UMass Boston

Workforce development system, inclusive health care, employment for people with disabilities, education of rehabilitation counseling professionals, flexible workplaces and universal design 

PhD, Rehabilitation Administration and Special Education, Boston College
MS, Rehabilitation Counseling, Boston University
BS, Rehabilitation Services, Boston University

• Timmons, J. C., Fesko, S. L., & Zalewska, A. (2015). Considering community service during the transition to employment for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In Way leads on to way: Paths to employment for people with intellectual disability (pp. 267–295). Washington, D.C.: American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
• Fesko, S. L., Hall, A. C, Quinlan, J., & Jockell, C. (2012). Active aging for individuals with intellectual disability: Meaningful community participation through employment, retirement, service, and volunteerism. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 117(6), 497-508.
• Fesko, S. L., Varney, E., Di Biase, C., & Hippenstiel, M. (2008). Effective partnerships: Collaborative efforts that support customized employment. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 28(3), 141-158.
• Hamner, D., Hall, A. C., Timmons, J. C., Fesko, S., & Boeltzig, H. (2008). Agents of change in the disability field: Bridge-builders who make a difference. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 21(2), 161-173.
• Timmons, J., Hall, A., Fesko, S., & Migliore, A. (2011). Retaining the older workforce: Social policy considerations for the universally designed workplace. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 23(2), 119-140.

Sheila L. Fesko is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), a research and training institute housed within the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development (SGISD). She is the graduate program director for SGISD’s rehabilitation counseling master's program.

Fesko has 30 years of experience working on the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the workplace. As the director of the National Service to Employment Program, she is working with the Corporation for National and Community Service on increasing employment opportunities for youth with disabilities through community service and volunteerism.

Fesko has researched inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce development system, effective job development strategies, and universal strategies to support inclusion of all employees in the workplace. She has an extensive history of national and international training of employers, community providers, and workforce development personnel.

Fesko has been an invited speaker at the Korean Employment Promotion Agency for Disability International Conference in Seoul, South Korea, as well as the Tawafuq Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Before joining the ICI and SGISD, Fesko worked at the Massachusetts state vocational rehabilitation commission, and was a program manager for a community-based employment program. She is a certified rehabilitation counselor.