John D. Robinson (disability advocate)

John D. Robinson is a congenital quadruple amputee, author, entrepreneur and disability advocate from New York. He is the subject of a public television documentary, "Get Off Your Knees: The John Robinson Story", along with a companion autobiography, "Get Off Your Knees: A Story of Faith, Courage, and Determination",[1] published in 2009.

John Robinson on Mountain

Biography

Born in Binghamton, New York in 1968, Robinson was born without arms and legs due to unknown reasons. Since this was after 1961, it was not a birth defect caused by Thalidomide. He graduated from The Derryfield School in Manchester NH in 1986, and received his degree from SI Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 1990.

Advocacy Work & Media Coverage

Since 2011, he's served as managing partner and CEO of Our Ability,[2] founded by him in 2010, which provides inclusive workforce and employment consulting, mentoring, workshops, keynotes and seminars on disability and diversity; and building coalitions among New York State businesses interested in both hiring and building supplier diversity of businesses owned by individuals with disabilities.

He also formed Journey Along the Erie Canal[3] and Journey Along the Scottish Canals[4] Challenges in 2013 and 2018, respectively,[5] as well as the New York Business Leadership Network[6] in 2016.

John Robinson was featured on ABC News in November 2009.[7] Media coverage of Robinson includes WNYT ,[8] WRGB,[9] WTEN,[10][11] and the Times Union,[12] and the Obama White House.[13]

Honors

John Robinson was awarded the Capital Region Chamber Champion Award in 2018,[14] the New York State Assembly Disability Champion Award in 2018, and is a 2014 White House Champion of Change

References
  1. Robinson, John (23 October 2009). Get off Your Knees: A Story of Faith, Courage, and Determination. ISBN 978-0815609223.
  2. "Home". ourability.com.
  3. "Journey Along the Erie Canal | 1st Mile Challenge 2020". 3 July 2020.
  4. "Journey Across Scotland with Our Ability".
  5. Robinson, John. "Scottish Canals". Scottish Canals.
  6. "New York Business Leadership Network | Our AbilityOur Ability". www.ourability.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-29.
  7. Nojiri, Matthew (26 November 2009). "'Get Off Your Knees!' Living Without Arms, Legs". ABC News. ABC News. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  8. "Capital Region man nearing end of remarkable journey". wnyt.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  9. WRGB Staff (7 July 2016). "'Journey Along the Erie Canal' aims to inspire those with disabilities". cbs6albany.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  10. http://news10.com/2015/07/09/congenital-amputee-bikes-eerie-canal-for-disability-awareness/
  11. "Congenital amputee bikes Erie Canal for disability awareness". news10.com. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  12. "Driven to overcome disabilities". timesunion.com. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  13. "John Robinson". The White House. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  14. Robinson, John. "Capital Region Chamber". Capital Region Chamber. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
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