Voices of resilience: Inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in the marketplace

Bismarck Myrick became the Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity (formerly the Office Civil Rights) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in July 2008. From 2003 to 2008, Mr. Myrick was the Deputy Director of that Office. Prior to joining the USPTO, Mr. Myrick worked as an appellate review attorney in Office of Federal Operations at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1999-2003. Prior to working at the EEOC, Mr. Myrick worked as a trial attorney for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services. Mr. Myrick received a bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from Florida State University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Mr. Myrick is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and State of Maryland.

Annette Reimers is a Lead Administrative Patent Judge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Lead Judge Reimers first joined the USPTO as a patent examiner in the medical device arts. Subsequently, she served as a patent attorney at the U.S. Department of Energy and at the PTAB before becoming an administrative patent judge. Lead Judge Reimers earned her law degree from the University of Miami School of Law. She also holds a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree and a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences from Barry University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from Florida International University.

Sean Wilkerson is an Innovation Outreach Specialist at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In this role he works closely with USPTO colleagues and leadership, federal agency partners, national organizations, and industry to design and implement programs and initiatives that bring innovation resources to independent inventors, small businesses, entrepreneurs, makers, underresourced communities, and universities. Wilkerson uses his experience from working across multiple areas of USPTO outreach to consistently contribute to a variety of initiatives across the agency, including helping create the Veterans Innovation, Hispanic Innovation, and Proud Innovation annual programming. He leads programming for the Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium and co-leads the development and management of the Empowering Women’s Entrepreneurship (WE) programming.  

Wilkerson joined the USPTO in October of 2008, initially serving in the Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) as an education program specialist for international programing and outreach. From 2012-2014, Wilkerson served as program manager for the inaugural Select USA Summit, developing the structure and outreach efforts for this U.S. government-wide program housed in the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Wilkerson worked with the New York engagement team to manage and develop the 2015 Future of Urban Innovation Startups Summit in coordination with Columbia University and the USPTO. He later served in the Office of the Undersecretary as an acting Regional Outreach Officer for the Texas Regional Office to help coordinate the office’s opening and to develop stakeholder connections in the region. Prior to joining USPTO, Wilkerson served as the Director of Events for the National Association of Homebuilders in Washington, D.C. and as the Ideas Exchange manager for Accenture in Reston, Virginia.

Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning entirely disabled-run and -led social enterprise to elevate disability pride, and a content creator with more than 200,000 followers across platforms. She is a three-time TEDx speaker and has been named a TikTokAPI (Asian & Pacific Islander) Trailblazer, a LinkedIn Top Voice in Disability Advocacy, and a Well+Good Changemaker. Her first book, The Anti-Ableist Manifesto, will be published by Hachette Go in Fall 2024. Tiffany has helped to invest over $170,000 in disability initiatives through the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter and the Disability Empowerment Endowed Fund at Georgetown University. She has been featured in Marie Claire, the Guardian, and Forbes. She started her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and has also worked at Bloomberg and Sean Diddy Combs' REVOLT Media & TV. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a master's from the London School of Economics. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father.