Welcome and Opening General Session
Session Overview:
Join us as we kick off our 29th Annual APRIL Conference. Meet our new leadership Brandon Brown, Executive Director and Kim Gibson, Board President, find out what youth can expect from the conference from our Youth Steering Committee Chair, Noah Russell, and participate in our welcome activities APRIL style. The Administration on Community Living has been invited to close out our welcome event.
9:00-11:00 Grand Ballroom
Opening Blessing and Land Attribution
Sandonne Goad, Tribal Council Chairwoman, Gabrielino/Tongva Nation
Welcome from APRIL, What to expect from the conference, vendors, and sponsors:
Brandon Brown, Executive Director and Kim Gibson, Board President
Noah Russell, Youth Steering Committee Chair
Welcome to California IL:
Ana Acton, Deputy Director, Independent Living and Community Access Division, CA Dept of Rehab
Brittany Zazueta, Executive Director Dayle McIntosh
Administration on Community Living
Erica McFadden
Jill Jacobs
Additional Materials for this Session:
About Your Speakers:
Sandonne Goad (she/her)
Sandonne Goad was sworn into the Tribal Council of the Gabrielino/Tongva Nation December of 2009. In January 2010, she was voted in as the Secretary of the Tribe; and two years later in January 2012, she was voted in as the Tribal Council Chairwoman, a position she has been voted into six times, and holds to this day. She works to keep tribal traditions alive through the revitalization of the Tongva language, basketweaving as a member of CIBA, cultural classes, educational outreach with the local schools, and cultural resource monitoring.
Brandon Brown (he/him)
Brandon Brown has been the Executive Director of APRIL since July 2023. Previously, he was the Executive Director of Empower Tennessee, a Center for Independent Living serving the Nashville area, for eight years. Brandon has also been a mental health counselor and program coordinator for Tennessee’s premier HIV/AIDS organization as well as a middle and high school teacher in Georgia and Alabama. His dedication to human services is born from his lived experience as someone with multiple invisible disabilities, including retinitis pigmentosa, borderline personality disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. He is a proud gay man who believes deeply in the value of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access, but also recognizes that he has much to learn about what this means in the lives of others. Brandon has presented at the local, regional, and national levels on such topics as ethical decision-making, counseling supervision, intersectional experiences, and the value of Independent Living. He and his son, Coy David, live, work, and play in Nashville.
Kim Gibson (she/her)
Kim Gibson grew up in Idaho and moved to Wyoming to go to college. She moved to Pennsylvania in 2011 and Texas in 2013. In August 2013, Kim accepted the position as Executive Director of disABILITY LINK and moved to Georgia. Before coming to disABILITY LINK, Kim was the Executive Director at two other Centers for Independent Living. She gained knowledge that she brought with her to expand programs here, focusing on diversity and inclusion.
Kim has one son, Dustin, and his fiancé, Pushee, whom she adores. Kim has a new service animal, Chipper, after the passing of her 12+ years with Charlie, whom she loved and was grateful for the years of service to her. She has a Doctorate in Social Work. Kim has worked with individuals with disabilities since 1988. She also has personal experience with disabilities.
Kim believes in being involved in her community through boards, community involvement, providing educational opportunities to others, and advocacy. She serves on several local, regional, and national boards and committees throughout the state. Currently, she serves as the president of APRIL (Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living).
Through APRIL’s peer-to-peer mentorship program, Kim is a peer mentor for other CILS (Centers for Independent Living). Kim has served in the past as the vice-chair of the Southeastern Center Directors Association, board member of NCIL (National Council of Independent Living), SILC of GA, and a variety of NCIL subcommittees. She currently serves on several local boards and has, in the past, served on various advisory boards in Wyoming appointed by the Governor and boards in Pennsylvania. Kim has volunteered in several community events focusing on suicide prevention, women’s rights, disability rights, and civil rights. She is a field instructor for individuals with and without disabilities pursuing their social work, educational, and occupational degrees. She dedicates her time to others’ learning.
She has received many nominations and awards for her work with people with disabilities. She is the proudest of the 2014 National Council of Independent Living (NCIL) “Women’s Caucus Hall of Fame Award,” which she received because of the mentorship she has provided to other women in the world of disabilities.
She is active in the community, creating inclusive spaces, working with marginalized groups, and learning new things along the way.
Noah Russell (he/him)
Noah Russell is a member of the Space Coast Independent Living Center. He holds 4 going on 5 black belts, is a supporter of United Way, a member of the Autistic Community, and is the Chair of the YSC (Youth Steering Committee). He is a dedicated to helping people all around by advocating for people in his community and in his state of Florida. He works at Publix Super Markets and through them helps people with disabilities and non-disabled people.
Ana Acton
Ana Acton is the Deputy Director for the Independent Living and Community Access Division at the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR). Under this division, the DOR works with Independent Living Centers, Traumatic brain Injury Program sites, and Assistive Technology (AT) service providers throughout California to provide a wide variety of disability services and supports. DOR’s Disability Access Section provides technical assistance and training to state and local government, consumers, employers, and businesses to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. As well, the California Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities makes policy recommendations to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities and puts on an annual event for youth with disabilities. Prior to working at DOR, Ana served as the Executive Director for a rural Independent Living Center in Northern California. Ana uses a wheelchair due to having a physical disability and has over 19 years’ experience in providing direct services and leadership for independent living community-based services in California.
Erica McFadden
Erica McFadden, Director, Office of Independent Living Programs, Administration for Community Living, US Dept Health & Human Services: With more than 25 years of experience with advocacy in the disability community; most recently, McFadden served as the Director of the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council. She also served as a CIL Director for LINC, Inc in Illinois, which highlighted for her the importance of the IL movement. She has presented at numerous conferences and published academic articles, book chapters, policy briefs and reports on disability with a special focus on governance and empowerment. She holds a PhD in Public Administration & Policy from Arizona State University, an MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and dual bachelor's degrees (Business Administration and Spanish) from the University of Texas at Austin. She also has cerebral palsy.
Jill Jacobs
Jill Jacobs was appointed to serve as the Commissioner of ACL’s Administration on Disabilities on Feb. 14, 2022.
Ms. Jacobs has more than two decades of professional experience managing disability services organizations, analyzing policy, and working toward improved health and disability programs and services at local, state, and federal levels. She also has been an active grassroots organizer, leading campaigns to depict President Franklin D. Roosevelt seated in his wheelchair in the national monument in Washington, D.C. and to ensure the inclusion of disabled children in schools, and organizing disaster response efforts for people with disabilities following Hurricanes Harvey and Maria, to name just a few of her accomplishments. In addition, Ms. Jacobs brings to the role the lived experience of her own disability and as the mother of two disabled adults.
Before joining ACL, Ms. Jacobs served as the Executive Director of the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia (ECNV), a center for independent living. Previously, Ms. Jacobs founded and served for sixteen years as the CEO of Ability Unleashed, a coordination and facilitation agency for Medicaid home and community-based services. She has held executive positions at several non-profit and government entities and served on the boards of a number of disability advocacy organizations, including the National Council on Independent Living and United Cerebral Palsy of Washington & Northern Virginia.
For her work advancing rights and access of disabled military family members while she was an Army spouse, the United States Army awarded Jill the Dr. Mary E. Walker Medal of Honor. Ms. Jacobs is a graduate of Texas A&M at Central Texas and received social work training at Army Social Work Services at Fort Hood, Texas.
Return to Friday, October 13, 2023