About Us
Mission statement
We mentor connect and inspire people with disabilities to achieve their education and employment dreams
Over the past two years, I’ve traveled around the country speaking about overcoming obstacles that my physical disability has presented in life. When I was a young adult and high school student, I had no one with a physical disability to look up to as a mentor. I did not meet someone my own height until I was 25 years old. I encountered very few people with physical disabilities as a young person. I know you’re my conversations around the country people with disabilities in business share the same stories.
Our Goals:
- To inspire those who need it the most, those people affected by disability. By producing documentaries of successful individuals and presenting them on short video clips on the Internet, we are able to provide videos streamed at any time when individuals need inspiration.
- To work with clients to support employment and education of people with disabilities.
- To collect resumes, provide job postings and educational services for individuals with disabilities. Job postings and services will be provided by the business partners, and the business partners will receive the resumes. This referral service will be provided as added value to the video production capabilities.
- To mentor people with disabilities inside the business partner organizations as well as to individuals seeking mentorship towards employment, education, entrepreneurship and business relationships.
About John Robinson
John Robinson is a motivational/inspirational speaker. In the past two years, Robinson has been from Australia to the White House discussing the Obstacles he has Overcome! John Robinson has spoken to Fortune 500 Corporations to high school students. Robinson can speak to audiences about Overcoming Obstacles in Life, Businesses or Sales!
Robinson is President and CEO of Our Ability, Inc. Our Ability is a for-profit company that specializes in mentoring people with disabilities worldwide though video stories, social media and peer-to-peer connection. Our Ability serves people in education, entrepreneur and employment support.
In 2010, John Robinson started a not-for-profit organization/501(c) 3 dedicated to educating people in schools and businesses about people with disabilities titled Disability Education Forum of New York (DEFNY).
Prior to Our Ability, Robinson worked for 20 years for television stations in New York State from sales to management. He is a 1990 graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
John Robinson is the subject of a national documentary shown on Public Broadcasting Stations titled Get Off Your Knees: The John Robinson Story and authored an autobiography Get Off Your Knees: A Story of Faith, Courage, and Determination published by Syracuse University Press.
John has been married for over fifteen years and has three children. In 2001, he was selected to carry the Olympic torch as it passed through Albany on its way to Salt Lake City for the 2002 games.
About Doug Hamlin
Doug Hamlin spent over 27 years at Versatrans (now part of Tyler Technologies). Fifteen years in both technical and marketing roles prepared Doug for executive leadership of this 80-person software company dedicated to providing exceptional products and service to the K-12 education industry.
As President and CEO he traveled extensively throughout North America to understand the needs of clients and translate them into effective business solutions. Doug takes pride in developing corporate strategy and aligning the organization to execute that strategy. Doug has presented at numerous K-12 transportation and administration conferences on the value of leveraging technology to drive efficiency through the organization.
Doug has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography and a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning. He lives in upstate New York with his wife Pam.