NCD Members and Staff

National Council on Disability
1331 F Street, NW, Suite 850
Washington, DC 20004

202-272-2004 General Information
202-272-2074 TTY
202-272-2022 Facsimile

Note: Please direct correspondence for NCD members to the National Council on Disability address listed above.

Members

John R. Vaughn, Fort Myers, Florida, chairperson. Mr. Vaughn is a retired executive in the financial services industry. He is also a former commissioner of the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services and Commissioner of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired. Mr. Vaughn was appointed to the Florida Rehabilitation Advisory Council for Blind Services by Governor Jeb Bush and he was also appointed to U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao's Working Committee on Work Place Issues in connection with President Bush's Twenty-first Century Work Force Initiative.

Chad Colley, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Vice Chairperson. Mr. Colley is a decorated Vietnam veteran who has been active in veteran and disability issues for over three decades. In 1984, he was selected the Handicapped American on behalf of President Ronald Reagan and is a past national commander of Disabled American Veterans. Mr. Colley's service includes positions as vice chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and chairman of the Veterans Administration Advisory Committee on Rehabilitation, among others.

Patricia Pound, Austin, Texas, Vice Chairperson. Ms. Pound is the executive director of the Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities. She is the founding president of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities and a current member of the National Association of Governor's Committees on People with Disabilities.

Milton Aponte, J.D., Cooper City, Florida. Mr. Aponte is an assistant U. S. attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the Southern District of Florida. He previously served as a general attorney with the DOJ, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and as Chief Counsel for the US HUD in the Cleveland, Ohio office. He has served in numerous boards including the Florida Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, Florida's federally funded protection and advocacy agency. He is a resident of Florida. His youngest daughter Luz Elena (Lucy), has significant developmental disabilities.

Victoria Ray Carlson, Naperville, Illinois. Ms. Carlson is a homemaker with three young girls. She was the executive director of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Iowa Chapter. She has worked at the U.S. Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development and for Senator Robert Dole in the Republican Leader's Office. In addition, Ms. Carlson was the Iowa Organization Coordinator for Branstad for Governor and worked in the Iowa House of Representatives. Ms. Carlson was also a member of the Iowa Persons with Disabilities Commission.

Robert R. Davila, Ph.D., New Market, Maryland. Dr. Davila is the President of Gallaudet University. He recently retired after a career that included teaching, administration at Gallaudet and the National Technical Institute for the deaf, and serving as assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Graham Hill, Arlington, Virginia. Mr. Hill is counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He is a veteran Hill staffer and was an advisor for disability policy on the Bush/Cheney presidential campaign. He also worked as a fellow in the office of Senator Phil Gramm of Texas.

Marylyn Howe, Marshfield Hills, MA. Ms. Howe is currently the director of public policy at the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council. She was formerly the executive director of the Massachusetts Assistive Technology Partnership at Children's Hospital in Boston, where she advocated strongly for people with disabilities to become empowered and independent through technology. She is a former Board Member of the National Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP) and a former President and co-founder of the Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA).

Young Woo Kang, Ph.D., Springfield, Virginia. Dr. Kang is an author and the founding president of Education and Rehabilitation Exchange Foundation, International, a non-profit organization in the United States and Korea that promotes equal participation for people with disabilities through an annual international conference on disability issues.

Kathleen Martinez, Oakland, California. Ms. Martinez is executive director of the World Institute on Disability, a nonprofit research, public policy and  advocacy center dedicated to promoting independence and societal inclusion of  people with disabilities.

Lisa Mattheiss, East Ridge, Tennessee. Ms. Mattheiss is the parent of a child with special needs. She is a Parents Advisory Council member/volunteer at TC Thompson Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga. She is the founder and executive director of LifeLine Ministry of Hamilton Baptist Church. Mrs. Mattheiss is involved with the board of Tennessee's Parent Training and Information organization, STEP, Inc. (Support and Training for Exceptional Parents, Inc.), and she is part of the Tennessee Respite Coalition.

Lonnie C. Moore, Chula Vista, California. Mr. Moore currently serves as the Western Area Director for the Wounded Warrior Project, where he tends to the needs of wounded service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In this capacity, he serves as a benefits officer, conducts business development, and creates and supports ongoing service programs. He also serves as the Western Chair for the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs Service Members and Families Council. Mr. Moore was combat-wounded in Iraq, where he led more than 60 combat missions.

Anne M. Rader, Ms. Rader serves as an independent consultant in Washington, DC for non-profit organizations and is a public speaker on disability issues to private and public sector organizations.

Cynthia Wainscott, Cartersville, Georgia. Ms. Wainscott is the immediate past chair of Mental Health America, formerly known as the National Mental Health Association. She was acting president and CEO of Mental Health America in 2006. She served as a member of the Institute of Medicine committee that recently released Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions, and is a founding board member of the Campaign for America's Mental Health.

Linda Wetters, Columbus, Ohio. Ms. Wetters is assistant executive director of the State of Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, where she assists in the administration of the state agency designated to provide vocational rehabilitation services to people with disabilities.

Staff

Mike Collins, Executive Director, joined NCD as its executive director in June 2007. He previously served as the first executive director of the California State Independent Living Council. He is a long-time disability advocate who is very familiar with disability and long-term care-related programs and services, the wide variety of disability civil rights laws, and vocational rehabilitation practices and regulations at the federal and state levels. He was also a key participant in numerous initiatives designed to enhance the ability of people with disabilities to live independently, as required by the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision that has increased the demand for community-based services.

Martin Gould, Ed.D. is NCD's director of research. He joined the NCD staff as senior research specialist in January 2000.

Mark S. Quigley is NCD's director of external affairs. He was the press secretary and director of communications at President Ronald Reagan's White House Conference on Small Business.

Julie Carroll is an NCD senior attorney advisor. She was the director of Government and Industry Relations, Information Technology Technical Assistance Training Center, Law, Health Policy and Disability Center at the University of Iowa College of Law. Previously, she worked as an advocacy attorney at the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Joan M. Durocher is an NCD senior attorney advisor. Ms. Durocher is also the Designated Federal Official for International Watch, a Federal Advisory Committee tasked with advising on the development of policy proposals that will advocate for a foreign policy that is consistent with the values and goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ms. Durocher served as a Commissioner on the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law from 2002 to 2005.  She currently chairs the Subcommittee on Lawyers with Disabilities for the Section and is on the editorial board.

Lisa Grubb is NCD's special assistant to the executive director. Prior to joining NCD, Ms. Grubb was a key participant in Virginia's efforts to implement changes in state policies for people with disabilities. Ms. Grubb has represented Virginia nationally in her role as executive director to Virginia's Statewide Independent Living Council. Prior to her career in advancing disability rights, Ms. Grubb was instrumental in creating and implementing Individual Development Accounts in Tennessee.

Geraldine Drake Hawkins, Ph.D. is NCD’s Senior Program Analyst and Designated Federal Official for the Youth Advisory Committee. After a career of teaching, assessment, program evaluation--early childhood through university levels--and providing assistance to states at the U.S. Department of Education, she joined NCD’s staff in November 1999. She is a consumer member of the Mid-Atlantic Advisory Committee for Magellan Health Services.

Stacey S. Brown is NCD's staff assistant and serves as the Designated Federal Official for NCD’s Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee. He also conducts the administrative aspects of agency meetings and teleconferences. His prior experience includes working as a receptionist and clerk with the Board for International Broadcasting.

Carla Nelson is NCD's secretary. Prior to her work at NCD, Ms. Nelson was an executive secretary at the U.S. Postal Service.