April 2023 Issue, with a collage of pictures from Advocacy Day and a heading that says "The Next Generation of Advocacy"

The Next Generation of Advocacy

Current Feature Stories

The Next Generation of Advocacy

One of the most effective ways to transcend ideas of equity and justice is through the teachings...     Read More

Judy Heumann’s Legacy Lives On

On March 4, 2023, the disability rights movement lost one of its pioneers when Judy Heumann passe...     Read More

Public Policy for the People: A Recap of Georgia’s 2023 Legislative Session

Following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and a strenuous election year, Georgia's 2023 legislat...     Read More

Topics

Viewpoint: The Power of Advocacy

By D'Arcy Robb
April 17, 2023
I love Advocacy Days. I’m biased because when I previously worked for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), I had the pleasure of starting Advocacy Days. It was a way to have events that really focused on particular issues, large groups of advocates, but not in the thousands. It gave us a way for advocates to directly connect with their legislators because that is such an important part of the process.

2023—GCDD’s Work Continues!

By D'Arcy Robb
January 10, 2023
One of our time-honored beliefs at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is “no numbers without stories, no stories without numbers.” It’s not enough for us to present data, nor is it enough to tell great compelling stories. To

Opportunities For You!

By Nick Perry
October 12, 2022
Opportunity: The Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “a favorable combination of circumstances, time, and place” or “a chance for advancement.” When it comes to the disability community, the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) and our partners are working hard

Meeting GOALS of Students with Intellectual Disabilities

By Jennifer Bosk, Wes Nelson and Laura Schroeder
April 13, 2023
Thomas Harkins finds his academic pursuits keep him very busy. “My first class is at 12 o'clock all the way until 12:50. Then my last class is at 2:00 all the way until 2:50. And then after that, I have my tutoring session. So, I usually get home at around five, maybe six o'clock in the evening,” Harkins explains.

Albany Technical College’s Leveraging Education for Advancement Program Provides Opportunities for Students of All Abilities

By Hilary Vece
January 10, 2023
Albany Technical College (ATC) provides unique opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to continue their education after high school through inclusive post secondary education (IPSE). IPSE programs like ATC’s Leveraging Education for Advancement Program (LEAP)  are gaining

Georgia College Opens THRIVE Inclusive Post Secondary Education in Milledgeville

By Hilary Vece
October 12, 2022
Georgia College and State University is preparing to open the newest inclusive post secondary education (IPSE) this spring. Known as IPSE, inclusive college, like Georgia College’s THRIVE, is gaining in popularity throughout the state–and the country. There are now 309

Uniting for Change – How and Why We Advocate

By Marian Jackson
April 17, 2023
Hi, I am Marian Jackson and I am from Fitzgerald, GA. I am a state advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and have been for over 20 years. I am also a mother of an adult child with disabilities. I, along with five People First members and others from a small group, advocated for public transportation. We successfully got transportation for not just the disability community but for all people in Fitzgerald.

Advocates Prepare for the 2023 Legislative Session

By Charlie Miller
January 10, 2023
Hello Advocates, The Georgia General Assembly is preparing for another legislative session coming up in January. The Georgia Legislative session will start the second Tuesday of January and go until early or mid-April. During Georgia’s Legislative session, the state House

Lele Griner Shares Her Passion with the World through Instagram and a Lot of Sugar

By Hilary Vece
October 12, 2022
Disability advocate Lele Griner loves to bake. She worked in bakeries during high school, interned at a bakery in college, and started working at a bakery after graduating from Destination Dawgs at University of Georgia. Griner is also a proud

Public Policy for the People: A Recap of Georgia’s 2023 Legislative Session

By Aaron Quick
April 17, 2023
Following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and a strenuous election year, Georgia's 2023 legislative session was full of profound strides forward as well as unforeseen setbacks for the intellectual disability and developmental disability (ID/DD) community.

Public Policy for the People: Official Recap of Georgia’s 2022 Legislative Session

By Isabel Knofczynski
April 13, 2022
Georgia’s 2022 legislative session was defined by the effects of a lingering pandemic and looming elections. Most of our advocacy efforts and each of our three Advocacy Days were virtual. Although “the ropes” at the Capitol were not open to

Advocating during the 2022 Georgia Legislative Session

By Alyssa Miller, PsyD
January 9, 2022
Welcome back to another exciting issue of Public Policy for the People! Here at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), we are getting ready for our busiest time of year, Georgia’s legislative session. The legislative session may only be

Building a Community with Intention

By GCDD
April 13, 2023
“Nobody has a real straight answer of when [the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta (DSAA] started,” laughs Sheryl Arno, executive director of DSAA. “I've tried to find out the answers, and if we look at our paperwork, we surmise it's 1976.”

Developing the Next Generation of Advocate Leaders with Project SETA

By Hilary Vece
January 10, 2023
Project SETA (Students Enhancing Their Advocacy) is preparing the next generation of leaders with developmental disabilities through the New Leaders grant from the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). Project SETA is a leadership development program for current inclusive post

Moving Awareness to Action in National Disability Employment Awareness Month

By Hilary Vece
October 12, 2022
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), and Advancing Employment is working to ensure that Georgia’s developmental disability community isn’t forgotten in the fight for competitive, integrated employment and an end to subminimum wages— the legal practice of paying

Parent 2 Parent of Georgia Empowers Parents & Families

By GCDD
April 19, 2023
In this issue of Making a Difference, Karen Addams, Vice President of Innovation at Parent 2 Parent — an Atlanta-based nonprofit that provides resource navigation and training for people with disabilities and their families — discusses the many services that help educate the community and promote self-sufficiency. Continue reading to learn more about the organization and its impact.

Georgia’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities

By Hilary Vece
January 10, 2023
Mark Crenshaw is the Assistant Director of the Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) at Georgia State University and the Training Director for Georgia’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (GaLEND) program. The LEND program was originally established 50 years ago

Sustainable Business Models Create Opportunities for Businesses and Employees with Developmental Disabilities

By Hilary Vece
October 12, 2022
Featuring Jennifer White When people think of a person with a disability, often they do not think that person is able to work or employable. One woman is using her passion and talents to help people with disabilities excel in

Practical Examples of Supported Decision-Making

By GCDD and John McCarty & Hannah Hibben
April 17, 2023
Supported decision-making (SDM) is a tool that allows people with disabilities to retain their decision-making capacity by choosing supporters to help them make choices. A person using SDM selects trusted advisors, such as friends, family members, or professionals, to serve as supporters. Self-advocates John McCarty and Hannah Hibben share their experience of how Supported Decision Making impacts their life and why it's important.

A Greater Sense of Independence

By Adrianne Murchison
January 9, 2022
Living Independently is an article series by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). The series will cover self-determination and self-direction. Participant self-directed services are growing in popularity as an avenue that can offer an increased autonomy for some individuals

A Desire for Independence

By Adrianne Murchison
October 13, 2021
Living Independently is an article series by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). The series will cover self-determination and self-direction. Jenny Pryor lives an active life working in a Kroger supermarket, hiking on her off days or sometimes catching

Recent Videos

Recent Podcasts