Jolene Philo is the mother of a son born with life-threatening special needs and the daughter of a father severely affected by multiple sclerosis. She’s written 5 books about caregiving, special needs parenting, and childhood PTSD. She is currently co-writing a book with Dr. Gary Chapman about how parents of kids with special needs can use the 5 love languages in their families. She is a speaker and blogs at differentdream.com. She and her husband live in Iowa.    

It is Ryan’s passion to equip and empower churches, organizations, and individuals to reach their disability communities for Jesus. Ryan comes to Ability Ministry with 15+ years of ministry experience. He previously worked at First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio as their full-time Disability Pastor. He also worked as a Church Consultant for Key Ministry. Ryan is an ordained Pastor. Micah 6:8 and Proverbs 31:8 best describe Ryan’s commitment to life and ministry. He is available for speaking, training, and consultation.

John Felageller has spent over 15 years in education, working with children from infants to middle school, serving in a variety of roles including Teacher, Mentor Teacher and School Director. John has a passion for public speaking and adult/parent education, and has conducted several curriculum workshops at previous schools. John is also very involved in his church community, having served on fundraiser teams, as a ministry leader and, of course, Sunday School teacher. John lives in Northbrook, IL with his wife Elizabeth and his son Christopher (ASD), and is currently an elementary teacher at a charter school in Chicago, IL. He is a regular contributor to Key Ministry’s Special Needs Family blog, and is both a live presenter and on Key Ministry’s Facebook page. He coordinates a special needs dads meetup in his community and works with several other local special needs organizations that serve both parents and children.