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The AAPD press release:
WASHINGTON, DC –– The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is pleased to announce today that AAPD’s President and CEO, Andrew Imparato (pictured), has accepted the position of Senior Counsel and Disability Policy Director for the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee after 11 years of service with AAPD.
“I am excited for this tremendous opportunity to work with Senator Harkin and a great policy team at the HELP Committee,” said Imparato. “I am sad to leave AAPD, but I am confident that the organization will continue to grow and thrive under the leadership of our Board Chair Tony Coelho and the talented Board and staff.”
Since joining AAPD as its first full-time President and CEO in 1999, Imparato has led the organization to become the nation’s largest cross-disability membership group with more than 100,000 members. Imparato has led AAPD’s efforts to create opportunities for youth and young adults with disabilities and personally invested time and energy in cultivating emerging leaders throughout the country. He has also applied his strong policy background to a number of bipartisan legislative and administrative initiatives in the last 11 years.
He has testified numerous times in the House and the Senate and been instrumental in the passage of significant pieces of legislation and policy initiatives focused on the disability community, including the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Community Living Attendant Services and Supports (CLASS) Act that was passed as part of the health reform legislation earlier this year, and the most recent passage of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Imparato has also worked closely with the Obama administration to fulfill the President’s commitment to federal employment of people with all kinds of disabilities through federal hiring initiatives. Imparato also served for four years on the bipartisan Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel to the Social Security Administration.
Imparato’s work at AAPD has been recognized by the Secretaries of Transportation and Health and Human Services, the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of the Deaf, the National Association of Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, and many others. He has appeared on national television multiple times, most recently being interviewed by Judy Woodruff on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer to discuss the significance of the 20th anniversary of the ADA.
“AAPD is deeply indebted to Andy for helping to make AAPD the great organization that it is,” said Tony Coelho, AAPD’s Board Chair. “We congratulate Senator Harkin on his excellent choice and are confident that Andy will continue to make significant policy contributions that will improve the quality of life of people with disabilities in the U.S. and around the world. At the same time, AAPD is eager to begin our search for a President and CEO who is deeply connected to the disability community and seeks to continue the work and mission of AAPD. We are confident that Andy’s successor will help AAPD continue to grow and thrive in the coming years,” Coelho concluded.
In light of his impending government position, Imparato has resigned, effective immediately, from his position on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors, an independent body to which he was appointed in September by the Acting Comptroller General of the United States. For more information about the PCORI Board, please visit http://www.gao.gov/hcac/patientcentered_outcomes.html.
The Board of Directors of AAPD will begin a national search for its next President and CEO immediately. In the interim, AAPD’s current Chief Operating Officer, Helena Berger, will be the acting President and CEO.
