Biography of Tony Young
Tony Young is the Director of Governmental Affairs for NISH, addressing employment, income security, long term supports, and technology issues as they impact individuals with the most severe disabilities. He also serves as the Vice Chair of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, a coalition of nearly 100 national disability organizations.
Prior to this position, Mr. Young was Senior Policy Analyst with United Cerebral Palsy, Inc., Director of Residential services and Community Supports for the American Rehabilitation Association in Washington, DC; President of Open Access, a consulting firm focusing on the design, development, evaluation and analysis of policies, programs and services for persons with disabilities; Founder and Executive Director of the Independence Center of Northern Virginia, a Title VII Center for Independent Living; and, a budget analyst for the US Department of Agriculture.
Over 31 years as a quadriplegic, Mr. Young has served in a variety of state and national bodies, including the Congressional Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities, the Presidents' Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, the Blue Ribbon Panel on Entrepreneurship and Small Business for People with Disabilities; the National Rehabilitation Hospital Research and Training Center on Medical Rehabilitation and Health Policy; the World Institute on Disability Research and Training Center on Personal Assistance Services, the National Institute on Consumer Directed Long Term Services at the National Council on the Aging, Inc.; and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Blue Ribbon Panel on Personal Assistance Services Policy, and as a Fellow with the World Institute on Disability.
Mr. Young earned a B.S. in Business Administration With Distinction from George Mason University in 1980. He acquired a PwD* in 1970 while body surfing in Ocean City, Maryland.
Mr. Young was presented with the 1998 Disability Achievement Award by the American Public Health Association s DisAbility Forum. This award is given to a person who has a long history of making substantial achievements in the field of disability science or policy benefiting persons with disabilities.
*A PwD is an advanced degree in life
featuring advanced practical experience in systems gaming, resource allocation,
problem solving, barrier removal, information seeking, support scheduling, priority
juggling, and
conversational philosophy.