ncdr-membership

8/14/2019 NCDR-Membership

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NCDR Membership Information

Membership Contact:

Jim Ward, Founder and President

ADA Watch/NCDR

601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 900S

Washington, DC 20004Email: [email protected]

Direct Voice: 202-415-4753

Mission Statement:The National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR)is a disability-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit, cross-

disability alliance of national, state and local disability and allied organizations.

We are united to protect and advance the civil and human rights of children and adults with

physical, mental, developmental, cognitive, intellectual and sensory disabilities.

NCDR pools expertise, resources and influence to build the capacity of nonprofit disability,

civil rights and social justice organizations to further a National Agenda for Disability Rights.[See Attachment]

With a particular emphasis on media, preservation of disability social history, and community

organizing, NCDR promotes an understanding impacting both social consciousness andpublic policy of disability rights as essential civil and human rights.

NCDR fosters communication and resource sharing among its member organizations, serves as

a source of information about disability rights issues, and initiates joint advocacy strategies.

NCDR members also act in their organizational capacities to develop and implement their own

strategies to achieve the goals of the National Agenda for Disability Rights.

Focus/Issue Areas:In addition to the promotion of the National Agenda for Disability Rights, the NCDR national andstate advisory council has identified key areas of focus for our educational and advocacy efforts:

1. Civil Rights & Discrimination2. Poverty & Social Justice3. Healthcare & Public Policy4. Community Organizing & Coalition-Building5. Media & Public Outreach6. Disability Rights History

Programs:NCDR programs include the association of statewide cross-disability coalitions, Road To

Freedom (bus, documentary film, book and public information campaign),ADA Watch disabilityrights news and action network, Campaign for Fair Judges, Disability Rights Concert, and Wired

On Wheels accessibility rating system and database.

Statement on Inclusion:The disability rights movement has lost much ground since passage of the Americans with

Disabilities Act in 1990 and the disability community has grown significantly fractured. NCDR

rejects polarizing and often self-serving characterizations about the greater disability

community including supposed dichotomies as disabled/nondisabled, lawyers/lay-advocates,

Inside/Outside the Beltway, physical/mental disabilities, cure/rights organizations, and the like.

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[email protected]


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In recognition of the formidable opponents we regularly face and in respect for the unifying values of great

disability rights leaders like Justin Dart, we seek to forge a common agenda among the disparate members of our

constituency. As such, NCDR, while disability majority-governed, is comprised of national, state and local

organizations; legal, non-legal and self- advocacy organizations; youth organizations; rights and cure-based

health organizations; student and educator organizations; parent and family organizations; aging organizations,

as well as associated non-disability led civil rights and social justice organizations.

Membership:Hundreds of national, state and local coalition partners have previously joined our efforts by simply signing-on

their organization to one or more of our advocacy campaigns. There are no dues are fees. NCDR also recomends

enhancing membership by assigning an organizational representative to the NCDR Advisory Council and by

demonstrating support for ourNational Agenda for Disability Rights. Associate membership is open to allied

organizations from the civil rights, aging, mental health and other social justice communities. Members of the

NCDR Advisory Council may be elected to the Board of Directors which will consist of no more than ten directors.

Organizational members who join our National Advisory Council are asked to appoint a person within the

organization to participate in the Coalitions activities and to receive and disseminate Coalition information and

actions. NCDR recognizes the limited resources and significant demands on the time of our coalition partners,

therefore membership requires very little in-person staff time. NCDR prefers that the CEO of an organization belisted with membership, while the point person may be another staff member. As an organizational member, your

organization will be listed on NCDR materials and will have the option to sign-on or opt-out of coalition policies

and positions. NCDR positions are formalized with a simple majority vote of the Board and Steering Committee

and campaigns will consist of multi-organization sign-on statements comprised of endorsing members.

Association of Statewide Cross-Disability Coalitions:In 2006, ADA Watch/NCDR was reorganized in response to the call for national representation from a number of

statewide, cross-disability coalitions. NCDR now functions, in part, as the association of statewide cross-disability

coalitions representing state and local disability and disability-allied organizations. NCDR Statewide Coalition

policies and positions, when distinct from the national, are formalized by a simple majority vote of the State

Coalition Steering Committee. Any policies or positions singlalry reached by the association of Statewide Cross-

Disability Coalitions must be clearly delineated as such.

Governance National:At least a majority of our Board of Directors and National Advisory Council, as well as the NCDR Steering

Committee members are people with disabilities. Founded as ADA Watch in 2001, our first Chairman was the late

disability rights icon, Justin Dart.

The NCDR Board of Directors and National Advisory Council are comprised of national disability and allied

organizations and recognized national, state and local disability rights leaders:

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NCDR Board of Directors and National Advisory Council(*) indicates Board Member

Nan Aron

Alliance for Justice

Shereen Arent

American Diabetes Association

Ron Bassman*

NARPA

Robert Bernstein

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

Marca Bristo

Access Living

The Honorable Tony Coelho

Former Member of Congress

Len Doran*

The Wexford Group

Curtis Decker*

National Disability Rights Network

Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities

Kyle Glozier

National Disabled Student Union

Claudia GordonNational Black Deaf Advocates

Wade Henderson

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

The HonorableJudith Heumann

Janine Bertram Kemp*

Cedar Media

John Lancaster

National Council on Independent Living

Ralph Neas

People For the American Way

David Oaks

MindFreedom International

Mike Oxford

NCIL, ADAPT, TILRC

Lee Page*

Paralyzed Veterans of America

Brewster Thackeray*

AARP

Debra Robinson

Speaking For Ourselves

Marcie Roth*

National Spinal Cord Injury Association

Phil Sparks

Communications Consortium Media Center

Nancy Starnes*

National Organization on Disability

Betsy Valnes

National Youth Leadership Network

Jim Ward*

National Coalition for Disability Rights

Patrisha Wright*

Disability Rights Education and

Defense Fund

Tony Young

NISH

Governance State and Local:NCDR is the association of statewide cross-disability coalitions. NCDR supports capacity-building of existing state

coalitions and disseminates best practice methods for the development of new statewide coalitions. Local

organizations are signed-on as dual members of NCDR and their respective state coalition.

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NCDRs State Coalition Steering Committee consists of the leaders of statewide cross-disability coalitions. At

least a majority of the NCDR State Coalition Steering Committee is comprised of people with disabilities.

These state coalitions are represented in seven geographic regions:

NCDR State Membership & Governance Regions

Region 1: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii

Region 2: Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas

Region 3: Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan

Region 4: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee

Region 5: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina North Carolina

Region 6: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, New Jersey

Region 7: New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine

NCDR State Coalition Steering Committee

Catherine Blakemore

California Respect-Ability Coalition

Dennis Borel

Coalition of Texans with Disabilities

Lynn Breedlove

Survival Coalition of

Wisconsin Disability Coalitions

Sharon Fields

Kentucky Disabilities Coalition

Stan Kosloski

Connecticut Disability Advocacy

Collaborative

Bill Olsen

Oregon Cross-Disability Coalition

Jim Moench

North Dakota Disabilities Advocacy

Consortium

Carol WestlakeTennessee Disability Coalition

Mary Troupe

Mississippi Coalition for Citizens

with Disabilities

Julie Reskin

Colorado Cross Disability Coalition

Vanessa VanGilder

West Virginia Fair Shake Network

Kathryn Wyeth

Michigan Disability Rights Coalition

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