Calvin Harris Elected as Chair, Succeeding Donn Weinberg; New Board Member Ronald Glancz, Deeply Seasoned Leader in the Nonprofit Community, Elected Treasurer

New members include cross section of national leaders from Hollywood, public policy, philanthropy, communications and the private sector

Calvin Harris, Chair

Rockville, Md., July 19 – RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for people with disabilities, today announced the additions of new members to the boards of directors and advisors, as well as new officers. Notably, Calvin Harris has been elected to be the chair of RespectAbility. He follows co-founder Donn Weinberg, whose impact on RespectAbility and the disability sector has been indispensable.

“We are deeply grateful for Donn Weinberg’s leadership and delighted that he will remain as chair emeritus,” stated RespectAbility President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi. “ Meanwhile, we are extremely excited for Calvin Harris to assume the role as board chair, as well as the additional high level perspectives and personalities that will join him on RespectAbility’s board of director and advisors.”

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Born This Way Nominated for Six 2017 Emmy Awards including Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program

Born This Way Cast

Rockville, Md., July 18 – For the cast of Emmy award-winning Born This Way and others with disabilities, acquiring a sense of financial stability is important in being able to live an independent life.

Born This Way, a reality TV show just nominated for six Emmy awards, including again for the 2017 Emmy Award for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program, which the show won in 2016, is centered on seven young adults with Down syndrome living their day-to-day lives, all while pursuing their passions, following their dreams and defying stigmas. In the final episode of season three, Megan and her mother Kris learn about opening an A Better Life Experience (ABLE) account. ABLE accounts are savings accounts designed specifically for people with disabilities and their families to aid them in financial independence.

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Leah Daniels-Butler

Rockville, Md., July 13 – Leah Daniels-Butler, “Empire” casting director, will be speaking at RespectAbility’s summit From Hollywood to Capitol Hill: The Future of Americans with Disabilities.

Daniels-Butler is a casting director and producer most notable for launching the careers of gifted actors like Best Actress Nominee Gaborey Sidebe, star of the Academy Award winning film “Precious,” securing talent for both blockbuster and award-winning films like “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “Lee Daniels, The Butler” and as Casting Director for television’s #1 show, “Empire.”

Her ongoing commitment to championing the inclusion and representation of diverse acting casts of color, gender and ability has guided her career path to being appointed a National Board Director for the Casting Society of America, spearheading the CSA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

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From Hollywood to Capitol Hill: The Future of Americans with Disabilities

A Special Summit for Congressional and Senate Staff, Journalists and Disability Advocates Featuring Marc Summers of The Food Network and Tommy Morrissey, the One-Arm Golfer

Save the Date: July 31, 2017

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Advice from AUCD’s Andrew Imparato

Andy Imparato with RespectAbility Fellows and Staff

Rockville, Md., July 3 – Considering himself a second-generation disability activist, Andrew Imparato took RespectAbility Fellows on a journey of disability civil rights history last month. He demonstrated how he has dedicated his career to defending and implementing these rights. Throughout his talk, Imparato focused on the importance of integrating disability history as part of K-12 and higher education, stating that this important part of civil rights history often is excluded, resulting in a missed opportunity to educate all Americans about this part of our history.

Andy Imparato

Imparato’s path as a disability activist began in the summer after graduating from law school. His interest in pursuing public interest law led him to work helping people with appeals of denials of federal disability benefits at Cambridge & Somerville Legal Services. Imparato’s experience continued to grow when he took a fellowship with the Disability Law Center, where he educated low-income families and Boston City Hospital clinicians and staff in how the disability benefit system works.

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Randall Duchesneau Provides Imperative Information and Advice for Disability Advocates

Randy Duchesneau with RespectAbility Fellows and Staff

Rockville, Md., July 1 – With a great smile and warm-hearted tone of voice, Randall “Randy” Duchesneau was quick to capture the attention of RespectAbility Fellows last month. His empathetic persona, brilliance and prominent leadership skills truly reflected on his work as a disability activist.

Duchesneau is on the board of advisors for RespectAbility where he previously served as the National Leadership Program Director. His journey as a disability advocate started after he acquired a spinal cord injury that left him with quadriplegia at the age of 21.

Despite facing challenges with health care and the personal complications that come from depending on personal assistance to survive, Duchesneau has used his experience to help others. He is working toward improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, like himself.

Through his talk, Duchesneau focused on two critical topics involving people with disabilities: Attendant Care Services covered by Medicaid and awareness of the role ethnicity and culture can play in developing community among people with disabilities.

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A Conversation with National Disabilities Rights Network’s Curt Decker

Curt Decker with RespectAbility Fellows and Staff

Rockville, Md., June 30 – “Disability policy – we need to make sure that our policies and good intentions are followed up with good practices and actions,” advised Curt Decker on a bright Wednesday afternoon.

Serving as the current Executive Director of the National Disabilities Rights Network (NDRN), the largest non-governmental enforcer of disabilities rights, Decker is an integral member of the disability rights movement. As a passionate and motivating speaker, he delivered great insight and important information about the support systems presently in place for people with disabilities experiencing injustice.

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Advice from World-Renowned Pollster Stan Greenberg

Stan Greenberg with RespectAbility Fellows and Staff

Rockville, Md., June 30 – As the Fellows in RespectAbility waited in the conference room for a leading pollster to enter the room, the intimidation increased after being told how important this person is.

Stanley B. Greenberg is a world-renowned pollster and New York Times best-selling author. He is known for advising business leaders with a broad knowledge of social and modern economics, along with being a polling adviser to presidents, prime ministers and CEOs globally. He has conducted deep research in more than a dozen countries.

Greenberg visited the RespectAbility office to meet with the Fellows. He previously teamed up with the organization by conducting polling on voters with disabilities in comparison to voters without disabilities. He also conducted a focus group with Republicans who work on Capital Hill and what they know about people with disabilities.

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A Conversation with American Enterprise Institute’s Gerard Robinson

Gerard Robinson with RespectAbility Fellows and Staff

Rockville, Md., June 30 – Gerard Robinson, a resident fellow at American Enterprise Institute (AEI), visited Respectability to share with Fellows and staff about his experience and interests in education, policy and politics. Robinson discussed what skills he has found helpful throughout his career and his commitment to education.

“Mindfulness” is a concept and important skill for a successful career, according to Robinson. He said any individual who chooses to work in a political environment needs to be mindful or aware of a few key factors: the position that they occupy, the power and duties that come with occupying such position, decisions and actions will impact a community or targeted group, and the attitudes and reactions (negative and positive) that may result from the factors mentioned above.

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