Helena Berger, Outgoing President and CEO

Helena Berger, President and CEO[/caption]Helena Berger has been a disability-rights advocate for 30 years. She is currently the President & CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). Ms. Berger has been associated with AAPD for 20 years; serving in the following leadership positions: Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Vice President. She is a mission-focused, seasoned, strategic, and process minded leader with experience scaling an organization, leading an executive team, and developing a performance culture among a diverse group of individuals.

Prior to joining AAPD, Ms. Berger was the Advocacy Director for the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA), renamed in 2005 United Spinal Association. Under her direction, EPVA’s advocacy program significantly expanded its public education and community outreach activities, specifically aimed at raising awareness of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a result, Ms. Berger has extensive experience in designing and implementing grassroots programs and working effectively with non-governmental organizations, community and business leaders, and public officials to increase the community integration, independence, and rights and opportunities of all people with disabilities.

Ms. Berger’s international disability rights work includes working with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs as a feature speaker on disability rights, policy, and growing grassroots movements. She has spoken with diverse disability audiences in Mongolia, Nepal, and Cyprus, and traveled to Jordan, the West Bank, and Vietnam.

Ms. Berger is currently a member of AT&T’s Consumer Advisory Panel and Centene Corporation’s National Disability Advisory Council, Treasurer of the Board of Directors for the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia, and serves as co-chair of the Disability Equality Index (DEI) Advisory Committee.