National Leadership Program, Fall 2019
Courtney Murray
Courtney Murray was a Communications Fellow in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for Fall 2019. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.
Murray’s professional experience in the disability field includes work as a full-time communications intern at American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). At AAPD, she volunteered with the Global Down Syndrome Foundation and organized hundreds of giveaway packages for its gala. She also took part in daily discussions on the progress and setbacks of policies that were affecting people with disabilities. She researched and identified key players in the disability community for the benefit of business operations. Additionally, she worked at American Institutes for Research (AIR) and performed quality control (QC) of assessments for multiple state departments of education. Her work on the Operations team at AIR led to her evaluating the quality of braille assessments.
Murray is from Kensington, Maryland. She attended Howard University and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism with a concentration in Broadcast News. She minored in Administration of Justice. Her goal in completing the Fellowship is to enhance her social media management skills. In addition, she wants to become even more of an ally to people with disabilities during her Fellowship and beyond. Her hope is to secure a full-time position with an organization that encourages employee’s work-life balance.
Murray is passionate about music. She enjoys listening to most genres. Currently her favorite music streaming service is Sirius XM. Her go-to station on the service is Hip Hop Nation. Music-related television shows she favors are NBC’s The Voice and FOX’s Masked Singer.
Murray wrote several pieces during the Fall 2019 Fellowship. Check them out on our website:
- Comcast Tackles Digital Divide for Low-Income Disability Community (September 17, 2019)
- The Voice’s Will Breman Breaking Boundaries and Tackling Low Expectations for Singers with Disabilities (October 8, 2019)
- Diana Romero: Award-Winning Producer with Multiple Sclerosis Continues to Find Success in Hollywood (October 11, 2019)
- People with Disabilities Successfully Transition to Competitive Integrated Employment
(November 6, 2019)
