Episode 3: Rebecca Cokley Turns Disability Narratives on Their Heads

Rebecca talks to DrT about what it will take to create a world that accommodates all of us.
About Rebecca:
Rebecca Cokley is the Program Officer for U.S. Disability Rights at the Ford Foundation. She focuses on strengthening the field, building a pipeline of diverse leadership, promoting disability pride, and mobilizing resources toward disability rights work. She’s also the foundation’s liaison to the President’s Council for Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy.
Before joining Ford, Rebecca co-founded and directed the Disability Justice initiative at the Center for American Progress, where she built out a progressive policy platform that protected the rights and services disabled people depend on for survival and also developed innovative solutions like a proposed disabled worker tax credit and increased access to capital for disability-owned small businesses. She also stewarded a campaign that resulted in an unprecedented 12 presidential candidates developing disability policy platforms.
Prior to her work at American Progress, she served as the executive director for the National Council on Disability, where she worked on sexual violence on college campuses, policing reform, and the civil rights of disabled parents. A three-time presidential appointee, Rebecca served in key policy roles at the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as oversaw diversity and inclusion efforts for the Obama administration.