I am a Board member of MDAC UK and can vouch for the critical role Validity plays in establishing legal precedents to ensure people with disabilities have dignity and agency in how they live their lives. More than two decades ago, I was MDAC’s executive director as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was being developed at the UN. MDAC was represented in this process by my hire, Gabor Gombos – the first person with disability to be a staff member. My role at MDAC directly preceded my hire as the founding Executive Director of the Disability Rights Fund (DRF) and the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRAF). These Funds are participatory grantmakers and collaborations between donors and global disability activists to support intersectional disability rights movements across Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean.  I have also supported other global organizations and grantmakers to grow their work on inclusion, disability rights and justice, and to expand participatory practices.

I am the co-author of a tool for foundations to self-assess participatory and inclusive practices – the Advancing Participation in Philanthropy Tool. This work to include people with lived experience in decision-making within philanthropy has been featured in numerous publications, including the book, Letting Go: How Philanthropists and Impact Investors Can Do More Good By Giving Up Control and Candid’s Guide, Deciding Together: Shifting Power and Resources Through Participatory Grantmaking.

Currently, I work as the Director of Strategic Advancement at the national Center for Public Representation in the United States. I am also on the boards of the Center for Inclusive Policy, the Climate Justice Resilience Fund, the Kansas Delaware Tribal Council, and the Harvard Alumni Disability Alliance.