30th Anniversary Gala

Thank you for joining us!

DRA’s 2023 30th Anniversary Gala was held on November 9th, where we welcomed guests from across the country to join us, as never before, in our coast-to-coast celebration: virtually and in-person. We hosted simultaneous in-person galas in New York and San Francisco and also invited guests from around the country to virtually join us to celebrate 30 years of DRA.


New York
At the IAC Building

San Francisco
At the Palace Hotel

Since becoming a wheelchair-user 25 years ago, my life’s work has been advancing the rights, inclusion, and equity of people with all types of disabilities. Having built my career at DRA, working and learning alongside DRA’s late Executive Director and Co-Founder, Larry Paradis, I am truly humbled to lead this organization into the future as President & CEO. As society evolves, technologically, environmentally, politically, and socially, DRA has critical work to do to ensure we are building a truly inclusive world from the ground up for the disability community nationwide.

Rebecca Williford, DRA President & CEO


Featuring

Portrait of James Ian

James Ian

Special Performance

Singer-Songwriter

Portrait of Lachi

Lachi

Special Performance

Multi-award-winning EDM recording artist, Grammys Board DEI Ambassador, RAMPD Founder

Portrait of Shane Burcaw and Hannah Burcaw

Shane and Hannah Burcaw

Live Stream Emcees

Disability Rights Advocates and Content Creators

Portrait of Janni Lehrer-Stein

Janni Lehrer-Stein

San Francisco Emcee

Disability Rights Advocate, Past DRA Board Member

Portrait of Maysoon Zayid

Maysoon Zayid

New York Emcee

Comedian, Actress, Writer, and Disability Advocate


Honoring

MTA clients (Kathy Collins, Jean Ryan, Dustin Jones Monica Bartley, Joe Rappaport, and Sasha Blair-Goldensohn), DRA staff (Kate Hamilton, Maddie Reichman, Sarah Jelley, Bailey McPhail, Amy Ollove, Eliana Fisher, Torie Atkinson, Chloe Holzman, Erin Gallagher, Rebecca Rodgers, and Rebecca Williford), and co-counsel Dan Brown enjoying coffee and bagels in our NY conference room

Edith Prentiss Disability Justice Award

DRA’s 2023 Edith Prentiss Disability Justice Awardees, our NYC Subway Access Clients:  DIA, BILS, CIDNY, BCID, HILC, NYSSAC, Sasha Blair-Goldensohn, Dustin Jones, Jean Ryan, Jessica De La Rosa, Robert Hardy, and Rodolfo Diaz. Watch the video honoring the awardees.


DRA Board & Leadership

Learn about Disability Rights Advocates’ dedicated board and leadership.

Gala Sponsors

Thank you to all of our generous sponsors!

See our full list of sponsors