Disability Rights Advocates Presents Three Eagle Awards in 2017
New York, NY—October 2017—Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), the leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center, honors three outstanding advocates for the disability community in 2017. The Museum Access Consortium (MAC), Rebecca Alexander, and Starbucks were each presented with Eagle Awards at DRA’s Inaugural New York Gala on October 12, 2017.
About DRA’s Eagle Awards
Every year, DRA celebrates outstanding advocates for the disability community who champion our shared vision of equal opportunities for all. Eagle Awardees are individuals, organizations and corporations who model disability inclusion and integration. They support people with disabilities by developing and implementing accessibility solutions; changing policies, practices and behaviors to benefit people with disabilities; partnering with the disability community; innovating and setting precedents that influence peers to take similar proactive measures; employing and promoting people with disabilities; and committing resources to support disability-focused organizations. Since DRA’s inception, the organization has honored more than 50 Eagle Awardees.
About the 2017 Eagle Awardees
DRA Eagle Awardee, the Museum Access Consortium (MAC), was formed after the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, when a small group of people working in museums and disability fields began to discuss how to best make New York City’s museums more accessible. Today, MAC offers professional development workshops and other resources to ensure that cultural facilities in the New York area and beyond are accessible to people with disabilities. To learn more about MAC, visit http://museumaccessconsortium.org.
DRA Eagle Awardee Rebecca Alexander, LCSW-R, MPH, was born with Usher Syndrome type III. Rebecca has been simultaneously losing both her vision and hearing since she was a child, and was told that she would likely be completely blind and deaf by the age of 30. Rebecca is a psychotherapist, author, fitness instructor, disability rights advocate, and extreme athlete who holds two master’s degrees from Columbia University in Public Health and Clinical Social Work. To learn more about Rebecca, visit http://rebeccaalexander.co.
DRA Eagle Awardee Starbucks is committed to access and inclusion for its partners and customers. The company provides sign language interpreting services, real time captioning, adaptive equipment, and accessible software such as voice-to-text for its employees. They proudly welcome service animals into their stores and have developed tools to elevate and enhance service to Deaf customers. Additionally, Starbucks provides Braille and large print menus, and is the only company to offer Braille gift cards in its stores all year round. To learn more about Starbucks, visit http://starbucks.com.
About Disability Rights Advocates (DRA)
Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is the leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center. Founded in 1993 with offices in Berkeley, CA, and New York City, its mission is to advance equal rights and opportunity for people with all types of disabilities nationwide. DRA represents people with the full spectrum of disabilities in complex, system-changing class action cases. Thanks to DRA’s precedent-setting work, people with disabilities across the country have dramatically improved access to health care, employment, transportation, education, disaster preparedness planning, voting, and housing. To learn more about Disability Rights Advocates, visit www.dralegal.org.