Andrew D. Houghton
Chairperson
Andrew D. Houghton was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (Committee) in February 2003, as a private citizen representing the interests of nonprofit agency employees with severe disabilities.
In May 2006, Houghton was reappointed to serve a second term, and in July 2006 and 2008, he was unanimously elected by his peers as Committee Chairperson. He is the first private citizen and the first person with a disability to chair the Committee.
Houghton's broad leadership and experience in the disability arena includes presidential and gubernatorial appointments and business consulting for Fortune 500 companies as well as nonprofit organizations. His accomplishments include the development of domestic and international programs that promote full inclusion for people with disabilities through sports and recreation.
A current resident of Florida, Houghton was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush in 2004 to serve on Florida's Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) on Inclusive Community Living, Lifelong Transition, and Employment of Persons with Developmental Disabilities. In 2005, he was subsequently appointed to serve on the Florida Rehabilitation Council, where he is currently First Vice Chairman. Houghton's state-level work also includes his service as State Commissioner for the Washington Commission on Community and National Service from 2000-2002.
Houghton is well known for employing solid business practices in the development and implementation of programs that promote economic self-sufficiency, employment and full participation for people with disabilities. He is president and founder of Disability Inclusion Solutions, Inc., a small business specializing in the production of print and visual media for nonprofit, public and private sector companies related to the recruitment, hiring and promotion of employees with disabilities. Houghton has conducted marketing, training and outreach programs for clients such as Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, Alaskan Airlines and Nordstrom, which improved customer service while increasing the recruitment, hiring and retention of people with disabilities. He has produced, directed and written numerous media projects, including "Roll Models 24/7," a documentary about people living with spinal cord injuries; he has also hosted various television segments.
Internationally, Houghton has advised transitional governments on disability policy and assisted them in developing and implementing sport and recreational programs that benefit their citizens with disabilities. In 1996, Houghton assisted the International Rescue Committee in developing advocacy training, sports, return-to-work, driver training, and support group programs for people with disabilities in Bosnia. He returned to Bosnia in 1997 with the International Medical Corps to conduct the Bosnia Wheelchair Basketball and Land Mine Awareness Tour, where he led a team of seven gold medalist paralympians on an 11-day, seven-city tour through Bosnia and Croatia.
