05/09/2026
✨ A legacy of advocacy. A lifetime commitment to dignity and human rights. ✨
We are proud to celebrate our funder Nancy Weiss for receiving the AAIDD Sesqui Advocacy Award.
Nancy Weiss’s impact on the disability field spans more than 35 years of leadership, systems change, and unwavering advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As a Co-Founder and Advisor to The National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities, her work has helped shape generations of leaders committed to inclusion, equity, and human rights.
One of the advocacy efforts she is most proud of reflects the courage and persistence that define her legacy:
“Over 30 years ago, I visited the Judge Rotenberg Center, a facility that uses cruel and restrictive methods to control people's behavior. People were being shocked for behaviors as innocuous as taking their eyes off their work or making 'unnecessary sounds'. Advocating has never officially been part of my job, but I left that visit knowing I had to do something to end the inhumane things I had seen done to people there and I have spearheaded advocacy efforts ever since. As a result of widespread efforts, the FDA has announced that they will ban electric shock used for behavior control next month. Continuing this fight in any ways I could think of, has become a lifetime commitment.”
Nancy’s leadership reminds us that advocacy is not just a profession; it is a commitment to humanity, justice, and the belief that all people deserve to live free from harm and exclusion.
Thank you, Nancy, for your extraordinary leadership and for continuing to challenge systems to do better. 💙
🔗Learn more about the award and Nancy’s recognition here: https://www.aaidd.org/about-aaidd/awards/sesqui-awardees/sesqui-advocacy-awardees
