About Us

The National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR) is a Washington, DC-based alliance of national, state and local nonprofit organizations united to advance inclusion, social justice and economic opportunity for children and adults with physical and mental disabilities.

Contact Information:

National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR)
1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
Email: info@ncdr.org
Voice: 202-448-9928
Fax: 202-478-0945

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.
• With a particular emphasis on community organizing, preservation of disability social history, media and public outreach, NCDR promotes an understanding – impacting both social consciousness and public policy – of disability rights as essential civil and human rights.

NCDR Board of Directors and National Advisory Council:

Consistent with the disability rights slogan, “Nothing About Us Without Us!,” 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:

(*) indicates Board Member

Jim Ward*
ADA Watch/NCDR President and Founder

Nan Aron
Alliance for Justice

Ron Bassman*
National Association of Rights Protection & Advocacy

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 Gordon
National Black Deaf Advocates

Wade Henderson
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

The Honorable Judith Heumann

Bob Kafka*
ADAPT

Janine Bertram Kemp*
Cedar Media

John Lancaster
National Council on Independent Living

Paul Longmore
Disability Rights Historian

Ralph Neas
People For the American Way

David Oaks
MindFreedom International

Mike Oxford
NCIL, ADAPT, TILRC

Lee Page*
Paralyzed Veterans of America

Debra Robinson
Speaking For Ourselves

Phil Sparks
Communications Consortium Media Center

Nancy Starnes*
National Organization on Disability

Betsy Valnes
National Youth Leadership Network

Susan Henderson*
Disability Rights Education and
Defense Fund

Tony Young
NISH

Governance – State and Local:

NCDR is also 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.

NCDR’s 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 Westlake
Tennessee 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