Board of Directors
Artemis Joukowsky III Co-Founder, and Chairman of the Board of No Limits Media. Despite having Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a debilitating disease that greatly weakens his arms and legs, Mr. Joukowsky is a successful businessman and venture capitalist, a lecturer on management issues, and a private coach to entrepreneurs. In addition, Mr. Joukowsky serves on a number of charitable boards including the Board of Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, the national organization that sponsors research and family support for those with the illness.
Larry Rothstein, Ed.D. Co-Founder and Assistant Director of Research and Strategic Planning. Dr. Rothstein is a leading book collaborator and author. Most recently, he and Artemis Joukowsky III wrote Raising the Bar, a book dealing with disability sports. He also co-authored the national best sellers, Minding the Body, Mending the Mind, You Are Not Alone, and You Are What You Say. He is a former editor of the Harvard Business Review and holds a doctorate in public policy from Harvard University.
Steve Marx is an independent television producer and consultant. He has produced award-winning programs for broadcast networks and independent stations, as well as commercial and educational video. Mr. Marx has held executive positions at a number of major media companies, most recently as Director of Television Production at AT&T Broadband, New England, where he led a pro-duction group of 100. A published essayist, Mr. Marx has lectured on media at leading educational institutions in the United States and Canada.
Valerie Fletcher is Executive Director of Adaptive Environments, an international NGO, based in Boston and founded in 1978. Fletcher has co-chaired international conferences on universal design and writes and lectures extensively on inclusive design that anticipates and accommodates diversity in age and ability. She currently oversees projects ranging from universal design at the urban scale, in public transit, in a public agency social welfare system, in affordable housing and collaborates with UN Department of Social and Economic Development on universal design as a framework for the new human rights convention. Fletcher is also the Special Advisor to Toto Ltd. in Japan. Her career has been divided between design and public mental health. She was founder and principal of Fletcher Studio Design. As Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health in Massachusetts, she oversaw the participatory planning process that redirected $74m from institutional care to community support systems. She has a masters degree in ethics in public policy from Harvard University.
Joe Bellil, Vice President of Public Affairs, leads the Easter Seals Massachusetts’ legislative and political efforts to promote public policy that empowers people with disabilities to expand their independence. Bellil combines grassroots and coalition advocacy to advance Easter Seals’ public affairs priorities on Beacon Hill and in State agencies. Bellil graduated from Worcester State College with a B. S. in Business Administration and from Anna Maria College with a Master’s in Business Administration. He worked for the Center for Living & Working, Inc. for over sixteen years in Worcester and for the Massachusetts Statewide Independent Living Council for three years. Bellil currently serves on the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Disability Policy and brings a strong background in disability sports, advocacy and awareness to the board.
Jeremie Spitzer is the cofounder of All inPlay, a company that develops online interactive entertainment. This allows the blind and those with low vision to play electronic games and to interact with each other and their sighted friends and family as equals. All inPlay is a pioneer in its field. It has applied the principals of universal design to video games. Under Mr. Spitzer’s direction, the company has produced two games with an international fan base. He hold a BS in Environmental Design from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Keith P. Jones is an Access Program Coordinator. Mr. Jones has been with VSA arts of Massachusetts (VSAM) for two years and serves as coordinator of Boston ART reach. He is an experienced peer counselor who worked for years at the Boston Center for Independent Living before coming to VSAM. He has presented workshops on cultural access and disability rights at the National Cultural Access Institute. He serves on the Massachusetts Hate Crimes Task Force and is the former Chair of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission’s Consumer Task Force on Artists with Disabilities. Mr. Jones holds a BA degree from Ramapo College of New Jersey.
Scot Plotnick is a Senior Employment and Labor Counsel at Staples, Inc. Staples is the world’s largest office products company, with approximately 65,000 associates. Scot has been with Staples since November 2001. He handles all types of employment and labor matters in the U.S. and Canada, including employment discrimination cases, employment counseling, and labor relations. Scot received his BA degree from The George Washington University and his law degree from New York Law School. He is also a community activist, serving on boards of several other non profits.