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About Us

At Edge Employment we believe everyone has something to contribute to the workforce. That's why we're passionate about connecting job candidates with disabilities to employers by translating skills into opportunities and matching resources to needs.

Our Vision

  • To encourage a more robust and diverse workforce
  • To facilitate positive social roles for individual with disabilities through employment
  • To economically empower historically overlooked population

Our Mission

Edge Employment seeks to engage employers in an innovative hiring approach that matches the contributions of job candidates with disabilities to the operational needs of Louisville Businesses to create opportunities for competitive, integrated employment.

Principles

Our work is driven by principles of inclusion, respect, dignity, equity, and social justice.

Recognition

The Edge team is proud of our ongoing partnerships and accomplishments!

Awards

Chamber of St. Matthews Community Champion Award (2017)

Chamber of St. Matthews Non-Profit of the Year Award (2018)

Marc Gold Award (2020)

Presentations

Keynote Address at the Kentucky Job Placement & Development Pre-Conference (2019)

Supporting Value in the Workplace: How Social Role Valorization Strengthens Employment First at Kentucky Association of People Supporting Employment 1st Conference (2020)

Certifications

Our Employment Specialists have obtained or are pursuing certifications in all three areas of the Marc Gold & Associates Leadership Series: Systematic Instruction, Discovery, and Job Development.

Our Staff

Hope Leet Dittmeier

Executive Director

Hope holds a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Kentucky. She is also a Social Role Valorization (SRV) practitioner. SRV training provides empirical knowledge about how to go about Mattingly Edge’s work in ways that increase the chances people with disabilities will experience the good things in life many people take for granted. She also has learned a great deal from her sister-in-law in terms of the practical realities of life with a disability. Hope became a YaYa on New Years Eve in 2018 and loves spending time with her grandson, Axl.

Hope Leet Dittmeier

Executive Director

Dan Trabue

Employment Specialist

Dan has a Bachelor in Special Education from the University of Louisville. He has also studied a good bit in environmental planning and education. Dan has had several careers including woodworking/cabinetry, public school teacher, mental health counselor, GIS (Computer Mapping) Technical Support and now, an Employment Specialist at Edge Employment. Dan has also dabbled semi-professionally in photography, videography, art, and writing.

Dan Trabue

Employment Specialist

Merry Reid Sheffer

Director of Employment Services

Merry Reid earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Tennessee Knoxville and a Master in Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School. She has worked in retail, food service, childcare, ministry to all ages, prison abolition- and now- representation and consultation with Edge Employment! Merry Reid enjoys meeting new people, reading fiction, and spending time with her partner and their dog, Bear.

Merry Reid Sheffer

Director of Employment Services

Julian Adam

Employment Specialist

Julian has a bachelor’s degree from Murray State University in Sociology with a Minor in Organizational Communication. He spent four years as a Crisis Respite Case Manager in Seattle Washington, working with vulnerable individuals in the fields of mental health and chemical addiction. Previously Julian worked as a Center Manager for The Job Center assisting with finding employment for individuals in the Warehouse and Distribution fields. Julian is a Cheerleading Coach for Noe Middle School locally in Louisville and has coached for more than a decade. He is a very passionate and professional individual who believes in leaving the world a better place than of which it was found. Julian’s motto is “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

Julian Adam

Employment Specialist

Roan Campbell

Employment Specialist

Roan holds a Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Human Resource Management and a minor in Informatics from Indiana University. Before joining with Edge Employment, Roan worked within the healthcare industry in onboarding, recruiting, HR data analysis, serving various HR roles. Roan is a passionate human rights activist and spends much of their personal time advocating inside the greater Louisville community within multiple capacities— these experiences include serving on multiple organizational boards, fundraising, event planning, organizing volunteers, and public advocacy. Roan enjoys a variety of hobbies such as hiking, camping, painting, writing fiction, playing tabletop games, and appreciating musical theater together with family and friends.

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Roan Campbell

Employment Specialist

An Extension of Mattingly Edge

As an extension of Mattingly Edge, Edge Employment remains committed to empowering people with disabilities to thrive at work by continuing to cultivate community partnerships that provide sustainable employment for all.