My Work

In May 2023, I co-founded Disability Victory with my colleague, Neal Carter. Disability Victory is a 501(c)(4) organization that is working to build the political power of disabled progressives through training, networking, and leadership development. As co-Founders and co-Directors, Neal and I manage every aspect of this new and growing organization as a team of two. Since launching last year, we have:

• Facilitated accessible, virtual campaign training workshops to educate disabled leaders on the skills they need to run for office or staff a campaign;

• Fostered partnerships with organizations including Run for Something and the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute to empower more disabled leaders to run for office;

• Created resources to educate campaign training programs on accessibility, explored the barriers to running for office for people receiving Social Security disability benefits, and motivated more first-time candidates to run for local office;

• Run the day-to-day operations of a young, growing organization; whether it’s fundraising, finance, website creation, social media management, content creation, or fostering new partnerships, we’ve done it all!

Learn more about Disability Victory and get in touch with us over on the Disability Victory website.

I have served as a subject matter expert on U.S. voting rights with a focus on accessibility and disability voting rights in the Carter Center’s Democracy Program since September 2022. In November 2022, I worked with Carter Center staff and Detroit Disability Power to audit 261 polling places in Southeast Michigan. During the Election Day audit, I supported our observers and team on the ground by communicating with observers, analyzing real-time data, and providing logistical support. Our subsequent analysis and report found that 84% of polling places in metro Detroit are not fully accessible, and this data is now being used by Detroit Disability Power and other Michigan-based disability rights groups to advocate for accessibility improvements.

As a disability access subject matter expert at the Carter Center, I continue to engage in this partnership with Detroit Disability Power and other disability rights groups to train others on conducting polling place audits and support replication in other jurisdictions. Additionally, I work to promote the inclusion of accessibility and disability voting rights in other aspects of the Democracy Program’s work.

Access “Improving Voting Accessibility for Detroit Voters with Disabilities” on Detroit Disability Power’s website.

Accessible voting systems are a key feature in voting that enable disabled people to vote privately and independently. However, few training materials are available to election officials that enable them to train poll workers on how to properly assist voters with disabilities with accessible voting systems.

In 2023, I worked on behalf of the Center for Civic Design to author a report and sample training presentation for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Voting Technology Series. These provide a template for election officials to modify to supplement their own poll worker training. They include guidance on how poll workers can assist voters with disabilities on accessible voting systems in a way that preserves their privacy and independence. They also provide recommendations and best practices for election officials on training and supporting their poll workers.

NIST Voting Technology Series: Training Poll Workers for Accessible Voting; Supporting voters with disabilities in the polling place.”

I have researched and authored the state voting guides for AAPD’s REV UP (Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power!) Program for the 2022, 2023, and 2024 election cycles. Each guide includes the information that voters with disabilities need to register to vote, understand their voting rights, research what’s on their ballot, and vote in the polling place or by mail. To author these guides with each state or territory’s current rules, laws, and options for voting, I maintain a comprehensively researched data sheet that is regularly updated with new voting information. These guides also include important information for voters with disabilities that is often unavailable in other voting guides. This includes state rules on guardianship and voting, availability of curbside voting and remote accessible absentee voting, and rules for receiving assistance when voting in person, by mail, and returning a mail-in ballot.

Each iteration of the REV UP State Voting Guides is improved for greater accessibility and information. In 2023, we underwent a rigorous revision and review process with three plain language experts to improve the cognitive accessibility of every guide. We also created a glossary for technical voting terms that voters may need to understand to exercise their right to vote.

Visit AAPD’s Voter Information page to view the REV UP State Voting Guides.

From 2016 to 2022, I served as Voting Rights Organizer, and later Voting Rights and Civic Engagement Director, of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL). At NCIL, my work spanned five core goals: increasing voter registration for disabled voters, increasing voter turnout, advocating for election reform, making the voting process more accessible, and empowering disabled people to run for office with nonpartisan educational resources. At NCIL, I co-created Elevate: Campaign Training for People with Disabilities with my Disability Victory colleague, Neal Carter. Elevate was the first national, accessible, and disability-led campaign training program that equipped disabled people with the skills they need to run for elected office.

During my tenure at NCIL, I created resources to increase the accessibility of democratic participation, including:

• “Including People with Disabilities in Your Political Campaign: A Guide for Campaign Staff (2018);

• “Achieving Accessibility for Election Websites and Sample Ballots: A Toolkit for Disability Advocates,” (2018). Winner of the 2019 U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Clearinghouse Award for Improving Accessibility for Voters with Disabilities;

• Plan Your Vote 2020.

Visit Elevate: Campaign Training for People with Disabilities.