Arizona Center for Disability Law Board awarded Renaldo Fowler an award for 25 years of service at a January 29 Board Meeting held at the Disability Empowerment Campus. Fowler, a Senior Staff Advocate, is a highly respected Arizona advocate who specializes in special education. During the meeting, he also provided seclusion and restraint training for the board.
During the meeting, the board approved five new members “All bring significant leadership and expertise in a variety of disability areas,” says executive director Peri Jude Radecic. “For example, Cyrus Martinez is an employment lawyer, and Mark Mendibles, Tucson, is a webmaster and former member of the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, and fully understands the DD Act and Network. He also receives services from the Arizona Division of Developmental Disabilities.
“Art Gode, Kingman, and Loretta Cheeks, Peoria, are parents of adult sons with developmental disabilities. Gode is very well connected in the northwest corner of Arizona, and Dr. Cheeks is a Engineering Technical Lead/Project Lead with General Dynamics, Scottsdale. Attorney Wendy Akbar, Phoenix, is the current chair of the State Bar Committee on Persons with Disabilities in the Legal Profession.”
The ACDL Board meets quarterly and is comprised of diverse members representing all parts of Arizona, numerous disabilities, and disabilities of family members. It also sponsors a social networking site, http://acdlaw.ning.com/, which unites people interested in advocating for disability rights from around the globe, says Radecic. Membership is growing daily.