CLARK COLLEGE: COMMENCEMENT 2009

Business leader, philanthropist and advocate for persons with disabilities Vail Horton
will be the keynote speaker at the college’s commencement ceremony on June 18

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Business leader, philanthropist and advocate for persons with disabilities Vail Horton will be the keynote speaker at Clark College’s 2009 commencement ceremony. A highlight of the college’s yearlong 75th anniversary celebration, the commencement ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2009.

Horton is the founder and CEO of Keen Mobility Company and founder and chairman of The Incight Foundation.

Keen Mobility Company provides world-class medical products focused on safety, mobility, and comfort for the disabled, elderly and injured. For two consecutive years, the company ranked within the top 50 companies on the Portland Business Journal’s 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies List. In 2008, it was ranked #1,382 on the Inc. 5000.

Under Horton’s leadership, the Incight Foundation has raised over $1,500,000 in private, corporate, state and federal donations in support of scholarships, mentoring and internships for disabled students. As a result, 253 disabled high school students have each received $750 college scholarships and seven students are now working. In addition, 20 universities have entered into matching scholarship programs and 42 internships have been created.

Horton says those efforts address the reality that “just 16% of people with disabilities receive a college education and 76% are unemployed.”

Clark College President Robert K. Knight noted, “I’ve had the privilege of hearing Vail Horton speak. He is passionate and dynamic. I know that his message will add power and meaning to that special night for our graduates and their families.”

About Vail Horton

Born without legs and improper bone growth in his arms, Vail Horton has said that he has “a true calling to change the world for the better, focusing on the elderly and disabled.”

Vail Horton has been appointed to the Secretary of State Advisory Committee for Worldwide Disability Policy and was recognized as one of the Oregon Healthcare Heroes by former Senator Gordon Smith. He also serves on the American Healthcare Association Quality Improvement Committee and is a board member for the Oregon Healthcare Association.

Vail Horton graduated from the University of Portland and received the university’s Contemporary Alumni Award in 2007. He was named as one of the 2007 Ten Outstanding Young Americans by the United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees).

Vail Horton and his wife Elizabeth Ann Horton and their four children -- Grace, Logan, Katherine and Kelvin – reside in Portland.