2021 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium Agenda

Race, Diversity, and Inclusion, and the Right to Live in the World

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

All times are Eastern Time

11:00–11:15 AM, Welcome and Opening Remarks

  • Mark Riccobono, President, National Federation of the Blind

11:20 AM–12:40 PM, Round Table Discussion—Reframing the Conversation

  • Facilitator: Milton Reynolds, Educator, Activist, Founder, Milton Reynolds Consulting

12:55–1:55 PM, Lunch Keynote Speaker

  • Kathy Martinez, President/Chief Executive Officer, Disability Rights Advocates

2:10–3:40 PM, Round Table Discussion—Interrogating the Quest for “Fitness”: A National Project

  • Facilitator: Milton Reynolds, Educator, Activist, Founder, Milton Reynolds Consulting

3:55–5:25 PM, Disability Identity and Intersectionality

  • Moderator: Lydia X. Z. Brown, Policy Counsel, Center for Democracy & Technology, Privacy & Data Project; Director of Policy, Advocacy, & External Affairs, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
  • Presenters:
    • Zainab Alkebsi, Policy Counsel, National Association of the Deaf;
    • Gabe Cazares, Director, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Houston, Texas;
    • Sharon daVanport, Founding Executive Director, Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network

Thursday, March 25, 2021

11:00 AM–12:30 PM, Workshops

  1. The Department of Justice and the ADA's Integration Mandate: A Year in Review
  • Facilitators:
    • Victoria Thomas, Trial Attorney, Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, US Department of Justice (DOJ);
    • Nicole Kovite Zeitler, Trial Attorney, Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, DOJ
  1. Race and Gender Issues in the Civil Commitment Process
  • Facilitator:
    • Alexander S. Brown, Executive Director, Friedman Place
  1. Perspectives on Disability in US Muslim Communities
  • Facilitators:
    • Nashiru Abdulai, President, Global Deaf Muslim;
    • Mariyam Cementwala, US Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom;
    • Safaya Fawzi, Associate Director, Diversity and Inclusion Center, American Bar Association;
    • Zaheer Maskatia, Associate Counsel, VA Board of Veterans’ Appeals;
    • Ronza Othman, EEO Specialist, Department of Health and Human Services
  1. Speed Networking
  • Facilitators:
    • Michael Nunez, Associate Attorney, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP;
    • Cara Trapani, Associate Attorney, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP
  1. Independent Living through Accessible Communication and Video Programming
  • Facilitators:
    • Eliot Greenwald, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office (DRO), Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGAB), Federal Communications Commission (FCC);
    • Will Schell, Attorney-Advisor, DRO, CGAB, FCC;
    • Suzy Rosen Singleton, Chief, DRO, CGAB, FCC

12:45–2:00 PM, Lunch, Film, and Discussion

  • Film: The Importance of Intersectional Accessibility in Activism, Hayden Kristal
  • Facilitator:
    • Catherine J. Kudlick, Director, Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, Professor of History, San Francisco State University

2:15–3:45 PM, Plenary Session: Impacts and Outcomes of Marginalization and Intersectionality on Mental and Physical Health

  • Moderator: Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, Managing Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
  • Presenters:
    • Samantha Crane, Legal Director, Director of Public Policy, Autistic Self Advocacy Network;
    • Danielle L. Beatty Moody, Associate Professor, Behavioral Medicine & Community Psychology Subprograms, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County;
    • Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán, Senior Policy Manager, AIDS United

4:00–5:30 PM, Workshops

  1. Connecting Disability Work with Broader Diversity and Inclusion Work
  • Facilitators:
    • Lydia X. Z. Brown, Policy Counsel, Center for Democracy & Technology, Privacy & Data Project; Director of Policy, Advocacy, & External Affairs, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network;
    • Safaya Fawzi, Associate Director, Diversity and Inclusion Center, American Bar Association;
    • Salomon Chiquiar-Rabinovich, Chair of Attorneys with Disabilities Committee, Boston Bar Association, Of Counsel, Moreno Law
  1. Disability Discrimination in Housing: An Unrelenting Crisis
  • Facilitators:
    • Shira Wakschlag, Senior Director of Legal Advocacy and General Counsel, The Arc;
    • Yiyang Wu, Litigation Association, Relman, Colfax PLLC
  1. Keeping Our Schools Safe: Addressing Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
  • Facilitators:
    • Selene Almazan, Legal Director, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.;
    • Kelly Israel, Policy Analyst, Autistic Self Advocacy Network;
    • Leslie Seid Margolis, Managing Attorney, Disability Rights Maryland
    • Jessie Weber, Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
  1. Next Stop—Full Accessibility: Litigating Access to the Most Popular and Least Accessible Subway System
  • Facilitators:
    • Emily Seelenfreund, Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Advocates;
    • Rebecca Serbin, Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Advocates
  1. Essential Functions under Title I of the ADA
  • Facilitator:
    • Michal Shinnar, Senior Associate Attorney, Gilbert Employment Law, P.C.

Friday, March 26, 2021

11:00 AM–12:30 PM, Workshops

  1. Developing Effective Mental Health Crisis Services to Prevent Unnecessary Institutionalization
  • Facilitators:
    • Mary Bohan, Deputy Chief, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division, US Department of Justice (DOJ);
    • David W. Covington, CEO & President, RI International;
    • Steven Dettwyler, Public Health Analyst, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration;
    • Deena Fox, Trial Attorney, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division, DOJ;
    • Lisa St. George, Vice President, Peer Support and Empowerment, RI International
    • Melody A. Worsham, MDMH Certified Peer Support Specialist, Mental Health Association of South Mississippi
  1. LSAC—Lessons Learned from the Consent Decree and the Pandemic: From Pipeline to the Profession—Join the Mission to Diversify the Legal Profession to Build a Just and Prosperous World
  • Facilitators:
    • Michelle M. Goldberg, Manager, Accommodated Testing Department, Law School Admission Council;
    • Fe LopezGaetke, Director, Educational Equity Initiatives, Law School Admission Council;
    • Katherine A. Pérez, Visiting Professor of Law, Loyola Law School;
    • Kellye Testy, President, Chief Executive Officer, Law School Admission Council;
    • Leanne M. Shank, Senior Vice President for Legal & Corporate Affairs, General Counsel, Office of Legal and Corporate Affairs, Law School Admission Council
  1. Digital Accessibility—Developing Guidelines for Attorneys on Both Sides
  • Facilitators:
    • Timothy Elder, Principal, TRE Legal Practice, LLC;
    • Kristina M. Launey, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP;
    • Chris M. Law, President, Accessibility Track Consulting, LLC
  1. CL v. Del Amo Hospital: A Psychiatric Service Animal Case Study
  • Facilitators:
    • Peter Blanck, Professor, Chairman, Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University;
    • Christopher H. Knauf, Director of Litigation, Disability Rights Legal Center;
    • Jennifer Mathis, Deputy Legal Director and Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law;
    • Celia McGuinness, Disability Rights Attorney, Derby McGuinness & Goldsmith, LLP
  1. The Disparate Impact of Changes to Immigration Policy on Asylum Seekers with Disabilities: Strategies to Fight Back
  • Facilitators:
    • Charlene D’Cruz, Director, Project Corazon, Matamoros/Lawyers for Good Government;
    • Katharine Gordon, Staff Attorney, Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition

12:45–1:45 PM, Networking Lunch

2:00 PM–3:30 PM, Workshops

  1. The Jenny Hatch Justice Project: Ways to Advance Supported Decision-Making for People with Developmental Disabilities
  • Facilitators:
    • Holly Ceasar, Staff Attorney, Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities;
    • Leonard Stevens, Consultant, Project ACTION!;
    • Morgan K. Whitlatch, Director, Lead Project Director, Quality Trust Legal, National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making
  1. Using Disability Justice Approaches to Protect Disability Rights throughout Disasters
  • Facilitators:
    • Justice Shorter, Disaster Protection Advisor, National Disability Rights Network;
    • Valerie Novack, Policy and Research Professional, Center for American Progress
  1. Voting as if Your Life Depends on It—without Risking Your Life: Voting Accessibility in the Age of COVID and Beyond
  • Facilitator:
    • Kristen Aeillo, Managing Attorney, Civil Rights Advocacy, Disability Rights Maine;
    • Christina Brandt-Young, Managing Attorney, Disability Rights Advocates, New York;
    • Lia Sifuentes Davis, Senior Litigation Attorney, Disability Rights Texas;
    • Kobie Flowers, Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP;
    • Eve Hill, Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
  1. Audio Description under the CVAA and Other Statutes
  • Facilitator:
    • Michal J. Nowicki, Associate Attorney, Marashlian & Donahue, PLLC
  1. What Do You Want? A New Approach to Corporate Disability Inclusion
  • Facilitator:
    • Daniel Goldstein, Disability Rights Attorney, retired;
    • Mary Rainer-Skala, Director of Special Initiatives, International Association of Accessibility Professionals;
    • Glenda Sims, Director of Accessibility Services, Deque

3:45–5:15 PM, Workshops

  1. Legal Strategies to Obtain Testing Accommodations for High-Achieving Immigrants with Learning and Vision Disorders
  • Facilitators:
    • Allison Hertog, Founder and Students Rights’ Attorney, Making School Work, P.L.;
    • San Zhang, Physician
  1. ADA in Social and Human Service Settings
  • Facilitators:
    • Steven Gordon, Assistant US Attorney, Civil Rights Enforcement Coordinator, US Department of Justice;
    • Caroline Jackson, Associate Attorney, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP
  1. Accessibility Laws and How They Apply to Health Plans
  • Facilitator:
    • Morissa Fregeau, Senior Associate Counsel, Aflac, Inc.
  1. Voting Rights for People with Disabilities under the ADA
  • Facilitators:
    • Elizabeth Johnson, Senior Trial Attorney, Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, US Department of Justice (DOJ);
    • Christine Inkyung Kim, Senior Trial Attorney, Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, DOJ