NCDR Membership Information

Membership Contact:

Jim Ward, Founder and PresidentADA Watch/NCDR601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 900SWashington, DC 20004Email: jimward@ncdr.orgDirect Voice: 202-415-4753

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.

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We are united to protect and advance the civil and human rights of children and adults withphysical, mental, developmental, cognitive, intellectual and sensory disabilities.

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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

.[See Attachment]

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With a particular emphasis on media, preservation of disability social history, and communityorganizing, NCDR promotes an understanding – impacting both social consciousness andpublic policy – of disability rights as essential civil and human rights.NCDR fosters communication and resource sharing among its member organizations, serves asa source of information about disability rights issues, and initiates joint advocacy strategies.NCDR members also act in their organizational capacities to develop and implement their ownstrategies to achieve the goals of the

National Agenda for Disability Rights.

Focus/Issue Areas:

In addition to the promotion of the

National Agenda for Disability Rights,

the NCDR national andstate advisory council has identified key areas of focus for our educational and advocacy efforts:1.Civil Rights & Discrimination2.Poverty & Social Justice3.Healthcare & Public Policy4.Community Organizing & Coalition-Building5.Media & Public Outreach

Disability Rights History

Programs:

NCDR programs include the association of statewide cross-disability coalitions,

Road ToFreedom

(bus, documentary film, book and public information campaign),

ADA Watch

disabilityrights news and action network,

Campaign for Fair Judges

Disability Rights Concert

, and

Wired On Wheels

accessibility rating system and database.

Statement on Inclusion

The disability rights movement has lost much ground since passage of the Americans withDisabilities Act in 1990 and the disability community has grown significantly fractured. NCDRrejects polarizing – and often self-serving – characterizations about the greater disabilitycommunity including supposed dichotomies as disabled/nondisabled, lawyers/lay-advocates,Inside/Outside the Beltway, physical/mental disabilities, “cure”/rights organizations, and the like.

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NCDR Membership Information

In recognition of the formidable opponents we regularly face and in respect for the unifying values of greatdisability rights leaders like Justin Dart, we seek to forge a common agenda among the disparate members of our constituency. As such, NCDR, while disability majority-governed, is comprised of national, state and localorganizations; legal, non-legal and self- advocacy organizations; youth organizations; rights and cure-basedhealth organizations; student and educator organizations; parent and family organizations; aging organizations,as well as associated non-disability led civil rights and social justice organizations.

Membership:

Hundreds of national, state and local coalition partners have previously joined our efforts by simply signing-ontheir organization to one or more of our advocacy campaigns. There are no dues are fees. NCDR also recomendsenhancing membership by assigning an organizational representative to the NCDR Advisory Council and bydemonstrating support for our

National Agenda for Disability Rights

. Associate membership is open to alliedorganizations from the civil rights, aging, mental health and other social justice communities. Members of theNCDR Advisory Council may be elected to the Board of Directors which will consist of no more than ten directors.Organizational members who join our National Advisory Council are asked to appoint a person within theorganization to participate in the Coalition’s activities and to receive and disseminate Coalition information andactions. NCDR recognizes the limited resources and significant demands on the time of our coalition partners,therefore membership requires very little in-person staff time. NCDR prefers that the CEO of an organization belisted with membership, while the point person may be another staff member. As an organizational member, your organization will be listed on NCDR materials and will have the option to sign-on or opt-out of coalition policiesand positions. NCDR positions are formalized with a simple majority vote of the Board and Steering Committeeand campaigns will consist of multi-organization sign-on statements comprised of endorsing members.

Association of Statewide Cross-Disability Coalitions:

In 2006, ADA Watch/NCDR was reorganized in response to the call for national representation from a number of statewide, cross-disability coalitions. NCDR now functions, in part, as the association of statewide cross-disabilitycoalitions representing state and local disability and disability-allied organizations. NCDR – Statewide Coalitionpolicies and positions, when distinct from the national, are formalized by a simple majority vote of the StateCoalition Steering Committee. Any policies or positions singlalry reached by the association of Statewide Cross-Disability Coalitions must be clearly delineated as such.

Governance – National:

At least a majority of our Board of Directors and National Advisory Council, as well as the NCDR SteeringCommittee members are people with disabilities. Founded as ADA Watch in 2001, our first Chairman was the latedisability rights icon, Justin Dart.The NCDR Board of Directors and National Advisory Council are comprised of national disability and alliedorganizations and recognized national, state and local disability rights leaders:

NCDR Membership Information

NCDR Board of Directors and National Advisory Council

(*) indicates Board Member

Nan Aron

Alliance for Justice

Shereen Arent

American Diabetes Association

Ron Bassman

NARPA

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 RightsThe Honorable

Judith HeumannJanine Bertram Kemp

Cedar Media

John Lancaster

National Council on Independent Living

Ralph Neas

People For the American Way

David Oaks

MindFreedom International

Mike Oxford

NCIL, ADAPT, TILRC

Lee Page

Paralyzed Veterans of America

Brewster Thackeray

AARP

Debra Robinson

Speaking For Ourselves

Marcie Roth

National Spinal Cord Injury Association

Phil Sparks

Communications Consortium Media Center

Nancy Starnes

National Organization on Disability

Betsy Valnes

National Youth Leadership Network

Jim Ward

* National Coalition for Disability Rights

Patrisha Wright

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund

Tony Young

NISH

Governance – State and Local:

NCDR is the association of statewide cross-disability coalitions. NCDR supports capacity-building of existing statecoalitions and disseminates best practice methods for the development of new statewide coalitions. Localorganizations are signed-on as dual members of NCDR and their respective state coalition.