About
CINDY KOLBE
wrote Struggling with Serendipity. She has been a lifelong disability advocate — even before her youngest daughter's spinal cord injury. She ran a non-profit, managed group homes, and taught literacy to adults with disabilities at a state institution. An active volunteer, she served on the Ohio Swimming Board of Directors as Adapted Chairperson for swimmers with a disability. She is a Peer Mentor, Guest Blogger, and Regional Champion for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. She supports other Warrior Moms, in addition to other disability and mental health nonprofits. She also provided four years of personal care after her daughter Beth's spinal cord injury. Cindy is a mom on a mission to share the power of hope and connection. Since March of 2016, Cindy published 52 articles related to disability and mental health in 22 different media. She frequents radio shows and podcasts. Her website includes a popular blog, her Serendipity Newsletter, and disability resources. Cindy attended Ohio State University as one of thirteen Freshman Scholars in 1976 and majored in English at Heidelberg College. She married her best friend John 43 years ago and raised three children in Tiffin, Ohio. Beth works as a lawyer, Ben is a librarian, and Maria teaches young students with disabilities. Cindy and John recently moved to Massachusetts to welcome their first grandchild. ELIZABETH KOLBE lends her voice to Struggling with Serendipity through her media quotes and writings. She lives and works in Washington, DC, as a health care policy lawyer. She became a partner with her firm, Sidley LLC, in 2021. Paralyzed in an accident at fourteen, Beth lives independently without a personal care assistant, a rare feat for a C6-7 quadriplegic. She served on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability Rights at a young age. Her clients and pro bono work include companies and nonprofits in the disability community. She shares her mom's passion for volunteering and mentoring. The first in her family to attend Harvard, Beth interned for John Kerry (then Senator) and joined him on the Senate floor for the 2006 stem cell debate. She graduated with honors with a degree in health policy before working as a researcher for Harvard's Department of Health Care Financing. At Stanford Law School, she was elected Co-President of the Stanford Law Association and President of the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities, only two of many activities resulting in the Dean's Award for Excellence in Service. Not a swimmer before her injury, Beth traveled around the world on the U.S. Paralympic National Swim Team for five years, three of which she also swam on the varsity Harvard Women's Swimming and Diving Team as the first member with a visible disability. A Paralympian, she earned fourteen S3 American Records. Beth loves traveling, cooking, brunch, wine, and swimming laps with her husband in her favorite big city, Washington, DC. Her May wedding was featured in The New York Times. ❤ 
|
|
