Baltimore, MD – Disability Rights Maryland’s (DRM) clients Keyonna Mayo, Susan Goodlaxson, and Janice Jackson, who filed a class action lawsuit with the Image Center against Baltimore City for safe and equal access to the City’s sidewalks and streets for individuals with mobility disabilities, have been named the recipients of DRM’s 2022 Excellence in Advocacy Leadership Award, which will be presented to them at the 2022 Breaking Barriers Awards Gala on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Excellence in Advocacy Leadership awardees are DRM community partners, who, in collaboration with DRM, act as agents of change through legislative, policy or litigation initiatives. They demonstrate outstanding determination and resolve in defending and enhancing the rights of people with disabilities to full inclusion and community access. Awardees bravely, selflessly, and publicly, leverage their own personal experiences to rectify the inequities of discrimination against people with disabilities by taking on the “system” fearlessly to secure equitable participation in all aspects of society.

Keyonna Mayo, Susan Goodlaxson, and Janice Jackson, are on the forefront of citizen-based disability advocacy to make Baltimore’s sidewalks accessible to all residents. “Two years ago, only 1.3% of our more than 37,000 City curb ramps were in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” stated Robin C. Murphy, DRM Executive Director. “The work to provide people with disabilities their basic right to freely travel outside of their home is well past due, 30 years overdue.”

DRM looks forward to celebrating with you the extraordinary accomplishments of its exceptional honorees as well as the life-altering work its staff does every single day of the year at our 2022 Breaking Barriers Awards Gala on Thursday, May 12. To learn more, click here.

Baltimore, MD – Disability rights activists Alice Wong, Gregg Beratan, and Andrew Pulrang are the 2022 recipients of the Gayle Hafner Grassroots Leadership Award which will be presented to them at Disability Rights Maryland’s (DRM) Breaking Barriers Awards Gala on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

The award’s namesake, Gayle Hafner, was a trailblazer DRM civil rights attorney whose zealous advocacy for full inclusion in every aspect of community life improved the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Established in 2015, the award honors those who have successfully brought about substantial positive change through grassroots activism for people with disabilities. Gayle’s extensive knowledge of Medicaid law enabled her to offer hope and tangible assistance to a significant number of people with disabilities so they could reside independently outside of nursing homes increasing their opportunities to live with self-determination.

In honoring Alice Wong, Gregg Beratan, and Andrew Pulrang, DRM applauds and acknowledges their lifelong commitment to building communities of care at a grassroots level to advance the rights of people with disabilities. Through their joint digital campaign, #CripTheVote, they have designed an impressive and ever-expansive network of voters and provided them with a platform to share their experiences and needs on a national political level. Their creative and innovative ideas, work, and commitment to amplifying the voices, faces, and individual narratives of people with disabilities have brought depth, dimension, and digital proximity to the disability rights revolution.

Please join us at the 2022 Breaking Barriers Awards Gala on Thursday, May 12, in honoring Alice Wong, Gregg Beratan and Andrew Pulrang for their extraordinary and groundbreaking service to people with disabilities. Subscribe to our newsletter below to receive updates as the other awardees are announced, and to reserve tickets.