Anthony Lee Coelho is an American politician from California who served in the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the primary sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act and is a former chairman and current member of the board of directors of the Epilepsy Foundation.
Lex Frieden is an American educator, researcher, disability policy expert and disability rights activist. Frieden has been called "a chief architect of the Americans with Disabilities Act." He is also regarded as a founder and leader of the independent living movement by people with disabilities in the U.S.
Judith Ellen Heumann was an American disability rights activist, known as the "Mother of the Disability Rights Movement". She was recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community. Heumann was a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities. Her work with governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits, and various other disability interest groups, produced significant contributions since the 1970s to the development of human rights legislation and policies benefiting children and adults with disabilities. Through her work in the World Bank and the State Department, Heumann led the mainstreaming of disability rights into international development. Her contributions extended the international reach of the independent living movement.
Disability Rights International (DRI), formerly Mental Disability Rights International, is a Washington, DC–based human rights advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the human rights and full participation in society of persons with disabilities worldwide. DRI documents conditions, publishes reports, and promotes international oversight of the rights of persons with disabilities.
Ilan Gilon was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for the Meretz and the Democratic Union alliance in three spells between 1999 and 2021.
Prudence Mabhena is a Zimbabwean singer. Prudence Mabhena was born with Arthrogryposis, and was severely disabled. The society she was born into considers disabilities to carry the taint of witchcraft. Because of this, she was abandoned by her family. As a result, she was raised by her maternal grandmother who sang to her while working on her farm. She later attended King George VI School for the disabled in Bulawayo.
Attanayake Mudiyanselage Kithsiri Senarath Bandara Attanayake known as Senarath Attanayake was a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer. He was a recipient of the 2016 Henry Viscardi Achievement Award. He was also a member of the Uva Provincial Council, Sri Lanka and was the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Land and Forestry of the Uva Provincial Council from 2000 to 2005 as well as the acting Chief Minister for a brief period during this tenure. Attanayake is the first person with a disability in Sri Lanka to be an elected representative and a lawyer and the only person with a disability to hold a ministerial portfolio.
Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Connelly was a politician from Staten Island, New York who represented the North Shore community from 1973 to 2000. She was the first woman to win elective office to any district encompassing Staten Island.
Dr Satendra Singh is a medical doctor at the University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Delhi. A physiologist by profession, he contracted poliomyelitis at the age of nine months but went on to complete a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College, Kanpur and later on Doctor of Medicine in Physiology. He is the first ever Indian to win the prestigious Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards given to extraordinary leaders in global disability community. He is a noted disability activist especially for his sustained efforts in making public places accessible for disabled persons for which he was conferred National Award by President of India. He is also the first Indian to be awarded the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics fellowship at the University of Chicago. Singh had been involved in the synthesis of epibatidine analogues, leading to the discovery of epiboxidine. In contrast to RTI-336, which positions a 3-tolyl group on the isoxazole ring to the DAT receptor, a phenyl group was too sterically encumbered to be tolerated in the case of the nicotinic receptors. Although aromatic moieties seem to be tolerated at the mGlu5 receptor in the case of ADX-47273.
J. Randolph "Randy" Lewis is an American businessman, a disability employment advocate, and author.
Susan E. Sygall is an American disability rights advocate and civil rights leader. She is the CEO of Mobility International USA (MIUSA), which she co-founded in 1981.
Marca Bristo was an American disability rights activist.
Mary Meyers Rosenfield was an American community leader, active in special education and services for people with developmental disabilities in Texas.
The Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards were established to honor the legacy of the founder of the Viscardi Center, Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr., a leading disability rights advocate who wore prosthetic limbs. These international Awards, first conferred in 2013, recognize exemplary leaders in the disability sector around the globe who have had a profound impact on changing the lives of people with disabilities and championing their rights. Considered as most prestigious, these global awards honor champions of disability activism.
John D. Kemp is an American disability rights leader who co-founded the American Association of People with Disabilities and is currently the president and chief executive of the Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Viscardi Center is a non-profit organization in Albertson, New York, dedicated to educating, empowering and employing people with disabilities. It was founded in 1952 by Henry Viscardi, Jr., a noted disability activist, who was also advisor to eight US Presidents on matters pertaining to disability policies. John D. Kemp is the current President of the Viscardi Center.
Marilyn E. Saviola was an American disability rights activist, executive director of the Center for the Independence of the Disabled in New York from 1983 to 1999, and vice president of Independence Care System after 2000. Saviola, a polio survivor from Manhattan, New York, is known nationally within the disability rights movement for her advocacy for people with disabilities and had accepted many awards and honors for her work.
Abha Khetarpal is an Indian disability rights activist and counsellor based in New Delhi, India. She is the founder of Cross The Hurdles – a counselling/educational resource website and mobile application designed for people with disabilities.
