2008 Speakers

Judith Heumann

Judith Heumann is an internationally recognized leader in the disability community and a lifelong civil rights advocate for disadvantaged people.  She currently is the Director for the Department on Disability Services for the District of Columbia.  She is responsible for the Developmental Disabilities Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

From June 2002- 2006, Judith E. Heumann served as the World Bank's first Adviser on Disability and Development. In this position, Heumann, an internationally recognized expert on disability and diversity issues, led the World Bank's disability work and worked to expand the Bank’s knowledge and capability to work with governments and civil society to include disability in the Bank discussions with client countries. Additionally, she spearheaded the Bank’s country-based analytical work, and support for improving policies, programs, and projects that allow disabled people around the world to live and work in the economic and social mainstream of their communities.

From 1993 to 2001, Heumann served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education. Heumann was responsible for the implementation of legislation at the national level for programs in special education, disability research, vocational rehabilitation and independent living, serving more than 8 million youth and adults with disabilities.

For more than 30 years, Heumann has been involved on the international front working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments around the world to advance the human rights of disabled people. She represented Education Secretary, Richard Riley, at the 1995 International Congress on Disability in Mexico City. She was a US delegate to the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. And she has been active with Disabled People International, Rehabilitation International and numerous Independent Living Centers throughout the world. She co-founded the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley California and the World Institute on Disability in Oakland California.

Heumann has served on numerous local, national and international boards of directors and currently serves on a number of Boards of directors including the U.S. International Council on Disability, Post Polio Health International and the Starkloff Institute.

She graduated from Long Island University in 1969 and received her Masters in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975. She has received numerous awards including being the first recipient of the Henry B. Betts Award in recognition of efforts to significantly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.  She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Long Island University in Brooklyn, an Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration from the University of Illinois, Champaign, and an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the University of Toledo.

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Paul Longmore

Paul K. Longmore, Professor of History and Director of the Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University, specializes in Early American history and the history of people with disabilities. He earned his Ph.D. at the Claremont Graduate School and his B.A. and M.A. at Occidental College.

Dr. Longmore's book The Invention of George Washington has been described as “probably the best account of Washington’s early career.” Meanwhile, in the journal Reviews in American History, Dr. Longmore’s book was praised as “pioneering.” In 2004 in that same journal, a review of Dr. Longmore’s Why I Burned My Book and Other Essays on Disability, declared, “Probably more than anyone, Longmore has been responsible for bringing disability studies to the field of history.”

Regarding that collection of essays, broadcast journalist John Hockenberry wrote: “Paul Longmore’s sharp and cogent criticism has always sought and found the soul of the disability rights movement. But these essays go far beyond activism and constitute a cultural document for a people adrift. Longmore’s refreshing views represent an intellectual Ellis Island for people with disabilities, hampered by bureaucracy, myth and sentiment, trying to find a place in America.”

With Lauri Umansky, Dr. Longmore co-edited The New Disability History: American Perspectives an anthology of essays, and is co-editing a book series, The History of Disability, for NYU Press.

Dr. Longmore has also written articles in scholarly journals and newspapers on themes related to Early American history and to the history of people with disabilities and their contemporary civil rights struggle. His academic articles have appeared in a broad range of journals including: the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, the Disability Studies Quarterly, Early American Literature, the Journal of American History, the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, PMLA (the Proceedings of the Modern Language Association), Reviews in American History, the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, and the Western Journal of Medicine. His reviews and opinion pieces have been published by the New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers.

Dr. Longmore has taught at Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and the California Polytechnic University at Pomona.

San Francisco State University's Institute on Disability is a multidisciplinary research, curriculum-development, and community-service program. From 1983 to 1986, Dr. Longmore served as the administrator of the Program in Disability and Society at the University of Southern California, one of the first disability studies projects in the United States.

From 1990 to 1993, Dr. Longmore held an Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Humanities at Stanford University. In 2000, he obtained a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to conduct the first NEH Summer Institute on Disability Studies. He received fellowships from the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, the Huntington Library, and the H. B Earhart Foundation for his research on George Washington. He won grants from the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research to examine the impact of disability studies curricula and the U.S. Department of Education to direct a mentoring project to facilitate the transition of students with disabilities from college to careers. In addition, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Dr. Longmore a Focus Grant to create the Bay Area Inter-University Disability Studies Consortium and an individual fellowship to complete his book on telethons and the framing of disability in American culture.

Dr. Longmore was featured in the historical documentary film “George Washington: The Man Who Wouldn't Be King” on the PBS series The American Experience. He has been interviewed regarding disability-related issues on ABC's Nightline, ABC's World News Tonight, NBC's Today, and National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, as well as in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, McCall's, and TV Guide.

In March 2005, he received the Henry B. Betts Award, given annually by the American Association of Persons with Disabilities and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

The following year, he was one of five recipients of the 2006 California State University Wang Family Excellence Award. The award celebrates CSU distinguished faculty and administrators who have displayed extraordinary commitment and dedication and made outstanding contributions and achievements in their field.

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Marleena Coulston

Marleena Coulston's musical versatility spans studio work, musical theater, cabaret performance, to teaching. She has performed for several venues in California including the Inland Empire Jazz Festival, the Orange County Fair, the Los Angeles Times Editorial Awards, South Coast Plaza, the Southern California Special Olympics, and the Festival of Children. She has also been cast in musical theater roles such as the Witch in "Into the Woods," and Percy in "The Spitfire Grill."

A native of New England, Marleena began her singing career at age 12 working with singer / song-writer Mike Nobel where she was a featured soloist on a children’s album titled “Color Me Green.” She also recorded jingles written by Nobel for WCSH Channel 6 (NBC affiliates in Maine). After graduating from high school, Marleena left the small town of Gorham, Maine for California to pursue an education and career in music. Upon her graduation from Whittier College in 2003, earning a B.A. in vocal performance, Marleena spent two years performing with “Ray and the Idols,” a popular Southern California cover band. She stilll occasionally performs with the band and other groups such as "The Dream Trio."

Marleena's unique appearance is due to a genetically linked condition called Albinism. This condition effects the pigmentation of the skin, eyes, and hair, causes vision loss, and sensitivity to sunlight. As a legally blind individual, Marleena has had to overcome many challenges throughout her life, but has been described by those close to her as one who faces adversity with courage and grace. She is a member of the National Organization of Albinism and Hypopigmentation, and currently works for the Braille Institute where she directs the Johnny Mercer Children's Choir. She hopes to be a role model to the children she works with, demonstrating that a disability does not have to stand in the way of your independence and achieving your dreams.

In June, 2007 Marleena released her first self-titled three-song single which includes “Let Me Live the Dream,” a song written by Carol Roman whose message speaks to young and old that it’s never too late to live your dreams! In that same month, Marleena was invited to performed at the Very Special Arts "Start With the Arts Family Festival" in Washington D.C. Since then, she has become involved in her local chapter of VSA Arts helping to promote positive disability awareness through their programs and through her performances.

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