Cornell University mobile logo
Wheelchair user smiling holding a cellphone

Our Story

For over 60 years, the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability in the Cornell University ILR School has conducted a unique combination of research and outreach. With a mission of advancing the inclusion and full participation of people with disabilities in the workplace and community, our research, training, and technical resources expand knowledge about disability inclusion, leading to meaningful change.

About the Institute

Our Work

Businessman in a wheelchair is using a digital tablet while having a discussion with a colleague in the corridor of a co-working space.

Our Areas of Focus

Benefits planning

School-to-work transition

Disability inclusion at work

Systems-based work & collaboration

Emerging work & innovation

Browse YTI Projects

YTIOnline Learning

Learn from YTI’s experts to improve your knowledge and gain practical skills in benefits planning and employment services for people with disabilities. Earn professional credentials and certificates though a wide variety of courses and classes, both in-person and virtually.

Visit YTIOnline

Our Impact

See All Impact Stories

The Long-Lasting Impact of Thomas P. Golden

The impact that former Yang-Tan Institute Executive Director Thomas P. Golden made is felt every day in communities across the United States through the lives of his former students.
Collage of Thomas Golden photos
The Long-Lasting Impact of Thomas P. Golden

OPEN DOORS partnership assists with message against gun violence

OPEN DOORS gives voice to its members, allowing them to tell their embodied stories to spread awareness of how gun violence can impact lives.
Open Doors members and designs in a collage
OPEN DOORS partnership assists with message against gun violence

WIP-C™ credentialing program impacts thousands of lives

As a trained work incentive practitioner, Milton Johnson assists people with disabilities with managing benefits while returning to work and gaining financial independence
Milton Johnson sitting at a computer
WIP-C™ credentialing program impacts thousands of lives

Our News & Events

See All Events

Vocational Rehabilitation: Building Careers, Changing Lives

For Fee: Attendees will gain practical insights into how VR can transform lives and foster inclusive workplaces.
Colleagues using digital tablet and working in industry
Vocational Rehabilitation: Building Careers, Changing Lives

Celebrating Value and Talent: Supporting Employees through Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work Programs

Free webinar about effective stay-at-work/return-to-work programs
Two workers wearing hard hats. One holds a tablet and is supervising the other.
Celebrating Value and Talent: Supporting Employees through Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work Programs

As if there aren't enough other things to keep us up at night: Unique Ethical Considerations to Working with Youth

For Fee: Ethical considerations and recommendations for working with youth
A woman holding a notebook while explaining something to a young woman. Two men having a conversation in the backgournd.
As if there aren't enough other things to keep us up at night: Unique Ethical Considerations to Working with Youth

YTI Newsletter - November 2025

Read our current newsletter issue online or subscribe to our monthly mailing list.

Read the November Edition

Our Team

Browse Our Faculty and Staff
It’s not possible to determine what somebody can achieve based on some disability or diversity characteristic that they have. Everyone has a right to participate in society to the best of their ability.
– WENDY STROBEL GOWER, THOMAS P. GOLDEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Wendy Strobel Gower Outdoors

Get in Touch with YTI

Yang-Tan Institute
ILR School, Cornell University
201 Dolgen Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853 

Phone: 607-255-7727 
Email: ilr_yti@cornell.edu

Join our monthly newsletter.