Welcome Address Friday, June 1, 2018 10:00 - 10:45 am
Monica Villarreal Monica Villarreal is a disability advocate working with the Texas Association of Blind Students and the National Federation of the Blind of Texas from 2011-2014. She is a co-founder of the National Coalition of Latinx with Disabilities and is currently planning its third annual conference in Austin, Texas. She joined the Center for Public Policy Priorities in 2016 as a Hogg Mental Health Policy Fellow. She has previously worked on advocacy for disability issues and has policy experience from working at Disability Rights Texas and the American institutes for Research. Villarreal is a native of Monterrey Mexico and moved to Austin in 2010 to attend school at the University of Texas at Austin where she received a bachelor’s degree in Government and Latin American Studies and a Master’s of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs.
Chris Masey Chris returns to CTD after a ten-year hiatus to focus on employment, education, and economic self-sufficiency for Texans with disabilities. Chris has a broad range of knowledge and expertise in nonprofit management and advocacy and has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from St. Edward’s University. Chris also brings the perspective and experiences of a parent of a child with a disability. Chris, and his entire family, are active members of the Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas.