CONNECT with the CityAccessibility Advisory Board Member Bios
As Executive Director of Able-Disabled Advocacy (A-DA), Elaine Cooluris has over 40 years of experience at A-DA in providing advocacy, universal technology assistance, disability and accessibility awareness consulting and overseeing employment-related services for youth and adults representing all ethnicities and disability groups. Under her vision, A-DA was the first organization in the San Diego region to offer Assistive Technology computer training and employment assistance to the Blind, Deaf and hard-of-hearing, and individuals with severe mobility challenges.
In 1998, Elaine received the Governor of California’s “Distinguished Service Award” which is sparingly given in recognition of an individual who made major local, statewide and national impact on the employment of individuals with disabilities. In 2000, Elaine was appointed to the Governor’s Committee for the Employment of Disabled People; and in 2004, she was appointed to the State of California’s Workforce Investment Board as an advisory member on youth with disabilities. Elaine co-chaired the U.S. Department of Education’s National Project Director’s Planning Committee for five years.
Elaine has also represented San Diego’s disability community on numerous city-sponsored taskforces on disability, homelessness, and social services. Elaine was a recipient of San Diego’s YWCA “Tribute to Women in Industry (TWIN) Award,” and was again recognized as a local leader when she was appointed to the San Diego Association of Government’s Stakeholders Work Group that guides policy development and practices of its Regional Comprehensive Plan.
Elaine, who has a disability, holds a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and has been a lifelong advocate in helping individuals with disabilities achieve independence and become self-supporting through employment.
Jacqueline Jackson
Jacqueline is a community advocate and an advocate for differently-able people. She has thirty eight (38) years’ experience working in the non-profit business sector. She has been employed as an Education Specialist, an Employment Services Manager for people with disabilities, a Director of Education, Health, and Family Services. She has also served as a Charter School Developer, a Grant Writer, Resource Development Director, and a Chief Operations Officer.
Jacqueline is a member of the City of San Diego Accessibility Advisory Board, a Commissioner with the California Commission on Disability Access, a member of the San Diego Registrar of Voters Accessibility Advisory Committee, and a Trustee of her church.
Jacqueline has served as the Representative for the Blind and Low Vision on the Public Utilities Commission Deaf and Disabled Telecommunication Program. She was on the Advisory Committee for the State Independent Living Council, and a member of the State Rehabilitation Council.
Jacqueline served on the Ethnic Advisory Committee for the State Superintendent of Public Education. She served on the Governor’s Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities. She was the first Consumer elected as Chairperson for San Diego County In-home Supportive Services Advisory Committee.
In 2017 Jacqueline was selected as Woman of the Year for
Jacqueline is a mother of two extraordinary daughters and the grandmother of three fantastic grandchildren.
Diane Koczur
Diane Koczur has over 30 years’ experience in the creative services area with the last 7 years in the hospitality industry as the Director of Marketing for Evans Hotels. Prior to joining Evans Hotels, she co-authored the Designing Accessibility for Section 508 course for George Washington University’s continuing education program.
In her current role, Diane leads a team on the development of websites for hotel properties (Bahia Resort Hotel, Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa, and The Lodge at Torrey Pines). One of the key areas that she focuses on is accessibility and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a certified usability analyst, she is very interested in how all users interact with websites including those that use screen readers and other assistive technology tools. It is her personal goal for all users to have full access and the same experience when experiencing both the physical and virtual world.
Diane has a personal connection to accessibility issues, as her wife suffered a spinal cord injury and is now paralyzed. Her personal experiences, combined with her expertise in tourism, make her a valuable asset on the Accessibility Advisory Board. She is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and is committed to raising accessibility awareness and making a meaningful impact.
Wayne LandonWayne Landon currently serves as the Government Relations Director for Paralyzed Veterans of America, Cal-Diego Chapter where he has been employed since 1995.
Wayne has served on the Veteran's Advisory Board and the Disability Action Coalition and currently on the Association of Government Relations Directors, Veterans' Employment Committee, San Diego Police Chief Disabilities Advisory Board, Social Services Transportation Advisory Council for SANDAG and immediate past chair for the San Diego Accessible Advisory Board.
Wayne is a United States Army veteran. In 1990 he graduated from the University of Montana. He previously worked as the Transitional Counselor at Fort Belknap College, where he assisted with transfers from tribal to traditional colleges and assisted in both personal and academic counseling.
Wayne presently resides in San Diego where he lives happily married to his wife Sandra. They have one daughter who lives in San Diego and is working on her M.S. in biology from San Diego State University.
Dr. Kasey Markoski
Dr. Kasey Markoski has over 10 years of professional experience in the blindness field. Her love for the field started at a young age as a volunteer and leader raising Guide Dogs with Guide Dogs for the Blind in Orange County and San Diego. In 2013, she became a Certified Literary Braille Transcriber through the Library of Congress and the following year graduated as a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist from Cal State Los Angeles. While working as an Orientation and Mobility Specialist in San Diego from 2014-2016, Dr. Markoski also held advisory positions on various boards including the Southern California Orientation and Mobility Specialists (CAOMS), SANDAG Social Services Transportation Advisory Council, and MTS Accessibility Services Advisory Committee.
She was awarded the 2016 Anne Sullivan Macy fellowship from the National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University, where she earned a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction in Special Education in 2019. In 2020, she returned to San Diego to serve as the Director of Client Services at the San Diego Center for the Blind, and in 2022 moved on to pursue contract and project-based work from home to provide care for her son with special needs.
Dr. Markoski continues to make a significant impact on the blind community worldwide through her educational platform, Braille Academy, while also serving on local boards in San Diego, including the District Advisory Council on Compensatory Education for the San Diego Unified School District, School Site Council (SSC), and School Site Governance Team (SGT). With her excitement for innovation and accessibility, she continues to purpose the development of products such as her current project, Tour San Diego, an app to make tourism easier and more enjoyable for people exploring San Diego. Through her experiences, she has gained extensive knowledge in areas such as adaptations for people with disabilities, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, effective use of government and organizational budgets, grant writing, assistive technology, and safe access to city travel for all, including tourists.
Victor Roosen
Roosen began his humanitarian career with the Red Cross in 2011, serving as the Regional Disaster Officer for the Western Pennsylvania and later San Diego, Imperial Counties and American Samoa, responsible for the disaster preparedness response and recovery services programs. Responding to disasters in 23 states and three US territories, as well as coordinating humanitarian efforts in the U.S., Mexico and Samoa; Victor witnessed firsthand the many barriers’ people with disabilities face day to day and how they become insurmountable in a disaster. Disability Integration / Access and Functional Needs (AFN) became a focus of Victor, ensuring all those affected by disasters were provide equitable resources and support to recover. In 2020 Victor became the ADA Coordinating Program Manager for SDG&E.
With more than 23 years of operational leadership experience in businesses and nonprofit industries, Victor is skilled in process improvement, program development and program management focusing on equitable access and opportunity to success.
Prior positions included Managing Member for RMA Investor Group, LLC, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment and property management firm. He was also the Regional Vice President of Adecco Technical in Los Angeles and San Diego.
Victor previously served as the Vice President of the San Diego and Pennsylvania Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD)s, and on the boards of Medical Disaster Response, Inc., AFN Chair for the Pittsburgh Marathon. Victor currently serves on the board of Alliance San Diego.
Victor holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Brigham Young University (BYU) and holds an ADA Coordinator Certification.
Mary Wolford, Chair
Mary Wolford was appointed to the City of San Diego Accessibility Advisory Board in September 2019 and currently serves as Chair. She has over 20 years’ experience in the accessibility arena, is a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) in the state of California, and has completed the ADA Coordinator Certification Program offered by the University of Missouri and the Great Plains ADA Center.
Mary currently works as an accessibility consultant in Southern California. Formerly an employee of the City of San Diego (City), Mary reported directly to the ADA Coordinator. Her responsibilities included managing the technical data and scope of work for the city’s ADA transition plan and grievance process projects, and offering technical advice to all city departments regarding access regulations and how to apply them to the city’s responsibilities under Title II of the ADA. Her past assignments working for the City included engineering materials testing, land surveying, public works inspection in the public right of way and project management for capital improvement projects.
Mary earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University in Public Administration and her Master of Science degree from National University in Engineering Management/Project Management.
Mary lives in the Bay Park area of San Diego with her husband Dan and her Hearing Alert Service Dog, a black Labrador named Amica.
Patricia Sieglen-Perry, Vice Chair
Patricia Sieglen-Perry has over 40 years’ experience in the disability field and has specialized in the provision of social services within the Deaf Community for the majority of her career. Ms. Sieglen-Perry has a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from San Diego State University.
Ms. Sieglen-Perry started her professional career with Deaf Community Services (DCS) as the Resource Specialist/Counselor and was promoted to Executive Director after four years. As Executive Director, she incorporated the agency, established a deaf-majority board of directors, and expanded the services and scope of the non-profit during her 13-year tenure. Her expertise on the Americans with Disabilities Act and knowledge of other disability groups secured her a position with the City of San Diego as the Disability Services Coordinator. As such, Patricia was responsible for developing the City’s ADA transition and Self-Evaluation plans and remained there for 7 years.
Patricia’s background in Rehabilitation Counseling gave her a foundation regarding employment for people with disabilities and particularly Deaf individuals. Beginning in the 1980s she applied and was awarded funding for job search and placement activities including the Wagner Peyser Act, Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), and the Job Training and Partnership Training Act.
Patricia has worked as a free-lance sign language interpreter, a substitute American Sign Language instructor at Grossmont and Cuyamaca community colleges and as a trainer on deafness and disability issues. She was an appointee to the Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities for 25 years, as well as a member of DCS’ Board of Directors from 2011-2014. She is currently a member of the City of San Diego’s Accessibility Advisory Board as well as the Port of San Diego’s Accessibility Advisory Committee.
In 2015, Patricia returned to Deaf Community Services as Executive Director. In that time, she has expanded services to include a Youth and Family Services Department which operates five programs targeted at mentoring Deaf and Hard of Hearing youth and their families, opened a satellite office in North San Diego, opened two sober living homes for Deaf and Hard of Hearing men and women, and obtained Drug Medi-cal Certification from the State of California for DCS’ Substance Use Disorder program.