfield
- Jack and Sharon Marbarger
- Lauren Markow
- Julia Mayer
- Sheila McCarthy
- Guy and Peggy McClellan
- Audrey McFadden
- Donna McGarry
- Con and Mary McGrath
- Laurie McLiney
- Susan Menhard
- Meta
- Andrew L. Metcalf
- Walter Metcalfe
- Dawn Miller
- Patti and Chas Miller
- Missouri State Council of SHRM
- Terry Moses
- David Newburger
- Kathryn Nixon
- Dan and Sharon Nolan
- Matthew Nyberg
- Ryan Paige
- Jim and Rachel Paul
- Tom and Kris Pelizzaro
- Michelle and Hugo Perez
- Sarah Prechtel
- Gary and Marilyn Ratkin
- Maggie Raywood
- Wayne Ruth
- Ken Ryan
- Nancy Ryan
- Mitch Sasa
- Nicole Sauer
- Mackenzie Schaefer
- Lynette Schanuel
- Joanne Schlechta
- Bradley & Susan Schmidt
- Jim & Sheila Schnurbusch
- Debbi & Ed Schwarz
- William B. Sheldon
- David Shifflett
- Becky Shoemaker
- Sharon Silverstein
- Nicole Smith
- Adewalé Soluade
- Kathy Sontag
- Brendan Spinks
- Mackenzie Steiner
- St. Louis Regional Library Network
- J. Kennard Streett
- David Sweeney
- Carolyn & Daniel Teasley
- Colleen Tepen
- Jenny Terrell & Johnny Buse
- Luke Terrell & Andrea Schmid
- Claire Tessier
- Amanda Thomas
- Sarah Trulaske
- Linda & Andy Tucker
- Anthony Turek
- Conchita Valdes
- Jessica Valdes
- Jane & Tom Vickrey
- Roger & Christy Waxelman
- Shannon Weber
- Heather Wefel
- Dave Welborn
- Barbara Wheatley
- Josef Wibbenmeyer
- Sue Wiest
- Charles Williams
- Jessica Williams
- Allison Zuck
You make it possible for people with disabilities in our community to connect with peers, build careers they love, and live self-determined lives.
We are deeply grateful.
In Memory
Finances
Financial Snapshot
For the fiscal year January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023.
The auditor’s report and a complete set of financial statements for 2022 are available upon request.
Support and Revenue |
|
|---|---|
| Contributions | |
| Individual | $ 812,155 |
| Corporate | 207,538 |
| Foundation | 2,229,304 |
| Total Contributions | 4,355,902 |
| Professional Services | 90,229 |
| Other | 52,670 |
| Total Support + Revenue | $ 4,498,801 |
Expenses
