November 15th is National Philanthropy Day, and at the WITH Foundation, we would like to take this opportunity to honor the hard work and dedication of our Self Advocate Advisory Committee (SAAC). WITH knows that people with disabilities are disability experts. We value the expertise and perspective that each member brings to the work and the ways in which it strengthens our grantmaking. The committee reviews the proposals that the Foundation receives and provides input on whether a proposal is designed well for people with disabilities and meaningfully involves self-advocates in the implementation of the program/project. The advisory committee also provides input on whether applicants should receive funding.
The current members of the Self-Advocate Advisory Committee are:
Katie Murphy – Committee Co-Chair, Daly City, CA
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Katie Murphy (M.A., Women and Gender Studies) is an autistic self-advocate, union activist, and higher education professional. Katie is an alum of the Autism Campus Inclusion (ACI) Leadership Academy and uses her institutional privilege to engage directly with funders. In addition to her work as WITH’s SAAC Committee Chair, Katies serves on the Stakeholder Advisory Group of Ability Central (formerly Disability Communications Fund). She serves as a member of San Francisco State University’s All-University Committee on Students, Faculty, and Staff with Disabilities; and as a union steward and chapter officer for the California State University Employees Union (CSUEU). She is the founding chair of the CSUEU’s Disability Constituency Group.
Yolanda Vargas – Committee Co-Chair, Sacramento, CA
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Miss Yolanda Vargas is a passionate and dedicated activist/advocate who is focused on serving underrepresented communities and addressing the root causes of disparities in healthcare, education and employment. She is a proud Queer Latina with multiple disabilities, 8 siblings, and a cat with no teeth named Gummy Bear. In her spare time she serves on the board of Disability Rights California and has written various articles related to disability issues, LGBTQ+ issues, and discrimination. She also has presented at multiple national conferences on those same issues.
Ivanova Smith
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Ivanova Smith is a leader in advocacy in Washington State. They are past Chair of Self-Advocates in Leadership (SAIL), a legislature advocacy organization run by self-advocates, and a public member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). They are currently a part of UW LEND Faculty. They are very passionate about medical advocacy for people with I/DD. They are happily married and a parent to two little girls. Ivanova is excited to share their perspectives as an autistic person to help make the medical community more inclusive to our care.
Kecia Weller, Santa Monica, CA
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Ms. Weller is an accomplished disability rights and a sexual assault awareness and prevention advocate and has worked in the field for more than 20 years. Her current advocacy work is with the California State Rehabilitation Council (SRC) and the UCLA Tarjan Center. She worked on the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, to create the popular PSA: “Abuse of People with Disabilities: A Silent Epidemic” at https://youtu.be/yhLsATwO0o4 (over 29,000 views!).
She is also the host of a plain language podcast, “In Other Words,” which provides information from the Tarjan’s Centers Distinguished Lecture series in language that everyone can understand. Through her work at the Tarjan Center, she interfaces with self-advocates throughout California and nationally. She is a member of California’s Statewide Self-Advocacy Network, the SRC State Rehabilitation Council and the DDS Development Services Task Force.
Ms. Weller is fond of mentoring other people with disabilities to be outstanding leaders in the civil rights movements for disabilities.
Diego Mariscal, Washington DC
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Diego Mariscal is passionate about the relationship between disability advocacy, entrepreneurship, and sustainable impact. At the age of 18, Diego started “Limitless Prepa Tec”, a disability education program for students in Monterrey, Mexico. In four years, the program expanded to seven high schools across the country, reaching more than 3,000 students nationwide. To this day, Limitless continues to be one of the largest youth-led programs in Monterrey Mexico. Diego also founded 2Gether-International, a non-for-profit startup that supports entrepreneurs with disabilities to move closer to a world where disability is recognized and valued as an asset for business and entrepreneurship. In his role as CEO and Chief Disabled Officer, Diego has collaborated with multinational organizations such as the U.S. Department of State, the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank and corporations like Blackboard and McKinsey to help them better understand disability as an asset for performance.
Diego has been internationally recognized for his work in numerous ways, including by the Waldzell Institute in Vienna as an Architect of the Future and by the British Council as a Global Changemaker. Diego also represented Nuevo Leon in the Mexican National Paralympics from 2004-2009.
Lou Paniccioli, New York City, NY
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Lou Paniccioli is a college graduate with a passion for politics and social justice. He recently completed core training in Kingian Nonviolence by the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation, earned a certificate in Disability Advocacy from American University with the American Association of People with Disabilities, and is a recent alumnus of the APAICS Congressional Fellowship program.
Lou serves as Secretary of the Young Democrats of Richmond County, a member of the New York State Young Democrats, and is the Vice Chair of the New York State Disability Issues Caucus. Lou hopes to become an attorney fighting for civil rights of people with disabilities and possibly to venture into the non-profit industry or politics.
Lou believes that all people with disabilities have a right to be treated with dignity in all aspects of life– especially regarding healthcare.
New Members
Anita Cameron, Rochester, NY
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Anita Cameron is a disability justice activist who has been involved in social change activism and community organizing for 41 years. She is the director of Minority Outreach at Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights organization that fights against physician assisted suicide and euthanasia of people with disabilities.
Anita has been arrested 140 times for nonviolent civil disobedience fighting for the civil rights of all disabled folks, was invited to the White House on two occasions, has met three sitting U.S. Presidents, two Vice-Presidents, and helped to organize a national march. She lives in Rochester, New York, with her wife Lisa, and cats JoJo and Nemo.
Eri Solomon, Boston, MA
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Eri Solomon (they/them/theirs) is a queer, autistic community organizer and educator living in Boston. They are passionate about social justice advocacy, focusing particularly on health care equity and housing equity work. They live with their wonderful roommate and two cats, Bug and Ringo.
Note of thanks
We’d like to thank Rebeca Aguire, who has stepped down after 4 years of service on the Committee. We appreciate her work and wish her continued success in her endeavors.
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Thanks to our Advisory Committee and our Board of Directors for their work and leadership!