Advisory Committee on Persons with Disabilities

The Advisory Committee on Persons with Disabilities has been established under the general authority of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Andrew Natsios. The Committee is comprised of three ex-officio members (the Secretary, the Administrator and the Executive Director) and eight members from outside government who will serve for two years. Committee members serve in an advisory capacity with respect to the consideration of the interests of persons with disabilities in the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance. The Committee will offer recommendations on issues agreed upon by the Committee which may be identified by the members, the Department of State, or the U.S. Agency for International Development. The creation of this Advisory Committee signals the vital importance of people with disabilities to U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance efforts and their impact on global, social, economic and political stability and development. All Committee meetings will be open to the public. The Committee’s first meeting will take place at the State Department on August 15, 2005.

The Committee’s members represent a cross-section of American society, from non-profit and public policy organizations, to the private sector and academic institutions, as well as experts on foreign policy and development issues related to persons with disabilities. The Committee will be an effective means to increase the consideration of the concerns and inclusion of people with disabilities in U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance.

• Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, United States Department of State.
• Andrew Natsios, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development.
• Christopher N. Camponovo, Senior Advisor, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and Coordinator of Disabilities for the Department of State will serve as the Committee’s Executive Director, Washington, D. C.
• Vail Horton, Founder and CEO of Keen Mobility Company and Chairman of Incight Foundation, Portland, Oregon.
• John Kemp, President of the U.S. International Council on Disabilities, and a principal in the law firm of Powers, Pyles, Sutter and Verville, Washington, D. C.
• Albert H. Linden, Jr., Member of U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Management Advisory Committee and its Home Care Advisory Board; Commissioner of Florida’s Veterans Commission, Miconoopy, Florida.
• Kathy Martinez, Deputy Director of World Institute on Disability and appointed member of National Council on Disability, Oakland, California.
• John Register, Two-time Silver Medalist, 1996, 2000 Paralympic Games; Manager of Paralympic Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• Senda Benaissa, Consultant of the World Bank Group, East Asia and Pacific Region; Research Associate, Gallaudet Research Institute, Gallaudet University, Washington, D. C.
• Joni Eareckson Tada, Well known author; founder and President of Joni and Friends program, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, California.
• Walter Bollinger, Retired USAID Mission Director in India, Jordan and Indonesia and former Acting Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Africa Affairs at USAID, Washington, D. C.