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The Ablr Team
United to create a more diverse, equitable & accessible world.
Meet the Ablr Team. We are a group of passionate people with different experiences and abilities; all united in our desire to create a more diverse, equitable and disability-inclusive world-one website at a time.
Meet The Ablr Team
Ablr Team Bios
John Samuel, CEO
Co-Founder + CEO of Ablr, John manages a dedicated team that prioritizes helping organizations enhance inclusivity by ensuring digital content is accessible to individuals of all abilities. His personal experience as a person who is blind, facing numerous barriers in education, career, and everyday life due to accessibility challenges, fuels his passion for this work.
Widely recognized as an award-winning diversity leader and motivational speaker, Mr. Samuel has delivered a TEDx talk and authored published works – including his book, Don’t Ask the Blind Guy for Directions.
John holds an MBA from George Washington University and a BS in Accounting. He is also a Certified Professional in Accessible Core Competencies (CPACC).
He lives in Cary North Carolina with his wife Nicole and two children.
Mike Iannelli, CGO
Co-Founder + Chief Growth Officer (CGO) of Ablr, leads client engagement, business development, and brand strategy. Mike has held executive leadership positions at multiple national digital agencies, and reputable organizations such as GSI Commerce, EDMC, and LCI.
During a visit to LCI, Mike had a life-altering encounter that would forever change him. The distinct sound of a screen reader resonated deeply with him, making him realize that he wasn’t fully fulfilled in his work. It was in that transformative moment that he decided to explore the idea of joining forces with John, who also had a unique background and experiences.
Recognizing the power of their combined expertise and perspectives, Mike and John embarked on a discussion about creating Ablr. This pivotal meeting sparked their shared commitment to breaking down barriers and fostering accessibility for all. Mike has been honored as a Fearless and 40 leader driving change by Raleigh Magazine. Michael currently resides in Raleigh with his three children.
Kim Casey, Director of Accessibility
Director of Accessibility, has over 20 years of experience in the accessibility industry. Kim, when not testing websites and teaching Ablr’s clients about how to build sustainable accessibility practices, focuses on scaling and executing the Ablr’s Accessibility, Disability Inclusion, and Ablr Works programs.
She started her career with Sendero Group, a company that has been dedicated to creating accessible solutions for mapping and navigational software and applications. Kim has earned the IAAP CPACC and DHS Trusted Tester Certifications.
She has knowledge of various information dissemination and training mediums: World Wide Web, Audio, Video, Learning Management Systems, and accessible documents. Her projects include developing various curricula for “live” and self-paced digital accessibility training. Most relevant to this project, she has produced (1) Becoming a Digital Accessibility Analyst, (2) Creating Accessible Documents (MS Word, MS PowerPoint, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe PDF), (3) Understanding Accessibility Fundamentals, and (4) Content Creation Best Practices.
Page Goss, VP of Finance
VP of Finance, serves as financial advisor for strategic planning purposes. Paige oversees all sides of accounting operations, including payables, receivables, payroll, and tax preparation. She also develops appropriate tracking methods for revenue and expense.
Shannon Garner, Accessibility Training Specialist
As Accessibility Training Specialist of the Ablr team, Shannon is the head instructor for our 16 week Accessibility Analyst Course. Her passion for accessibility, learning and teaching about accessibility testing has opened up countless career opportunities for her students.
Shannon has filled many roles at Ablr, before promoting to the Accessibility Training Specialist, she was Ablr’s Senior Accessibility Analyst. She lead the accessibility team in testing websites using a screen reader. Prior to joining the Ablr team, she spent two years working on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service contract at HP in El Paso, TX. Shannon also received her certification of completion in hospitality and contact centers from The National Statler Center for Careers in Hospitality Service in Buffalo, NY.
Shannon earned her Certification in Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) and DHS Trusted Tester Certification.
Angus Muneeb Kola, Senior Accessibility Analyst
Angus has over five years of customer service experience with excellence and over 10 years of assistive technology and adaptive technology consulting experience with accreditation.
He worked as Gaston College’s ADA Compliance Specialist for over five years to make their online learning content more accessible. He has accessibility administrative experience in both automated and manual testing.
Before joining the world of accessibility, he has fifteen years of IT support and consulting experience and qualifications with a specialization in responsive web and app development.
Angus graduated from Gaston College with a A.A. in Liberal Arts.
Liv Evans, Program Coordinator
Liv Evans joins Ablr as Program Coordinator for the Ablr Works Program, a position in which she specializes in workforce development programs and courses while learning the ins and outs of digital accessibility. An educator turned accessibility professional, Liv started her career as an accommodations coordinator at the University of Georgia’s Disability Resource Center.
Liv works with Canine Companions for Independence in her free time as a volunteer service dog puppy raiser, a role that sparked her enthusiasm for creating a more accessible world. She brings experience in compliance, curriculum building, educational programming, and consumer development to the Ablr team.
Liv received her Bachelor’s in Public Health from Tulane University and her Master’s in Higher Education Administration from NC State University. She uses frameworks from both public health and education to drive her work to be human-centered, empathetic, and process-focused.
Logan Passey, Ablr Works Job Developer
As the Job Developer of the Ablr team, Logan works with both the candidates of the Ablr Works program as well as Ablr’s clients to help find solutions to DE&I hiring and especially how to get the right candidate for the right role.
Before Ablr, Logan had 6 years of Business Development and sales experience helping companies in the IT & Engineering industries build out and grow their teams to complete initiatives on time and within budget. Logan is a strong believer in the saying, “Decisions determine destiny”. His passion for helping others find ways to achieve their goals has brought him to Ablr.
Logan lives in Raleigh with his wife Ema and his son Bo. He received his Bachelor’s in Business Management with a Minor in Marketing from Utah Valley University.
Arielle Gines, Project Coordinator
Arielle joins Ablr as Project Coordinator for the Ablr Accessibility Projects, a position in which she ensures that we deliver meaningful and helpful accessibility advice to all of our Clients. She is responsible for making sure that our projects are delivered on time and always of high-quality.
She employs her strong communication skills to understand customer needs and provide exceptional results. She strives to develop strong relationships with clients by developing trust and exhibiting credibility early in the process.
She has a Google Project Management Professional Certification and Trusted Tester Certification, and is quickly working her way through the IAAP’s CPACC Certification materials.
Susanne Meyer, Employment Analyst
Susanne works passionately on disability inclusion. She creates trainings to make workplaces ready to welcome people of all abilities, and consults with companies about the accommodations they need to make. Susanne has many years of personal and professional experience as an ally to the disability community.Susanne holds a PhD from Duke University and is a certified ADA Coordinator and Braille Transcriber.
Maria Angeles, Accessibility Analyst
Maria Angeles joins Ablr as an Accessibility Analyst, bringing a unique blend of digital expertise and a passion for enhancing web accessibility.
Prior to joining Ablr, Maria transitioned from wardrobe teams in film, television, and Broadway to addressing digital accessibility challenges. Inspired by her experience at Momentum Learning, a coding bootcamp in Durham, Maria developed a keen eye for identifying and resolving accessibility issues in website code. Maria holds a DHS Trusted Tester Certification and is actively pursuing her Certification in Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) to further her commitment to accessibility standards
Tracker, Guide Dog Extraordinaire
Tracker is an energetic, 60-pound, yellow Labrador Retriever; born in San Rafael, California. Tracker joined Ablr after graduating in 2016 from Guide Dogs for the Blind in Boring, Oregon, as the companion of Shannon Garner.