CJE SeniorLife holds frequent professional seminars and conferences (often with CE and CEU credits). In addition, we publish findings on innovative research studies and disseminate educational information.
Please join us for this event in recognition of Jewish Disability Awareness Acceptance and Inclusion Month. This year we have moved our event to an online platform that will be accessible by computer or telephone. The program will include four 1-hour information sessions on various policy issues that impact the disability and aging communities.
*Registrants will receive a confirmation email with zoom link and telephone number to dial into the event.
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April 28 at 11 am
Building Back Better: US Disability Policy
Moderator: Justin Cooper, Filmaker, Artist, Disabilty Advocate
Speakers:
- Liz Weintraub, Senior Advocacy Specialist, AUCD (Association of University Centers on Disabilities)
- Andrew J. Weintraub, Executive Director, Disability Rights California
A local advocate will host a conversation with two national disability advocates on potentially hopeful solutions that are anticipated following the first 100 days of the new Biden Administration in Washington DC.
Register for April 28 >>>
*This program may be of interest to participants outside of Illinois
About our moderator and speakers:
Justin Cooper is a black filmmaker, artist, and disability advocate who has been working in art and film professionally since 2012. The lack of media representation amongst people with disabilities motivated him to work on his own documentary film called The Wheelchair Chronicles. Justin is currently the president of Access Living’s Young Professionals Council, the Head Marshal of the annual Chicago Disability Pride Parade. Justin does advocacy work for Advance Your Leadership Power (racial/social justice advocacy group at Access Living), and the Chicago Disability Activism Collective (CDAC) and as a board member for the Illinois Partners for Human Service. Justin founded his own media company called Cooper Industries in 2018. This company focuses on his filmmaking, film production, and photography work.
Liz Weintraub has a long history of leadership in self advocacy and has held many board and advisory positions at state and national organizations. She is a full time member of the AUCD's policy team and also the host of Tuesdays With Liz: Disability Policy For All, where she attempts to make polices in accessible language so policy is accessible to all.
In the Spring of 2018, Liz served as a Fellow for Senator Casey of Pennsylvania, working in his DC Office where she helped lead the way on disability policy by helping the Senator hold the administration accountable for disability stakeholder input into key programs; calling attention to the need for accessible supports and services for students and employees with disabilities on college campuses who have been sexually assaulted, which resulted in a S.2530; and helped organize a first of its kind Pennsylvania Disability Employment Summit with over 250 participants. Said Senator Casey, "Liz has shown the Senate how important it is to have staff members who have developmental and intellectual disabilities. She's helped reshape the culture of the Senate."
In the fall of 2018, Liz told the story of her personal experience as a woman with disabilities as she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the potential implications of a Kavanaugh confirmation to the civil rights of people with disabilities. Read her submitted written testimony and watch her oral testimony on AUCD's website.
Prior to coming to AUCD, Liz worked for the Council on Quality & Leadership (CQL). Liz is an alumni of the LEND training program at the Center for Leadership in Disability at Georgia State University. Liz was a past chair of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council. Liz is rejoining the Council for another term. Liz has received numerous awards, recognition, and commendations for her work. Liz enjoys mentoring people with disabilities.
Andrew J. Imparato is a disability rights lawyer and policy expert who moved to California in January to lead Disability Rights California (DRC) after a high-impact 26-year career in Washington, DC. While in DC, Imparato served as Disability Policy Director for Chairman Tom Harkin on the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and as President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, among other roles. Imparato helped lead coalition efforts to pass the ADA Amendments Act in 2008 and helped negotiate the disability provisions in the bipartisan 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Since joining DRC, one of the largest disability rights organizations in the world with almost 300 employees, Imparato has worked to protect vital programs and services for people with disabilities and to prevent discrimination on the basis of disability and age as the state responds to the pandemic. Imparato is known for mentoring younger leaders with disabilities and cultivating activism in the U.S. and globally on social media. He grew up in Los Angeles and is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Yale College. His perspective is informed by his lived experience with bipolar disorder.
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May 27 at 11 am
Bringing it Home: Community Integration in Illinois
Speaker:
- Barry Taylor, VP for Civil Rights and Systemic Litigation, Equip for Equality
This program will focus on the current Illinois response to community integration and the importance of continued advocacy efforts to enlist necessary changes. A local disability advocate will share their personal experience of community integration policy in Illinois and Equip for Equality attorney, Barry Taylor, will reflect on potential directions for continued work to be done by advocates.
Register for May 27 >>>
About our speaker:
Barry Taylor is the Vice President for Civil Rights and Systemic Litigation at Equip for Equality, where has worked since 1996. At Equip for Equality, he has overseen many individual and systemic disability discrimination cases including successful federal ADA suits against the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Chicago Police Department, and the Chicago Transit Authority. He is currently co-counsel in five ADA class actions, including lead counsel in Ligas v. Norwood, a class action on behalf of people with developmental disabilities who are seeking community services. Barry has given numerous presentations on the ADA across the country to people with disabilities, family members, attorneys, employers, businesses, service providers and advocacy organizations.
Barry has served as the Chairperson of the Disability Rights Consortium, Chairperson of the Regional Transit Authority’s ADA Advisory Committee; Chairperson of Season of Concern, Chairperson of the Legal Committee for the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, Chairperson of the Chicago Bar Association’s Legal Aid Committee, Chairperson of the Chicago Bar Association’s Mental Health and Disability Law Committee, and Co-Chairperson of the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Pro Bono Week. He has been an Adjunct Professor at John Marshall Law School, and in 2001, Chicago Lawyer Magazine named him one of “40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch.” He has served on Senator Dick Durbin’s Federal Judicial Screening Committee and currently serves on the Governor’s Task Force on the Employment and Economic Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities.
Time: All programs will be at 11am -12noon Central Time
Cost: There is no charge for this series.
Accommodations:
Closed captioning of this program will be provided by CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) services. To request additional accommodations or ask any other questions about this program, contact us at 773.508.1106 or Linkages@cje.net.
Registration:
Please register for each program individually, either by phone (773.508.1106) at links provided above.
Each program will provide 1 free CEU for Illinois professionals with the following licenses: LSW, LCSW, LPC, LCPC, QIDP
Audience:
This program is intended for all community members but especially adults with disabilities, older adults, family members, personal attendants, and the students and professionals working with them.