John Robinson | Our Ability, CEO
John is dedicated to connecting individuals with disabilities towards education and employment through mentoring, workshops, public speaking as well as job placement. Our Ability is the only disability owned and operated business dedicated to building employment opportunities through our job platforms, employment webinars, digital profile system and personal empowerment.
John Robinson
C.E.O. | Our Ability
Our Ability’s President and CEO, John Robinson (@OurAbility_CEO) is dedicated to connecting individuals with disabilities towards employment through our emerging technologies. Our Ability is disability-owned and operated; committed to building employment opportunities through our job platforms and engagement.
- In 2013, John Robinson is named one of ten White House (Obama) Champions of Change for Disability Employment
- In 2015, Our Ability, Inc. is presented with the Business Excellence Award in Small Business by the New York Small Business Development Corp
- In 2018, John Robinson is presented with the Chamber Champion Award in recognition of actions that have advanced the mission of the Capital Region (NY) Chamber
- In 2023, Our Ability was recognized by the Zero Project as an Innovative Solution.
John Robinson is the subject of “Get Off Your Knees: The John Robinson Story” a public television documentary seen around the world. Syracuse University Press published an autobiography of the same title in 2009.
Leadership Team
Kartik Sawhney
Our Ability, Chief Technology Officer
Kartik Sawhney
Chief Technology Officer | Our Ability
Kartik is a disability advocate and technologist who has not let his disability prove an impediment in the pursuit of his personal and professional goals and has done substantial work in empowering other people with disabilities to be successful tech professionals. As the first blind student to pursue science education in high school in India, he advocated for change in rules that now allow all blind students across the country to pursue sciences in high school. Similarly, after several months of advocacy, he convinced the top technical universities in India to open their doors to blind students, leading to at least fifteen students in India pursuing engineering today.
A computer science graduate of Stanford University, Kartik co-founded Project StemAccess (now I-Stem) that provides technical training, mentorship and hands-on opportunities to blind students across the country, and develops technical solutions to empower them to access educational and employment opportunities. I-Stem also works closely with the government, technical universities and corporates to make their campuses and culture more inclusive, and has worked with nearly 2,000 people with disabilities so far. Before this, he co-founded NextBillion.org, an award-winning global mentorship program for students with disabilities interested in technology that worked with over 1,200 mentees and mentors in 10 countries. As an engineer on the accessibility innovation team at Microsoft, Kartik continues to help identify and develop accessible technologies. Further, given his experience in accessibility and assistive technologies, he serves as an adjunct faculty at the Indian Council of Medical Research, besides serving on boards of several organizations and other high-level committees, such as the Education Commission’s Expert Panel on Technology and Education . His work and views have been published in several journals including UNICEF’s State of the world’s children Report among others.
In recognition of his leadership potential and work, Kartik received the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016 from Her Majesty The Queen. In addition, he has received the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (India’s highest honor for contributions to the disability sector) and was selected as one of the 17 UN young leaders for Sustainable Development Goals 2018 by Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth.
Douglas M. Hamlin
Our Ability, Vice President
Douglas M. Hamlin
Vice President | Our Ability
Doug Hamlin is an experienced executive with over thirty years directing development of software products and building sales, training and support organizations to achieve profitable success. He was a member of the founding group of VersaTrans Solutions Incorporated in 1983. After serving many roles throughout the company, including President and CEO from 2000 until 2008, he guided the company through its acquisition by Tyler Technologies where he served as Division President until 2010.
He is active in both the Onondaga and Albany County communities. As a member of the Board of Directors at Albany Medical Center since 2000, Mr. Hamlin currently serves as Vice Chair of the Hospital Board of Governors. He is also president of the Board of Trustees of the Skaneateles Historical Society and Museum.
From 2013 to 2018, Mr. Hamlin led the planning and participated in the “Journey Along the Erie Canal”, a 360-mile adaptive bicycle ride from Buffalo to Albany on the Canalway Trail highlighting the abilities within everyone. This has led to a passionate interest in the history, engineering and economic impact of the Canal’s past, present and future.
Bob Stevenson
Our Ability, Business Development Director
Bob Stevenson
Business Development Director | Our Ability
Bob has held successful sales and management roles with Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and other companies in the software and managed services business. He has a depth of experience and expertise in analyzing customer requirements and providing software, cloud, network, and managed services solutions that meet the real needs of his customers.
With experience providing solutions for large enterprises, K-12, higher education, government, and healthcare customers, he is thrilled to have the opportunity to help Our Ability customers increase hiring for people with disabilities.
MaryBeth Schneider
Community Outreach Director | Our Ability
With close to 30 years of experience in supporting people who have disabilities to be included in all aspects of community life, MaryBeth Schneider is now directing all her focus and energy on cultivating a strong and dynamic with colleges and universities to assist their students and graduates with disabilities build a career path.
Throughout her career with The ARC of New York and other organizations, MaryBeth has prioritized the issues of employment, self-advocacy, rights protection, and creative, person-centered approaches to helping people meet their life goals. She is now looking forward to using that experience to support businesses that embrace the idea, and understand the value of, an inclusive workforce.
“I am so pleased to be working with John and Doug to close the gap between businesses seeking diversity in their workforce and the people with disabilities who are ready and able for meaningful employment in every industry at every level.”
Carrie Krentz
WordPress Developer | Our Ability
Carrie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from the University of Michigan. She has more than 10 years’ experience creating beautiful and user-friendly WordPress websites.
Carrie uses her experience in sales to connect with clients to find web solutions that meet their business objectives and client needs. Guiding clients through the process of creating a new website or a redesign she can make sure the end product will meet your needs from increasing online presence with search engine optimization and google analytics, meeting website accessibility standards or securing your website from hackers.
Her favorite hours are spent as the team manager, driver and general counsel for two girls, one husband and a crazy dog.
Sanya Tuli
Program Manager| Our Ability
Sanya is a Product Enthusiast who likes to build products which solve user problems and actually make a difference to the society. She has led products successfully at various Organizations including Multinational companies and startups in India.
Motivating others to bring a change in the world through Technology and creative thinking. A visionary with analytical skills and strategic mindset. Likes to write inspirational quotes and introspecting spiritually once a while. Often found Reading good books about Technology, Leadership, Human Psychology and Philosophies of life
Syracuse University
Ruchita Harsora
Syracuse University
Ruchita Harsora
Program Manager, iConsult Collaborative | Syracuse University
Pursuing Master’s in Information Management at Syracuse University and striving to use my technical expertise to bring scalable solutions to meet the business requirements. Cooking fusion food and Dancing to Bollywood beats are things I am passionate about.
Hema Srinivas
Syracuse University
Hema Srinivas
Program Manager, iConsult Collaborative | Syracuse University
Hema Srinivas Kodati is studying computer science at Syracuse University. I also work at OurAbilly as a software developer. I’ve worked for cognizant as a full-stack developer for almost a year. I specialize in .Net, Angular, SQL Server, and MuleSoft.