For Immediate Release: October 20, 2026
Contact: Naomi Hess, nhess@aapd.com; Jess Davidson, jdavidson@aapd.com, 202-975-0960
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) mourns the loss of Becky Ogle. In the early morning hours of October 18, our community lost a fierce advocate for disability rights and an essential figure in the fight for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Becky Ogle was born in 1956 with spina bifida, and resulting medical complications caused her to become an amputee. During her childhood and young adult life in Tennessee, she experienced discrimination and exclusion because of the lack of disability rights and systemic access. For example, she did not choose her courses at the University of Tennessee based on her interests, but around which classrooms she could access on the campus. While she initially came to Washington D.C. in the 1980s to receive specialized medical care, she ultimately became a force for disability rights within the halls of Congress and within executive agencies, and changed the lives of millions of disabled people across the United States.
Ogle embraced and cultivated the power of the disability community. Through her role leading government affairs for the Spina Bifida Association, she mobilized grassroots advocates to support the ADA in 1990. After the ADA’s passage, there were numerous calls to amend or repeal this transformative piece of legislation. Ogle became a part of what fellow disability rights advocate Justin Dart described as a “SWAT Team” to respond to these critiques and encourage compliance with the new law. Ogle engaged in many different forms of advocacy to advance the implementation and goals of the ADA. She engaged in individual education, sued a chain of convenience stores that lacked ramps, faced down powerful decision makers intent on weakening the ADA, mobilized thousands of people to protest for better implementation, and navigated the bureaucratic labyrinth of the federal government to create lasting positive systemic impact.
To guard and defend against further attacks on the ADA and other disability rights, in 1995, Becky, Fred Fay, Justin Dart, and Mark Smith Jr. founded Justice for All, a grassroots network of disabled people who could be mobilized to defend the ADA. In 2001, AAPD began to administer and host the Justice For All email network and blog, which became the basis for our newsletter and blog today.
Ogle was a leader in numerous presidential campaigns across the past 30 years, and regularly worked to ensure that candidates seeking public office recognized the disability community as an important political constituency. In 1992 and 1996, she served as Disability Outreach Director for the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and President Clinton’s re-election campaign. From there, she embarked on a decades-long career, advising many presidential candidates and serving as Disability Lead for multiple conventions.
In 1998, Ogle became the Executive Director for the President’s Taskforce on the Employment of People with Disabilities. Under her tenure, the Taskforce helped the Small Business Administration develop programs for disabled entrepreneurs and expanded job training opportunities for people with disabilities. The Taskforce was responsible for evaluating federal programs, policies, and systems to identify barriers and then make recommendations for systemic changes to improve disability employment. One of the Taskforce’s primary recommendations was the formation of a permanent federal sub-cabinet agency focused on disability employment policy. This led Congress to authorize the creation of the Office of Disability Employment Policy within the Department of Labor in 2001.
Ogle was also the inspiration for Mattel’s 1997 Share a Smile Becky, the first Barbie to use a (hot pink) wheelchair. The doll was extremely popular and sold out within two weeks – but her wheelchair could not fit through the doors of Barbie’s Dreamhouse. Instead of adapting the Dreamhouse and other dollhouses to make them more accessible, Share a Smile Becky was discontinued. It was a perfect example of the exclusion disabled Americans so often face, despite our community’s massive economic power.
AAPD is proud to call Becky Ogle one of our most dedicated supporters throughout the organization’s history. She worked closely with several AAPD founders to support the organization in our early days and regularly attended AAPD events and participated in our advocacy actions. Ogle served as a frequent mentor for AAPD’s internship program, supporting and uplifting the next generation of disability advocates. Finally, she led Disability Power and Pride, an organization for which AAPD served as fiscal intermediary. Ogle’s advocacy and engagement in direct action continued throughout her life.
“Becky Ogle was a force. She was unafraid and unapologetic in her efforts to advance the rights of disabled people. From her relentless fight to pass the ADA, to ensuring disabled Americans were considered in political spaces, to working to change our nation’s cultural understanding of people with disabilities, Becky’s work touched the entire disability community. Becky was never one to wait for permission or beg for forgiveness. If door knocks with her hand went unanswered, she would bang down the door with her prosthetic leg and make sure all her disabled friends and compatriots could come through. AAPD is deeply grateful for her work, leadership, and life. She will be profoundly missed. In honor of Becky’s life and legacy, AAPD encourages all eligible people with disabilities and our allies to vote and get engaged,” said AAPD President and CEO Maria Town.
To honor her longtime commitment to community activism and organizing, the friends and family of Becky Ogle have organized the Becky Ogle Grassroots Leadership Scholarship Fund within Midwest Academy. Midwest Academy trains people in the skills and strategies needed to build powerful organizations and governing majorities that win important victories for their communities and drive forward the movement for justice for all. This leadership scholarship will support the continuation of Ogle’s legacy of advancing disability rights across the country. Because Midwest Academy is a 501(c)(3), your contribution to the Becky Ogle Grassroots Leadership Scholarship fund is tax-deductible.