AMBER CHEEK
MU/UM System Director of Accessibility and ADA Coordinator
Phone: 573-884-7278
Email: cheeka@missouri.edu
Amber Cheek is the Director of Accessibility and ADA Coordinator for the University of Missouri – Columbia and UM System. She assists with managing all aspects of ADA compliance, including facilities accessibility, digital accessibility, program access, and reasonable accommodations for faculty and staff.
Amber joined Mizzou as ADA Coordinator in 2014 after working as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, DC. Amber is a person with a disability and a first-generation college student, and these experiences have shaped her approach to her work at Mizzou. She graduated from the University of Georgia and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri School of Law.
ANN MARIE GORTMAKER
Accommodations Specialist
Phone: 573-884-7031
Email: gortmakera@missouri.edu
As an Accommodations Specialist, Ann Marie Gortmaker supports University of Missouri faculty and staff with disabilities by helping arrange workplace accommodations to remove barriers to success and address accessibility barriers.
Ann Marie came to MU in 2022 from Services for Independent Living, where she worked as an Access Services Assistant in support of individuals with disabilities. Her enthusiasm for her work as an Accommodations Specialist stems from her experience using workplace accommodations to successfully shift from a background in health care to a role in supporting individuals with disabilities. Outside of Mizzou, she was appointed to the City of Columbia Disabilities Commission in 2015 and is involved in community access concerns. She has also served on the board of the nonprofit Community Garden Coalition and as the garden leader at Ann Street Community Garden. As a Registered Dietitian and health educator by training, she finds this hands-on approach to good food and a healthy lifestyle very rewarding.
ELLIE STITZER
Accessibility and ADA Manager
Phone: 573-882-1634
Email: stitzere@missouri.edu
Ellie Stitzer is the Accessibility and ADA Manager for the University of Missouri – Columbia. She assists with managing all aspects of ADA compliance, including facilities accessibility, digital accessibility, program access, and reasonable accommodations for faculty and staff.
Ellie is a Columbia native and Mizzou alum, having graduated summa cum laude from the College of Health Sciences in 2019. As an undergraduate, she was President of the Mizzou Disability Coalition, served on the Chancellor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities, participated in the American Association for People with Disabilities summer internship program, and interned in the Office of Accessibility and ADA. Ellie earned her Juris Doctor from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, where she co-founded the Disability Law Caucus. Before her return to Mizzou’s campus, was a Legal Fellow at the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council.
KARA FORTSON
Accessibility and ADA Manager
Phone: 573-882-6095
Email: kfortson@missouri.edu
Kara Fortson is an Accessibility and ADA Manager for the University of Missouri – Columbia. She assists with managing all aspects of ADA compliance, including facilities accessibility, program access, and reasonable accommodations for faculty and staff.
Kara joins us from Southwest Arkansas but has always had a soft spot for Missouri. She completed her BGS at the University of Arkansas Monticello having graduated summa cum laude. Kara has worked in several roles advocating for disability equality in healthcare and in the workplace. Prior to joining our office, Kara worked as the lead ADA Coordinator and a mentor trainer for various accounts at Sedgwick Claim Management Services.