Advisory Council

Carrie Bateman

Chief Operating Officer, Division of School Planning and Development, New York City Department of Education 
New York, NY

Mariette Bates

Academic Director, Disability Studies
CUNY School of Professional Studies
New York, NY

Irini Bekhit

ADR Coordinator for Richmond County Supreme Court; Court Attorney Referee 
Staten Island, NY

Kimberly Berg

Program Planner, NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council
Albany, NY

Naomi Brickel

Director, Community and Family Education, Westchester Institute for Human Development
Westchester, NY

Victor Calise

Commissioner, New York City Mayor’s Office for Persons with Disabilities
New York, NY

Tina Campanella

CEO, Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities
Washington, DC

Leslie Ann Caraballo

Parent Advocate; Citywide Council on Special Education; Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York Advocacy Council
New York, NY

Bernard Carabello

Founder of the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State (SANYS); Institutional survivor, Willowbrook State School
New York, NY

Louis Cavaliere

Disability Consultant; Former Executive Vice President, Developmental Disabilities Division, Services for the Underserved (S:US) 
New York, NY

Suzanne Chen

Parent; Outreach Coordinator, New York Deaf-Blind Collaborative
Queens, NY

Natalie Chin

Associate Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law; Co-Director, Disability and Aging Justice Clinic
Brooklyn, NY

Rebekah Diller

Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Co-director, Bet Tzedek Civil Litigation Clinic
New York, NY

Andrew Drobenko

Decision-Maker
New York, NY

Chester Finn

Self-advocate; Vice President of Advocacy & Self-Advocacy, Community Empowerment Programs, Inc. (CEPI)
Albany, NY

Stuart Flaum

Parent advocate; Special Needs Planning Advisor
Brooklyn, NY

Bob Fleischner

Co-director, Supported Decision-Making Project, Center for Public Representation (CPR), (Retired)
Northampton, MA

Lisa Friedman

NYS Bar Association, Sections on Trusts & Estates and Elder Law & Special Needs
New York, NY

Heather Green

Transition Program Educator, Shenendehowa High School
Saratoga County, NY

Hon. David Guy

Surrogate Judge, Broome County
Binghamton, NY

Beth Haroules

New York Civil Liberties Union; Willowbrook class counsel
New York, NY

John Hatton

East End Disabilities Associates, Inc.
Suffolk County, NY

Trina Hazell

Decision-Maker
New York, NY

Gerald Johnson

Self-advocate, activist, author, and institutional survivor
New York, NY

Michele Juda

Executive Director, Parent to Parent of NYS
Schenectady, NY

Julian Kane

Decision-Maker, Student, SKILLs Program, Cooke Center Academy 
Queens, NY

Arlene Kanter

Bond Schoeneck & King Distinguished Professor of Law; Director of the Disability Law and Policy Program, Syracuse University College of Law
Syracuse, NY

Hon. Peter Kelly

Surrogate Judge, Queens County
Queens, NY

Regina Lehman

Associate Professor & Program Director, Occupational Therapy Assistant Program, LaGuardia Community College
Long Island City, NY

Tirza Leibowitz

Division Director, Human Rights Initiative, Open Society Foundations
New York, NY

Lori Lerner

Coordinator of Family Services, Developmental Disabilities Division, Serving the UnderServed (S:US)
New York, NY

Carol Lieb Himes

Coordinator, Special Education, Early Intervention & ACCES-VR Mediation Programs, New York Peace Institute
Brooklyn, NY

Hon. Margarita Lopez Torres

Surrogate Judge, Kings County
Brooklyn, NY

Diana Mendez

Parent advocate; Parents for Inclusive Education (PIE); The ARISE Coalition; Advocates for Children
Queens, NY

Marc Anthony Mendez

Student and Self-advocate
Queens, NY

Michael Middleton

Klara & Larry Silverstein Dean of the School of Education, Hunter College
New York, NY

Martha Mock

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Director of the Center for Disability and Education, Warner School of Education & Human Development, University of Rochester 
Rochester, NY

Tara Moffett

Special Needs Attorney, Former Chair, NYS Bar Association Committee on Disability Rights
Albany, NY

Arfa Mujahid

Parent advocate
Queens, NY

Shain M. Neumeier

Self-advocate; PADD Staff Attorney Analyst
Albany, NY

Hon. Juanita Bing Newton

Judge, NYS Court of Claims; Dean, Former Dean, NYS Judicial Institute  
White Plains, NY

Tara Anne Pleat

Co-editor, NYS Bar Association Elder Law & Special Needs Journal
Saratoga County, NY

Katie Riordan

Division Head, SKILLs Program, Cooke School and Institute
New York, NY

Sheila Rothman

Professor Emerita, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Co-author, The Willowbrook Wars
New York, NY

Leslie Salzman

Clinical Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law; Co-director, Bet Tzedek Legal Services Clinic
New York, NY

Diana Sanabria

Chief Clerk, Surrogate’s Court, New York County
New York, NY

Lisa Severino

Self-advocate, Self-Advocacy Association of New York State (SANYS); Chairperson, Developmental Disabilities Planning Council Caucus
Queens, NY

Sheila Ellen Shea

Director, Mental Hygiene Legal Services, Third Judicial Department
Albany, NY

Hon. Jo Anne Simon

Assemblymember, District 52, NYS Assembly
Brooklyn, NY

Gloria Smith

Parent advocate; Citywide Education Council for District 75, New York City Department of Education
Brooklyn, NY

Marna Solarsh

Special Needs Attorney
Scarsdale, NY

Jennifer Teisch

Project Coordinator, AHRC
New York, NY

Bobby Terry

Decision-Maker
Rochester, NY

Barbara Wale

President & CEO, Arc of Monroe County
Rochester, NY

Sheryl White-Scott, MD, FACP

Medical Consultant, AHRC/New York City Medical Specialist, Metro Developmental Disabilities Services; Past President, Association of University Centers for Disabilities 
New York, NY

Eric Yetter

Guardianship Coordinator, Achieve, Inc.
Binghamton, NY

Dylan Rivera

Decision-Maker
New York, NY

Donny Swanson

Instructional Specialist, NYC Department of Education
Staten Island, NY