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2025 Board of Directors Election Ballot

2025 Board of Directors Election Ballot

Please recall that USICD members must be in "good standing", including being up to date with membership dues payments, in order to vote.  If you have not yet paid your membership dues for this year, please do so now at this link. If you unsure about your membership status then please contact us via email at info@usicd.org

Please Check the Yes (Y) or No (N) box to vote for or against these candidates for membership in the USICD Board of Directors. Per USICD's bylaws, USICD shall ensure that at least 51 percent of its member organizations are consumer controlled and that at least 51 percent of the members of the Board of Directors and its Executive Committee are people with disabilities. The Board of Directors of USICD shall be composed of not less than three (3) nor more than twenty-five (25) voting directors, with a goal to have at least sixteen (16) voting directors.  USICD currently has 11 members on the Board of directors (5 with disabilities). 

Note that this ballot has two parts. The first part asks for you to vote on who should be in the USICD board of directors. The second part asks for you to vote on who within the board should be officers, such as the Treasurer.

1. Dr. Patricia Morrissey


Dr. Morrissey is the former USICD President and current Vice President. She served as the Commissioner of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities within the Administration for Family and Children in the US Department of Health and Human Services and was the Director of the Center on Disabilities Studies in the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa College of Education.  As leader of the Center, she oversaw a multi-million-dollar center, which conducts research, training, demonstration, evaluation, and dissemination activities to build capacity and systems change in Hawaii and Pacific Island Nations, so that individuals with disabilities participate in community life – in education and through access to employment, housing, transportation, health care, and leisure activities. Her strengths are strategic relationship building, project management, design and evaluation, and disability policy development. She views herself as a problem solver. She believes everyone is entitled to a full, satisfying life. She is committed to making it happen for the full range of individuals with disabilities. 
2. Steve Taylor


Steve Taylor is a person with a disability who has extensive knowledge of assistive technology, particularly in ensuring ADA compliance for businesses, government spaces, and Federal programs. His background aligns with USICD's mission to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and to contribute to efforts around helping to shape policies that impact disability inclusion on a global scale. He has demonstrated a solid commitment to USICD and inclusivity, particularly with his patented ADA-compliant Point-of-Sale solutions. 
3. Andrew Gurza

Andrew Gurza has an M.A. in Legal Studies from Carleton University. He has been working as a keynote speaker since 2012, championing the needs of queer disabled people to ensure they are properly represented. Andrew hosts an award-winning podcast, Disability After Dark, where he interviews disabled people. From 2020-2024, Andrew was the Chief Disability Officer and co-founder of a company created to bring sex toys to disabled people. He works closely with his non-disabled sister and learned how to build a bridge between disabled and non-disabled people.
4. Jakeel Abdullah


Jakeel Abdullah is a seasoned advocate with a decade of experience in disability rights and a proven track record of working on pivotal legislative efforts that have become laws benefiting the disability community. Their advocacy spans not only the disability sector but also the Black and LGBTQ+ communities, with a deep commitment to advancing equity for all marginalized groups. Currently interning with the U.S. State Department’s Office of International Visitors, Jakeel is further honing their passion for international relations professionally, staying connected globally through their citizen diplomacy.

Having spent their youth and early adulthood supporting the disabled and marginalized communities, Jakeel remains a leader with proven in-depth experience. Their work is powered by a vision and drive of inclusivity. Jakeel’s comprehensive background, from local leadership to international advocacy, positions them as an articulate and informed voice for change.
5. Officers Election Ballot
 Vote Yes for whole officers slate (If I do not intend to vote yes for all officers, then I will vote on them individually below)
6. Kirt Toombs - President

Kirt Toombs, currently serving as USICD's Board Secretary, is a member of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and utilizes assistive listening devices and captioning. As the co-founder and CEO of the Eastern Oregon Center of Independent Living (EOCIL), Kirt's journey in the disability field began in 1986, working with seniors with disabilities to maintain cognitive and daily living skills. He later played a role in the advocacy and closure of Idaho’s state hospital and the community reintegration of individuals with disabilities.
Kirt brings his lived experience, education, and business background to this position. He holds a Master of Management and Disability Services degree from the University of San Francisco and has pursued further education in international disability law and policy. Over the past 35 years, I have developed expertise in disability program design, implementation, evaluation, legal compliance, and resource development. His professional achievements include securing funding for EOCIL, restructuring a disability foundation in Oregon, and representing people with disabilities in state health planning.
If elected, Kirt commits to uniting the USICD membership, Executive Director, committee chairs, and Board of Directors around these seven commitments:
  1. Assisting the membership committee in increasing membership and diversifying the board to exceed the 51% cross-disability representation requirement, focusing on Latino/Hispanic, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQIA2S+, and other traditionally marginalized communities.
  2. Expanding resource development to support growth and sustainability, including developing a funding priorities plan to secure resources for staffing, advocacy, and participation in key international events.
  3. Collaborating with the USICD team to develop a five-year strategic plan to position USICD as a leading voice in the international disability advocacy movement.
  4. Creating advocacy opportunities for USICD’s membership and the broader U.S. disability community through joint position papers, events, webinars, and grant initiatives.
  5. Supporting committee chairs in developing charters and work plans that align with membership goals, bylaw requirements, and USICD's strategic plan.
  6. Facilitating at least one in-person meeting annually for the USICD Board of Directors and committees to conduct essential business.
  7. Assisting the Executive Director with legal compliance and policy implementation, ensuring quarterly in-person strategy meetings to strengthen USICD's operations.
7. Janet Lord - Vice President


Janet Lord is the Executive Director of the Center for International and Comparative Law at the University of Baltimore. She served as chief legal counsel to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She holds a senior research fellowship at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability where she works to address gaps in international law, policy, and practice on the rights of persons with disabilities and she teaches international disability law and international humanitarian law at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law.

She has spent her career as an international human rights lawyer working globally to advance the rights of persons with disabilities. A lead drafter of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, she provided legal counsel during the treaty negotiations to governments, the United Nations and civil society organizations throughout the five-year drafting process. She continues to provide legal counsel on international human rights law and inclusive development to the World Bank, the United Nations Office of Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protection, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Development Programme, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of State, organizations of persons with disabilities and numerous other stakeholders. She has published books, journal articles, book chapters and monographs on a variety of international public law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law and disability law issues. Her recent scholarship appears in the American Journal of International Law, the Harvard Journal of International Law, the Virginia Journal of International Law, the International Review of the Red Cross, and the UN Audiovisual Library of International Law.

She holds degrees from Kenyon College, the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), and the George Washington University Law School. In 2022, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Kenyon College for her work in advancing international disability rights and disability-inclusive development. She is a member of the New York Bar.
8. Jerry McCloskey – Treasurer

Jerry McCloskey is a graduate of Marquette University and has served as a Board member of Independence First, Milwaukee, WI, executive and advocacy committees. Jerry just retired as Chairman of the Independent Living Council of Wisconsin; currently Board member of Post Polio Resource Group of Southeastern WI. Jerry was a founding father of Milwaukee Irish Fest, the premier event of Irish Music and Cultural presentations in the world and still is involved. Jerry has been very involved working with USICD on the quest for ratification of the CRPD, and is a polio survivor.
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