Héctor Manuel Ramírez (they/them) is an Apache & Mexican Two Spirits person occupying space in Yaanga, Tongva (Los Angeles, California) the unceded ancestral lands of the Tongva/Kizh/Tatavin, Chumash & Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. Héctor is an autistic person who is hard of hearing & has a psychiatric disability. Hector does local, state, & federal level policy work in the areas of equity & disparities. Héctor is on the board of directors with Disability Rights California & the National Disability Rights Network where Héctor provides oversight & accountability.

The Collective is a group of Lower Price Hill, Ohio residents collaborating on creative projects that beautify spaces in their neighborhood, growing relationships they have with one another, and investing in creative entrepreneurs. Their goal is to create a welcoming space that allows creativity to be transformative and interactive for all. Members explore the intersection of art, music, poetry, social practice, craft making, community building, gardening, cooking, good coffee, and great people!

Miso Kwak has a variety of experience in disability community building and advocacy. A few highlights include publishing Disability Disclosed, an inaugural student publication on disability at Harvard University and working as a Project Coordinator for the National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems (NCAPPS) for two years. She is currently a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Turkey. As an advocate and educator, Miso is committed to creating spaces and experiences that honor and uplift multiple identities each person holds.

Andy Arias has worked as a System Change Advocate and Program Manager for Orange County & Los Angeles for over seven years. He is member of many boards and commissions related to creating greater visibility and advancement for diverse communities, especially the disability community. Andy’s expertise extends to federal government and corporate levels. His goal is to marry his policy work with his work in the entertainment industry to create a systemic lasting change.

Kenny Burr is a Region Three Co-Lead from The Centers for Workforce Transformation. He enjoys developing presentations and training programs for people who work with and support people with disabilities and self-advocates. He enjoys advocating for people with disabilities to make their lives better.

Lydia X.Z. Brown is a writer, public speaker, educator, trainer, consultant, advocate, community organizer, community builder, activist, scholar. They work to address and end interpersonal and state violence targeting disabled people, especially disabled people at the margins of the margins, in our own homes and communities, in movement spaces, in schools, in disability-specific institutions, and in jails and prisons.

Ketrina (“Trina”) Hazell (she, her) is the former Ms. Wheelchair NY 2018. She resides in Brooklyn, NY. Hazell’s platform is to bring self-advocacy into schools and make them more inclusive. A strong self-advocate, motivational speaker, blogger and college student, Hazell graduated from Partners in Policymaking in 2014. Hazell is the founder of her own advocacy group called Voices of Power and recently founded the Disability Champions Mentoring Network. She is affiliated with many disability-related organizations. Hazell serves on many disability related councils and works at the Regional Center for Workforce Transformation (RCWT).

Terri Clark is an accomplished public health advocate, trainer, program planner, and facilitator with nearly 30 years of experience. Her areas of focus include human sexuality, with a specialty in LGBTQ issues, HIV prevention, sexual health, and older adult sexual expression. Terri manages a portfolio of projects that aim to improve understanding of these topics among diverse community members to bridge the knowledge gap and ensure inclusivity.

Deanna Yadollahi hopes to enact institutional change and radical reimagination that will lead to more supportive and just realities. Deanna's work includes community-building, resource-creating, presenting, writing, and Deanna's creative access consulting practice. Deanna is pursuing a Master's degree in Disability Studies at CUNY School of Professional Studies.

Bex Mui (she/her) is a biracial, queer, cis femme organizer and consultant committed to the work of LGBTQ+ affirmation at the intersections of education, spirituality, and sexual and mental wellness. A spiritual organizer and founder of House Of Our Queer, a QTBIPOC-Centered spiritual playspace where Bex shares affirmations for the queer and trans community. Bex created the online class, Decolonizing Gender, for the Institute for Anti-Racist Education, and has experience consulting for the K-12 school system on the local, state, and national level.

Sara Liss is a multiply disabled queer Jewish attorney barred in New York. She is the chair of the PAIMI Advisory Council at Disability Rights Connecticut and spends her spare time communing with her cats, who are her kindred spirits.

Maria Martinez holds degrees in art education and English as a second language from the University of Northern Colorado. She has worked in the fields of domestic violence and corrections. Maria is a survivor of a stroke and a brain injury. Maria is a support group leader, peer mentor, brain injury advocate, and the director of a nonprofit. She is a board member of the Colorado Advisory Board, an advisory board member for the TBI Technical Assistance and Research Center, and a Professional & Lived Experience Contributor to the NCAPPS Learning Collaborative.

Dr. Sarmistha Talukdar is a queer, multiply disabled South Asian immigrant, visual and sound artist, a botanist, a cancer research instructor, an activist and a community organizer.

Al Cunningham has worked as a reporter, urban planner, communication/media specialist, writer and producer for radio syndication, public information officer, sexual health educator, and multimedia creator. His career has taken him from his native Chicago to Atlanta, Alabama, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Washington, DC, San Francisco, New Jersey/New York, and currently, Detroit. Al is in the process of creating 2bFREE.com, an "oasis of Black American ourstory"– celebrating, demonstrating, disseminating, and invigorating positive Black American non-fiction narratives.

Patsy Starke is a transgender woman and a registered nurse. Her life's story and her experience have led her to love her community and advocate for any marginalized persons and communities as this story continues.

Joseph Ray was born in Gallup, New Mexico. Joseph is Laguna/Zuni Pueblo and Maidu from California. He has been an advocate for disability services in tribal communities for 10 plus years; specifically, for Independent Living Services, elder care services, and Vocational Rehabilitation. He currently serves as the National Congress of American Indians disabilities subcommittee chair. Established in 1947, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest American Indian and Alaska Native advocacy organization. Joseph currently resides in Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico.

NCAPPS PAL group member Anntionete McNutt-Morgan shares her personal experience of how person-centered principles helped her and her family.

NCAPPS collaborator Karyn Harvey calls us to an action to soften the effects of trauma as we navigate the pandemic.

NCAPPS PAL Group Member Kelly Lang shares how person-centered planning has been helping her family to problem-solve.

In this video, an NCAPPS PAL group member Diana Blackwelder reminds us that giving choice and autonomy to people is an important element of person-centered practice.

NCAPPS collaborator Eric Washington encourages us to stay together and have uncomfortable conversations in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice.

Carole Starr, an NCAPPS collaborator and a brain injury survivor, shares how person-centered planning strategies have been helpful for her in navigating the time of pandemic.

Sheli Reynolds, who directs the LifeCourse Nexus at the University of Missouri Kansas City Institute for Human Development reminds us to fall back on the person-centeredness as we navigate through the pandemic.

Marian Frattarola-Saulino, who is the CEO and co-founder of Values Into Action, and a co-founder and chair of The Alliance for Citizen Directed Supports, urges everyone to take the pandemic as an opportunity to embrace and adopt person-directed, family-centered supports.

Janis Tondora from the Yale University School of Medicine talks about what Behavioral Health professionals are seeing and thinking about right now. While she acknowledges the difficulties of the time, she sees an opportunity for people struggling with behavioral health issues to discover their internal resources and strategies.

Having practiced person-centered approach for decades has better equipped Minds Matter to navigate the challenges presented by the pandemic. Watch the video to learn from its founder Janet Williams’ experience.

Kevin Mahoney, a professor emeritus at the Boston College School of Social Work, explains benefits of self-direction.

NCAPPS PAL group member Lydia X. Z. Brown shares the importance of collective responsibility and why it is critical to meet individual needs.

Shain Neumeier, attorney and disability rights advocate, reframes the idea of the collective and reminds us that every individual is valuable and worthy of care.

Alixe Bonardi, co-director of NCAPPS, speaks with Nicole Leblanc, the coordinator for NCAPPS Person-Centered Advisory and Leadership group, to learn more about what she thinks this pandemic means for people with disabilities and person-centered practices.

NCAPPS PAL group member Martha Barbone offers us some practical tips and encouragements on how we can exercise person-centeredness when we share information and support one another. Most importantly, she encourages us to listen, so we can stay well and stay connected.