NTID Employer Advisory Group

With more than 30 years of experience working with both deaf and hearing populations in residential treatment and psycho-social rehabilitation settings, Linda Sutton found her passion for this work while completing her degree in social work. She joined The Learning Center for the Deaf’s Walden School in 1998 as the Residential Director and served in that capacity until 2007 when she became Walden School's Director of Staff Development and Training. Linda has become a valuable senior leader during her time at Walden School. She is a Certified Lead Instructor for both Professional Assault Crisis (Pro-ACT) and Residential Child and Youth Care Professional (RCYCP). Linda enjoys the recruitment and training of interns and new staff for Walden School and watching their growth and development.

Sean Lucas serves as a Director of IT Service Management at Intermountain Healthcare. He has more than 14 years of experience within healthcare IT, with more than 11 of those years serving in various leadership roles. Sean has partnered with RIT/NTID for 10 years, onboarding co-op students as well as serving on the NTID Employer Advisory Group for the past five years. He also sat on an advisory council for NTID, assisting with developing Internet-of-Things-related curricula. Sean holds two bachelor’s degrees in Computer Information Systems/Business Information Systems as well as an MBA specializing in Information Systems Management.

Joshua Stewart is the Senior Vice President and Head of Talent Acquisition. A PNC employee for 19 years, Joshua maintains oversight of talent acquisition, sourcing, and employment marketing, early career internships/development programs and accessibility.

Previously the Director of Talent Solutions & Outreach, Joshua also maintained oversight of PNC’s K-12 recruitment strategies including the 2018 launch of the PartnerUP program. PartnerUp is a PNC-led, multi-employer collaborative that develops and recruits career-bound high school seniors from underserved school districts.

Prior to his current role, Joshua was a senior manager on both the Leadership and Executive Development team, the corporate Diversity and Inclusion team and held various roles within PNC Bank’s Consumer Lending business. As a former project manager for Consumer Lending, Joshua managed key initiatives including the integrations of Mercantile Bank, Sterling Bank and National City bank as well as other key product/service implementations.

An ardent advocate for Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Joshua served as the founding President of PNC Proud the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) Employee Business Resource Group at PNC Bank. Josh is a co-author of the Forté Foundation’s Men As Allies tool kit training program, leads PNC’s Men As Allies program and provides coaching to organizations facilitating the program around the globe. Josh is a member of the board of directors at the Consortium for Public Education, a member of the board of directors at the Forte Foundation and a member of the Employer Advisory Board at the National Technical Institute of the Deaf.

Joshua earned a B.A. in Communications from the University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences and holds a certificate in Diversity Management from Cornell University.

Jonathan Poe is an RIT/NTID alumnus and a Rochester native residing in Columbus, Ohio. He holds a Master in Business Administration from Ashland University, and he serves as Deputy Director of Disbursing Operations at Defense Finance and Accounting Service. He has nearly 13 years of experience in various positions with the Department of Defense agency, including Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Accounting Systems, and current directorate. In his current role, he manages and monitors daily disbursements and collections to various vendors and small businesses. Last year, the directorate disbursed over $185 billion dollars for Army, Air Force, Navy, and multiple Defense agencies. He also served as a champion for the Employees with disabilities program to share and spread awareness to other DFAS employees about disabilities.

Michelle Cummings is a Senior R&D Leader within the Hybrids, Polymers, and Silanes Group. In this role Michelle is responsible for leading the Hybrids product development group to deliver on new innovative products combining organic and silicone chemistry for differentiated advanced performance.

Most recently Michelle was a Research Scientist within the Engineered Materials Product Development Group and Global Technology Platform Leader for Secondary Optics at Dow. Michelle was responsible for developing and commercializing products for secondary optics applications in lighting. Michelle has made significant contributions to Dow’s product portfolio through the commercialization of more than seven individual products into applications such as electronic adhesives, pottants and foams. She is a 2018 Edison Award and 2019 R&D 100 Award Recipient, as well as an inventor on five granted patents and four pending patents.