Looking Forward to Making Georgia Connections with GCDD…
The following is the Around GCDD article from the Spring 2013 Making a Difference.
Looking Forward to Making Georgia Connections with GCDD…
Things I've learned since arriving in Georgia two months ago: Disability Day is a heart-thumping and inspiring event. When getting directions, always remember there are many, many roads with "Peachtree" in the name. The Georgia advocacy community is diverse, passionate and committed. And that's a very good thing because we have lots of exciting and important work to do.
For those of you I haven't had a chance to meet, I'm D'Arcy Robb, the new public policy director for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). Before coming to GCDD, I did public policy for the equivalent council in Kentucky. I have my master's in public administration from the University of Kentucky and my bachelor's from Williams College. In between those degrees, I worked first for a political campaign and then for the news media.
Putting professional experience aside, I tease my family that growing up with them was the perfect preparation for being GCDD's public policy director! A lot of that is thanks to my dad, who held elected office since before I was born until just a few years ago. A lot of it also goes to my mom, the most creative and hardworking Title I teacher I know. But most of all, it's thanks to my brother, an exceptionally kindhearted young man who is a voracious reader on subjects like the royal family of Saudi Arabia.
Although it took several years and multiple misdiagnoses to figure it out, my brother is also a proud "Aspie" (an individual with Asperger Syndrome) on the diverse spectrum of autism. When I first started doing public policy for the DD Council in Kentucky, my brother immediately told me he was proud and that I should come to him "if you have any questions about us Aspies."
This goes to show how well my brother knows me – I am a question-asker. And one of the things I love about this job is that I'm constantly learning and seeing how different perspectives fit into the ongoing puzzle of public policy. The many individuals with disabilities and family members that I get to connect with, keep me grounded and coming back to the overall goal of moving the ball forward for people with disabilities and the communities we all live in.
So, that's where I'm from and a few of the people I love the most. In mentioning the people I love, I would be highly remiss if I did not mention my husband, who never fails to make me laugh, helps bring me perspective on just about anything and was even coerced into dancing at a self-advocacy conference last spring. Having failed on previous occasions when I tried to get him to dance in public, I was not the person who convinced him to hit the dance floor, and I can only chalk it up as a small but telling example of the power of determined self-advocates.
I am so very excited to be here in Georgia and look forward to connecting and working with you on public policy.
GCDD Welcomes New Organizing Coordinator:
The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) welcomes new staff member, Cheri Pace in the newly created position of organizing coordinator. Pace, a former member of GCDD's Advisory Board has been active in the Real Communities Initiative and involved in broad coalition-building and community organizing advocacy for more than 10 years. She brings valuable experience in uniting individuals, organizations and communities together toward common goals and facilitating open dialogues and participatory workshops for both children and adults, as well as diverse groups of people.
Throughout her career, Pace has directed a youth advocacy program in Detroit, MI, conducted workshops for consumers with disabilities at the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, served as a guest lecturer on disability and community, organized dialogues on race and ethnicity and built a multicultural coalition around immigration rights. "I am excited for the opportunity to join the GCDD team," said Pace. "As a community organizer, social worker, friend and both a parent and daughter of a child and father with developmental disabilities, this is close to my heart. I am committed to identifying and developing avenues that lead to the full participation of all people in all aspects of community life."
In her new role as organizing coordinator, she will be working with GCDD Organizing Director Caitlin Childs, and other community builders throughout the State to support the expansion of the Real Communities Initiative.
GCDD's Real Communities Initiative:
Launched in 2009, the Real Communities Initiative is GCDD's signature concept that has received national attention for its innovation and diversity. Real Communities provides cutting edge, intentionally inclusive activities throughout the State with a focus on projects that create opportunities for all people – with and without disabilities – to work together as full partners in the social life and the civic development of their communities.
The goal is to build inclusive communities throughout Georgia and connect people with developmental disabilities and their organizations to other citizens and their associations to act collectively on community issues. GCDD commissioned six videos to celebrate its Real Communities Initiative projects and share the stories of people with and without disabilities working together to achieve common goals that strengthen community life for everyone.
To view GCDD's collection of Real Communities Intiatives' videos, click here.
