Four Disability Services Professionals Join Two Congressional Leaders in Receiving Disability Policy Honors

ANCOR’s 2024 Excellence in Public Policy Awards recognize significant contributions to the national community disability services policy landscape

WASHINGTON, D.C. – ANCOR, the leading voice in Washington for providers of community-based intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) services, announced this morning the six recipients of the association’s 2024 Excellence in Public Policy Awards. Award recipients will be honored during a ceremony on Monday, September 23 at ANCOR’s 2024 Policy Summit & Hill Day.

This year’s honorees include two members of Congress who have championed forward-thinking legislation to improve the lives of people with I/DD, as well as four outstanding professionals from the field of I/DD services.

The Honorable Cathy McMorris Rodgers, United States Representative for Washington’s 5^th Congressional District, is the recipient of ANCOR’s 2024 Congressional Legacy Award. She chairs the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over funding for disability services. McMorris Rodgers announced earlier this year that she will not seek reelection in 2024, capping a 20-year career on Capitol Hill championing disability services. Inspired in part by her teenage son, who has Down syndrome, McMorris Rodgers has driven forward a number of sensible policy solutions to empower people with disabilities and enhance community I/DD services during her two decades on Capitol Hill.

The Congressional Legacy Award recognizes an elected official whose career-long support for community providers has left an indelible mark on the ability of people with I/DD to be included in their community thanks to smart public policy. McMorris Rodgers will become the third member of Congress to receive this high honor, following in the footsteps of The Honorable Robert Casey, United States Senator for Pennsylvania (2021) and The Honorable Margaret Hassan, United States Senator for New Hampshire (2023).

The Honorable Paul Tonko, United States Representative for New York’s 20^th Congressional District, is the recipient of ANCOR’s 2024 Congressional Champion Award. Given annually, the Congressional Champion Award recognizes one or more elected officials who have played a substantial role in the lives of people with I/DD by supporting legislation in the past year that improves access to high-quality disability services. In particular, Tonko is being recognized for his leadership in introducing the Disability Community Act, bipartisan legislation that aims to stabilize the disability services workforce and safeguard access to community-based services for people with I/DD.

In addition to honoring these congressional leaders, ANCOR is also honoring the recipients of four awards bestowed upon professionals in the community I/DD services field. Yadira Holmes, vice president of government relations for Boston-based Sevita, is the recipient of the 2024 Suellen Galbraith Award for Excellence in Public Policy. Named after the public policy professional who led ANCOR’s government relations work for several years before her untimely death in 2015, the Suellen Galbraith Award recognizes the contributions of advocates who have had a significant impact on ANCOR’s public policy agenda in the past year.

Holmes is being recognized for her long-time leadership both within the association—where she previously co-chaired its Government Relations Committee and served on its Board of Directors—as well as in the countless communities that are home to people with disabilities supported by the organizations where Holmes has worked throughout her career.

ANCOR’s September 23 awards ceremony will also celebrate Valerie Sellers, chief executive officer for the New Jersey Association of Community Providers (NJACP), the recipient of the 2024 Diane McComb State Association Star Award. Sellers has been fundamental to the long-term sustainability of community-based services in New Jersey, and is a recognized leader on the national level. These qualities make her ideally suited for the Diane McComb Award, which recognizes the role of a state provider association leader in advocating for the transformation of community-based disability services.

Joining Holmes and Sellers is James “Grey” Persons, advocacy and outreach coordinator for Norfolk, Va.-based Hope House Foundation, who will receive the 2024 Bonnie-Jean Brooks Rising Star Award. This award—named for a pioneer who, even in her retirement, continues to drive the field forward through her advocacy—recognizes emerging leaders who are redefining community-based disability services for the next generation. Among the many reasons Persons is ideally suited for this honor is his work throughout 2024 to advance legislation that would establish a Standard Occupational Classification for direct support professionals. This legislation, which enjoys bipartisan support, has the potential to pass Congress as soon as this month.

Finally, ANCOR will bestow the Grassroots Star Award, which recognizes the contributions of provider organizations or disability services professionals to a grassroots advocacy effort that has the potential to substantially enhance the lives of people with I/DD. Receiving this year’s award is Katrina Kugel, government relations manager for Silver Spring, Md.-based SEEC. Kugel has been a tireless advocate for people with I/DD, working to strengthen the direct support workforce, protect the voting rights of people with disabilities, and more.

“Creating a more sustainable system of community services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is just plain common sense,” said Barbara Merrill, chief executive officer for ANCOR. “But that doesn’t mean our advocacy work is ever easy. It requires leaders in all branches of government—leaders like Representatives Tonko and McMorris Rodgers—as well as the unrelenting commitment of self-advocates, providers, and countless others who dedicate their life’s work to the inclusion of people with disabilities. Yadira [Holmes], Katrina [Kugel], Grey [Persons] and Valerie truly inspire us all to push harder for the inclusive communities we envision and I couldn’t be prouder to recognize their many accomplishments.”

Members of the press interested in attending the 2024 Excellence in Public Policy Awards presentation on Capitol Hill should email Sean Luechtefeld, ANCOR’s Vice President for Membership & Communications, no later than Friday, September 20.

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For more than 50 years, the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ancor.org) has been a leading advocate for the critical role service providers play in enriching the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). As a national nonprofit trade association, ANCOR represents nearly 2,500 organizations employing more than a half-million professionals who together serve more than a million individuals with I/DD. Our mission is to advance the ability of our members to support people with I/DD to fully participate in their communities.