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Ronald R. Glancz with RespectAbility Board and Staff L-R: Ronald R. Glancz, Vivian Bass, Lauren Appelbaum, Heidi Daroff, Dana Marlowe, Hillary Steen, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi

Sad News: Passing of RespectAbility Treasurer Ronald Glancz

headshot of Ronald Glancz wearing glasses and a blue tie color photo

Ronald Glancz

Potomac, Md., Aug. 15 – Everyone at RespectAbility is deeply saddened to share the news about the death of Ronald Glancz, after a long battle with cancer.

Until he left his post on July 31 due to his health concerns, Glancz served as the Treasurer of RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and expanding opportunities for people with disabilities. Glancz was a key member of the board of RespectAbility, where he led its budget and financials.

“It was truly an honor to serve beside Ron on RespectAbility’s board of directors,” said Calvin Harris, chair of RespectAbility. “His steadfast commitment to fighting stigmas in disability, especially for adults, set the standard for our board. As chair, I will forever be grateful for the grit and pragmatic leadership that Ron brought to Respectability.”

Said RespectAbility President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, “Ron Glancz has done an amazing job for us – and on so many other things for so many people. He has been sound council and really had our backs.”

Glancz previously served as president of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes (JFGH) and most recently was a member of its Executive Committee. “For more than three decades, Ron Glancz has had a dynamic impact on the vitality, integrity and perpetuity of our Greater DC Jewish and Disabilities Communities…. and beyond. Ron is a highly revered, diplomatic, innovative and incomparable leader who has measurably enriched and enhanced the lives of thousands of individuals, ” said Vivian Bass, who is CEO emeritus of JFGH and also serves on RespectAbility’s executive committee.

Glancz is also a past president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Washington and recipient of its 2015 Breslau-Goldman Award. Its executive director, Ron Halber said, “Ronald Glancz is the epitome of a community leader. He led with intelligence, gratitude and great humility.”

For many years Glancz served on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and served in 2014-2015 on its executive committee and as treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee. He was on the board of University of Michigan Hillel. Glancz is a founding board member of TzedekDC, a nonprofit legal services organization protecting low-income DC residents facing life-altering, often unjust, debt collection lawsuits and other consumer protection crises. He also played a pivotal role in various aspects of his synagogue, Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, Maryland.

“Ron Glancz is the very definition of humility, kindness, and generosity,” said Rabbi Adam Raskin of Har Shalom. “His love and loyalty for the Jewish people and the State of Israel is unparalleled. For many years, Ron and Margie have been fixtures nearly every Shabbat at Har Shalom, where they are beloved and revered members of the community. Ron’s gentle but compelling leadership has inspired countless people in the many capacities he has served the larger community, myself included.”

Glancz was a lawyer and recently retired after 25 years as a partner at Venable LLP in Washington, D.C., where he was chair of its Financial Services Group. Prior to entering private practice, he was an Assistant General Counsel and Acting Deputy General Counsel at the FDIC; Director of the Litigation Division at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; and Assistant Director of the Civil Division’s Appellate Section at the U.S. Department of Justice. Glancz was a former Chancellor of the Exchequer Club of Washington and Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Banking Law Committee. He was a graduate cum laude of the University of Michigan Law School and was an Assistant Editor of the Michigan Law Review.

He and his wife Margie have two adult children, Justin and Rachel, and three grandchildren. Their son Justin has special needs and lives in a JFGH Group Home. Justin was the inspiration for Glancz’s advocacy on behalf of people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

Glancz was honored at RespectAbility’s summit on Capitol Hill on July 30. Rep. Brad Sherman presented a U.S. flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in his honor at the event, “From Washington to Hollywood and Beyond: The Future of Americans With Disabilities.”

“Ronald Glancz is a role model for all people,” Sherman said. “He served on six different nonprofit boards and has worked tirelessly for decades to make the world a better place.”

The flag was accepted on Glancz’s behalf by longtime friends and disability leaders Vivian Bass and Aaron Kaufman, senior legislative associate for The Jewish Federations of North America.

“My parents taught me to give back to the community and to those in need,” Kaufmann said, reading a statement written by Glancz. “I have been fortunate to be able to do so in my life. This has brought great joy to my family, to me and great joy to those in my life and my family.”

Said Kaufman, “I was honored to accept on Ron’s behalf. He was one of the kindest, most giving people you will ever meet.”

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, August 16th at 11:00 AM at Congregation Har Shalom (11510 Falls Road, Potomac, MD 20854). Interment will follow at Judean Memorial Gardens, Olney.

Meet the Author

Lauren Appelbaum

Lauren Appelbaum is the VP, Communications and Entertainment & News Media, of RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so all people with disabilities can fully participate in every aspect of community. As an individual with an acquired nonvisible disability – Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy – she works at the intersection of disability, employment, Hollywood and politics. She regularly conducts trainings on the why and how to be more inclusive and accessible for entertainment executives throughout the industry. Appelbaum partners with studios, production companies and writers’ rooms to create equitable and accessible opportunities to increase the number of people with lived disability experience throughout the overall story-telling process. These initiatives increase diverse and authentic representation of disabled people on screen, leading to systemic change in how society views and values people with disabilities. She has consulted on more than 100 TV episodes and films with A&E, Bunim-Murray Productions, NBCUniversal, Netflix, ViacomCBS, and The Walt Disney Company, among others. She represents RespectAbility on the CAA Full Story Initiative Advisory Council, Disney+ Content Advisory Council, MTV Entertainment Group Culture Code and Sundance Institute’s Allied Organization Initiative. She is the author of The Hollywood Disability Inclusion Toolkit and the creator of an innovative Lab Program for entertainment professionals with disabilities working in development, production and post-production. She is a recipient of the 2020 Roddenberry Foundation Impact Award for this Lab. To reach her, email LaurenA@RespectAbility.org.

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