Pacific Rim International Conference on Disabilty & Diversity

A lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people, Judy Heumann has been instrumental in the development and implementation of legislation, such as Section 504, the Individuals with Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Her writing includes her memoir Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist (2020). Heumann is also featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. She also produces The Heumann Perspective, a podcast featuring members of the disability community. Heumann serves on a number of non-profit boards, including the American Association of People with Disabilities, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Humanity and Inclusion, and Human Rights Watch and is a Distinguished Fellow of Review of Disability Studies. She has 20 years of non-profit experience with disability organizations, including as a founding member of the Berkeley Center for Independent Living. Before starting the Judith Heumann LLC, she served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations.

Dr. Stodden has more than 40 years of administrative, training, and research/evaluation experience in the USA and internationally. He is the founding Director and Professor of a large research and development (R & D) unit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Center on Disability Studies (CDS). He has been a Professor of Education for the past 35 years, working closely with foreign governments and various state departments and NGO/DPO programs. He has also served as President of several professional associations in the fields of educational evaluation and research. Dr. Stodden has served as department chairperson at UH Manoa and Coordinator of Special Needs Graduate Programs at Boston College. Dr. Stodden has served as principal investigator/director of more than 150 research and training projects spanning numerous areas of research and evaluation, exploring education outcomes and access to postsecondary education for struggling learners.  In 1997, Dr. Stodden served as a Kennedy Senior Policy Fellow with the Disability Policy Subcommittee in the United States Senate. Dr. Stodden is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal (RDS) and has served as the special issue editor for numerous peer reviewed journals in the field of educational research.  He is founder of the Pacific Rim Conference and has been a keynote and invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences, and has consulted with several governments in other states as well as the Asia/Pacific Region. His work in the field of disability studies is recognized internationally in a range of different journals and publications. He currently serves on numerous association and journal editorial boards and has maintained an active presence in the fields impacting the quality of life of persons with disabilities.

Katherine T. Ratliffe is a professor and the Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa. Her research interests include disability; parent, family and community partnerships in education; and the education of immigrant children, especially those from Pacific Islands. She teaches classes in learning, motivation and development.

Disability culture activist, writer, and community performance artist, Petra Kuppers is Anita Gonzalez Collegiate Professor in Performance Studies and Disability Culture at University of Michigan. Engaging in community dance and disability culture production since the late 80s, she uses ecosomatics, performance, and speculative writing to engage audiences toward more socially just and enjoyable futures. Her Gut Botany was one of New York Public Library’s 2020 top 10 poetry books. Her new Eco Soma: Pain and Joy in Speculative Performance Encounters (2022, open access) explores disability culture perspectives on moving in diverse worlds.

Historian Steven E. Brown (PhD, University of Oklahoma, 1981) is Co-Founder, Institute on Disability Culture and retired Professor of Disability Studies, Center on Disability Studies (CDS), University of Hawaii. He is an individual with a disability and family member of individuals with disabilities. In 2002, he moved to Hawaii and began working at CDS. He retired as a Full Professor and returned to the mainland in 2014, though he continued teaching online through 2019. Brown has published many articles and presented on disability rights and culture throughout the U.S. as well as in Canada; Germany; Hungary; Korea (via remote video) Japan; Norway; Saipan; Sweden; Taiwan; and Thailand. His books are Movie Stars and Sensuous Scars: Essays on the Journey from Disability Shame to Disability Pride (2003); Surprised to be Standing: A Spiritual Journey (2011); and Ed Roberts: Wheelchair Genius (2015) for middle grade readers. He’s currently working on a book about Disability Culture.

Internationally recognized advocate, expert, and facilitator in disability, inclusion, authentic leadership, and social entrepreneurship, Sara Minkara is newly-appointed Special Advisor for the Office of International Disability Rights in the State Department. Within the State Department, and with its international partners, she assists foreign governments and other organizations to work towards inclusion and full participation for those with disabilities. Her recognitions include Forbes 30 Under 30, the Clinton Global Initiative, MIT’s IDEAS Global Challenge, and Vital Voices “100 Women Using Their Power to Empower.” 

Patricia Morrissey is the President of the US International Council on Disabilities. She  previously served as Director of the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa. Before Hawaii, she served as Commissioner of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities in the US Department of Health and Human Services. For over 20 years she served in senior staff positions in the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government and in Congress. When serving in the George W. Bush Administration, she was part of the US delegation to the UN when the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was being drafted. She has devoted her career to working with others, especially those with disabilities, to promote meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society.

Kara Ayers, PhD, is Associate Director and Associate Professor at University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCCEDD). She is Director of the Center for Dignity in Healthcare for People with Disabilities and co-founder of the Disabled Parenting Project. Ayers’ interests include disability identity/culture, healthcare equity, bioethics, community inclusion, and use of media to teach, empower, and reduce stigma. She infuses the mantra, “Nothing about us without us,” into all of her scholarly and community-based pursuits.

Monika Diaz graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor’s in Human Development and Family Sciences. She is the current President of the Very Outspoken Individuals Can Each Succeed (VOICES), for Tinian Chapter, Vice-president for Team Koka, a current board member for the State Rehabilitation Council (SRC), Consumer Advisory Council and Developmental Disabilities Council (DD Council) and has also served in the Special Education State Advisory Panel (SESAP). She also enjoys being a mother and helping people in her community.