Meet the Staff

CSAVR Staff

Carl Suter
Executive Director

Rita Martin
Assistant Director

Kathy West-Evans
Director of Business Relations

Paul Seifert
Director of Government Relations
Paulseifert@rehabnetwork.org

Kymberli Rand
Administrative Specialist

Carl Suter - Executive Director

Carl Suter from the State of Illinois is the Executive Director of the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation. He assumed this position in November, 2001. Prior to joining the CSAVR, Carl was the Director of the Illinois Office of Rehabilitation Services for five years. He oversaw a budget of nearly $500 million dollars that included programs such as vocational rehabilitation, a $300 million dollar in-home care program for persons with disabilities, three schools for children with disabilities and Disability Adjudicative Services for determining eligibility for benefits for the Social Security Disability Insurance Program and Supplemental Security Income in Illinois. During his tenure as State Director, he led sweeping reforms of the Illinois Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program so as to provide world class customer service to the nearly 70,000 individuals with disabilities served through its programs. Carl has also served as the Executive Director of the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities and as the Associate Director of the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities.

Rita Martin - Assistant Director

Rita Martin from the State of Indiana is the Assistant Director of the CSAVR. Rita has more than 33 years of experience in the field of rehabilitation, having begun her career as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, CRC in 1972. She is the former State Director for the Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program, having served in this capacity from 1995-2001. During her tenure as State Director, Indiana underwent a Redesign of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Deliver System, with an emphasis on customer service and customer satisfaction. There were also significant yearly increases in the numbers of individuals obtaining employment during Rita’s leadership of the agency. She is also a Past President of the CSAVR and a Mary E. Switzer Scholar. From 1998-2000, Rita served on the National Workforce Excellence Board established by the Department of Labor. Her knowledge of field services and operating a state agency is of significant value to the State’s Council.

Kathy West-Evans - Director of Business Relations

Kathy West-Evans, the CSAVR Director of Business Relations is from the State of Washington. Kathy has her MPA from Seattle University, a BS from the University of Washington and is a CRC who is fluent in American Sign Language. She has been in the field of rehabilitation since 1978. She started her professional career working as a vocational consultant and manager of the Projects with Industry (PWI) program at the Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center in Seattle. She moved into the Washington State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) in 1983 as a VR counselor for consumers who are deaf, deaf-blind or hard of hearing. Kathy held a number of positions within DVR during her 14-year tenure with the state agency. In addition to her time as a VR counselor, she worked as an assistant regional administrator, a regional business relations specialist, and the Statewide Manager for Business Relations and Marketing. In 1997, Kathy moved to the federal level with the Region X office of Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) where she worked until July 2005. Kathy was employed as a RSA VR Program Specialist, serving as the State representative to Oregon and Alaska as well as the regional specialist in the areas of employment and business development, the ADA, training, CSPD, PWI, and services to individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind or hard of hearing. She served on the planning committee for the RSA – CSAVR National Employment Conferences in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004. Kathy is the co-founder of the ACCESS - conference, job fair, technology and resource expo for business and people with disabilities held annually in the Seattle area since 1994.

Kymberli Rand - Administrative Specialist

Kymberli Rand