Steve Ruder

Steve Ruder worked as a direct service staff in the areas of supported employment and supported employment for over 30 years before coming to the UC Davis Center on Excellence in Developmental Disabilities as a Community Program Supervisor in 2013. He established and has been the facilitator for the Northern California Business Advisory Council (BAC) in 2015. The BAC hosts events for businesses to provide in-service trainings to other businesses about pathways they use to hire people with disabilities, supports and services they receive from our partner agencies, the skills of the employees they have hired, and the benefits of having disability represented as part of their workforce diversity. Steve has been a member of California’s Employment First Committee (EFC) since 2014. After being the project lead on a two-year grant on supported decision-making, Steve has served on numerous projects working to overhaul the conservatorship process, prevent unnecessary conservatorships and promote the supported decision-making process in California.