Kelly Hernandez, BA, CDMS

RPM Rehabilitation & Associates

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Kelly Hernandez, a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor with a private firm contracted by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, supports injured workers through return-to-work coordination, ethical advocacy and trauma-informed communication, catering to culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Bilingual in English and Spanish, she brings both professional expertise and personal insight to her work — because before she was a counselor, she was an injured worker herself. She navigated a complex system largely on her own and it was the support of vocational counselors at critical turning points that helped change the trajectory of her recovery and ultimately her life. That experience led her back to school, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2023 and into the very profession that once helped her. Today she draws on that lived experience alongside her professional practice to integrate resilience-building frameworks into disability case management — driven by the belief that injured workers deserve not just a path back to work, but a path forward. She is honored to share that perspective with her colleagues at this symposium.