National Leadership Program, Fall 2020 – Spring 2021
Zoltán Boka was a Policy Fellow in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for Fall 2020 – Spring 2021. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.
Boka was born in Budapest, Hungary where he survived a childhood bout with hydrocephalus, a form of traumatic brain injury. He moved to Philadelphia with his family around the time the Berlin Wall fell. Boka has since earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, taught in three continents and worked in municipal, state and federal government.
Boka spent several years in academia, both in a neuroscience lab where he studied language and brain injuries and later in a supervisory role where he set and supervised ethical standards in utilizing human participants in research.
His research and analysis has been published in over a dozen outlets. In his spare time he enjoys swimming and reading.