2013 Business PlanJennifer Laszlo Mizrahi

CEO, RespectAbilityPhone: (240) 744-0543

email: JLM@LaszloStrategies.com4340 East-West Hwy, Suite 350, Bethesda, MD 20814

www.RespectAbilityUSA.org

2Mission Statement

RespectAbilityUSA.org is a new national, non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is (a) to reshape the attitudes of American society so that people with disabilities can more fully participate in and contribute to society, and (b) to empower people with disabilities to achieve as much of the American Dream as their abilities and efforts permit. RespectAbility will work to educate, sensitize and engage Americans to focus on what people with disabilities can do, rather than on what they cannot do.

RespectAbility thereby will seek gradually, steadily, and in a practical way to help increase the number and percentage of disabled Americans who engage in gainful employment, start and sustain their own businesses, lift themselves into the middle class, and participate in their communities as fully as their abilities and efforts will take them.

31. Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................3

2. The Need and The Stakeholders ................................................................................................6

2.1 Elected Officials, Policy Makers & Government ...............................................................7

2.2 Disability Groups ................................................................................................................8

2.3 Private Sector Role ...........................................................................................................10

2.4 Faith-Based Groups ...........................................................................................................11

2.5 Philanthropists .................................................................................................................11

2.6 Media ................................................................................................................................12

3. Tactics and Goals ......................................................................................................................13

3.1 Create our Infrastructure and Team .................................................................................13

3.2 Conduct baseline research for messaging and contacts to achieve a platform for education on key disability and independence issues ................................14

3.3 Provide policy leaders, press and philanthropists the facts and contacts they need to support meaningful progress which can help empower people with disabilities to achieve the American dream of a job, freedom, equal rights and independence ........................................................................................15

3.4 Give top-level decision makers the ability to make personal connections with people with disabilities and successful programs to empower them to make these issues a much higher priority .....................................................................18

4. Our Team ..................................................................................................................................19

4.1 Management & Administration for RespectAbility ........................................................19

4.2 The Public Opinion Experts/Key Strategist .....................................................................21

4.3 The Communications Team ............................................................................................22

4.4 Board of Directors and Board of Advisors ........................................................................23

5. Where to Send Tax-Deductible Donations ..............................................................................26

6. Budget for Year One ..................................................................................................................27

Appendix ......................................................................................................................................29

Links to Relevant Op-Eds and Press Clips ...................................................................................30

Table of Contents

4Executive Summary

Approximately 70% of working-age Americans with disabilities dont have jobs. As a result, millions live in or near poverty and are denied access to achieving the American dream.

For too long people with disabilities have been an afterthought in the corridors of political power. They are typically used as political pawns in the days before elections and then forgotten for months or years thereafter. If we are to be a true democracy ALL voices must be heard, including those who cannot always literally stand up and speak out for themselves.

Until now the disability community was fragmented into individual efforts, undermining the power of collective action. With your help all that can change.

RespectAbility is a new Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit non-partisan organization whose mission is to empower citizens with disabilities and their loved ones to have a seat at Americas public policy and political table so they can work to achieve the American dream.

All men are created equal and endowed with equal rights.

As Abraham Lincoln said, these permanent truths from our Declaration of Independence are applicable to all men and all times. Now, hundreds of years after the founding of America, and long since, women, racial, ethnic and religious minorities have begun to claim their own rights, it is long overdue for Americans with disabilities to claim theirs as well.

RespectAbility will comprise three essential components:

1) We will use top experts in strategic communications and the latest in public opinion research (including focus groups and polls) to understand the hopes, dreams and challenges of Americans with disabilities, and then translate that information straight to policymakers in Washington and leaders across America.

2) We will seek and vet cost-effective best practices to help people with disabilities achieve independence.

3) We will use sophisticated strategic communications to share best practices with decision-makers including government officials, other policy makers, campaign consultants, media, philanthropists, CEOs, human resource directors, job creators, clergy, nonprofit and leaders in other arenas.

In the short term our core work will focus on helping Americans with physical and intellectual disabilities, mental health issues, as well as wounded warriors, get or create jobs and become independent. In order to leverage the power of our research and strategy RespectAbility will partner with existing nonprofit disability organizations and leaders. We will provide them with free public opinion research resources and media training so that they can be more effective advocates for Americas approximately 57 million citizens with disabilities.

5RespectAbility will use education, performance metrics and facts to change perceptions among decision-makers in government and corporate America.

We will show that:

Millions more Americans with disabilities can work to achieve the American dream and improving the bottom line of companies, government, overall progress for society at large and the individuals with disabilities themselves.

Employers who hire people with disabilities can enjoy profitability and do good at the same time.

With a focus on cost-effective, evidence-based and inclusive ways to enable people with disabilities to achieve respect, live and work productively, achieve greater economic self-sufficiency, dignity and a better future, RespectAbility will be a fair broker of factual and breakthrough information that leaders can trust.

There is a mantra within the disability community, nothing about us without us which we wholeheartedly share and support. People with disabilities and their loved ones will be an important part of both our staff and our Board of Directors and Board of Advisors.

We expect our work to include:

Creation and dissemination of focus group reports from working-age Americans with disabilities who want to work. The focus groups will explore those hand-ups Americans with disabilities feel they need so they can end hand-outs and achieve the American dream. Focus groups will include their perceptions of the current benefits system, which initial research shows many feel is more of a prison than a hand-up.

Creation and dissemination of benchmark polling regarding a range of disability issues to hundreds of leaders of disability groups and elected officials so they can understand what the 57 million Americans with disabilities want from their leaders and for themselves.

Distribution to leaders of case studies and access to experts on best practices for job creation that are win-win

RespectAbility CEO Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and co-founding board member Shelley Cohen with Gov. Jack Markell

Everyone who wants to work and participate fully in society should have the opportunity to do so. Research indicates that 67 percent of working-age people with disabilities would rather be working than be unemployed and nonproductive. Yet, the United States spends an estimated $300 billion annually to support people with disabilities who are unemployed.

Gov. Jack Markell (D-DE)National Governors Association Chair

6for both employers and people with disabilities alike.

Increased numbers of leaders putting more focus on disability issues because they see American voters care about these issues and are more educated about disability issues. We will accomplish this by providing trustworthy, factual and non-partisan materials and programs that help leaders serve the public while making government work better and cost less.

Increased bipartisan cooperation and vision on disability issues.

Increased visibility in the media about the importance of empowering and enabling people with disabilities to have the opportunity to achieve the American dream.

Leaders of the disability community giving better media interviews, more effective opinion pieces being published, better strategic planning for media placements and stories.

Improved poll numbers for support of policies that will help people with disabilities live independently and with dignity.

A positive embrace by religious institutions, the private sector and philanthropists toward best practices to help people with disabilities attain jobs, independence and dignity.

Better public policy and outcomes on disability issues overall.

Regular feedback to spokespeople and contributors on the progress of educating leaders, decision-makers and reporters about ways to help people with disabilities achieve the American dream.

RespectAbility will be a catalyst for governmental, private sector, nonprofit and faith-based investments in human capital, using metrics to measure the Return on Investment (ROI) in increasing the number of Americans with disabilities becoming and staying independent.

We will discourage the use of methodologies and messages that do not perform well and can turn progress backwards.

Given our ambitious agenda, it is important to note those things that we will NOT do. RespectAbility will NOT be a direct services provider. There are many good groups doing direct services and we will not enter that space. We also will not be a lobby organization. We will educate and inform, but we will stay well within the legal parameters of a 501c-3 nonprofit charitable educational organization.

We expect our work to include specific actions outlined throughout this business plan. Donors will be provided with ongoing reports on our progress. We have a proven team and with your support are ready to make a difference.

As the father of a young man with Down syndrome, I understand firsthand the importance of providing individuals with disabilities opportunities in the workplace. I am encouraged by all of the companies reaffirming their commitment to employing individuals with disabilities, as well as expanding their efforts. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Chairman, House Rules Committee

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Rep. Pete Sessions.

7The year 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) whose four goals are: equality of opportunity; independent living; economic self-sufficiency; and full participation in society. It will also be the 40th Anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which has helped children with disabilities get the education they need. Yet, many American citizens with disabilities1 (who according to the U.S. Census include more than 18 million working-age Americans) are still denied access to achieving the American dream. Indeed approximately 70% of working-age Americans with disabilities are currently out of the work force.2

As past chairman of the National Council on Disability, Jonathan M. Young, Ph.D., points out that The ADA has apparently had no beneficial impact. Between 1989 and 2009, the percentage of working-age Americans on SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) grew from 2.3 to 4.6 percent. The cash transfer in todays dollars grew from $40 billion to $121 billion for SSDI and from $18 billion to $69 billion for Medicare costs for people on the SSDI program. The estimated present value of a combined award of SSDI

and Medicare for a person with a disability is about $270,000. Among 8.2 million SSDI recipients, thats a whopping present value of over $2 trillion. Clearly its in the national interest from an economic perspective let alone a disability rights perspective that people with disabilities be gainfully employed, tax-paying citizens.

Experts estimate that at least 10 million more Americans with disabilities are capable of employment in integrated settings at minimum wage or above and want to work. Yet, as was pointed out recently by a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report,3 the government is not cost-effectively addressing how to replace handouts with hope through opportunities for those that can work. The private sector, faith-based groups and nonprofits also have not yet been energized and empowered to confront this challenge.

Disability payments average approximately $12,000 a year, meaning that Americans with disabilities disproportionately make up the rolls of Americas poorest citizens. They do get health care coverage, which can literally be life-saving. However, if they attempt to break the cycle of poverty by getting a job, when they save more than $2,000 they lose their safety net. This might be acceptable when they are able to keep their job. But if they lose their job for any reason it can take 18 months or more for them to receive benefits again. As a result of this risk many Americans with disabilities

The Need and the Stakeholders

1. http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/acsbr09-12.pdf2. http://www.harkin.senate.gov/documents/

pdf/500469b49b364.pdf

3. http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-677

Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesnt mean he lacks vision. Stevie Wonder, Legendary singer who is blind

8who could work opt instead to stay out of the work force. Others, despite their best efforts to find a job, cannot find an employer willing to give them a chance.

Implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 may provide more consistent and available health care for people with disabilities in some states. However, the outcome of PPACA is still undefined, and given the nature of Medicaid coverage and the structure of the Health Insurance Marketplace Exchanges, coverage will be different in most of the 54 states and territories. It is important to support thoughtful polices that take into account that millions of people with disabilities want to work and be independent.

Moreover, non-disabled Americans are all too often robbed of the positive contributions that people with disabilities can create for the betterment of all society. People with disabilities need to be respected for the contributions they can offer to our nation through the abilities they possess. A key part of that is empowering Americans with disabilities to have a real job for real pay. Most people with disabilities want a hand-up to economic self-sufficiency, not a hand-out that produces lifelong government dependency, isolation and poverty. For that to happen, Americans with disabilities need the partnership of a broad

array of actors ranging from elected officials and policy makers to individuals who care.

2.1 Elected Officials, Policy Makers & Government

Positive change will require strong bipartisan cooperation as well as public-private partnerships. Indeed, without the kind of bipartisan consensus on disability issues that existed in 1990 when ADA was passed, disability policy can go nowhere. For this to improve, elected officials will have to see Americans with disabilities as a powerful and swing voter group.

A full 51 percent of likely voters report either having a disability or a family member or close friend with a disability.4 They are actually swing voters, but most elected officials dont know that fact. Unlike Soccer Moms,

Hispanics, and African-Americans, Americans with disabilities are not yet seen as a voter group that matters. We are not so nave as to think we can change the partisan gridlock in Washington, but with so many Americans with disabilities and 51 percent personally affected, there are many politicians on both sides of the aisle who have been touched in some way by family and friends with disabilities and are eager to get involved once they hear they can make a change.

4. http://www.laszlostrategies.com/index.php/sub-press/press-releases/119-breaking-news

9In 2012 both major candidates for President were invited by a coalition of 80 disability groups to address disability issues at a major forum in the swing state of Ohio. Neither personally attended.5 Each sent a surrogate. The Romney campaign, despite repeated requests from disability groups, did not post any disability policies on its campaign website. Additionally, none of the 2012 Presidential primary or general election debates touched upon issues that specifically impact Americans with disabilities. Put simply, despite the existence of 57 million Americans with disabilities, they arent perceived as a power group or voting bloc.

For many years the State of the Union Address hasnt included policies on disability issues beyond healthcare/PPACA. In addition, few major Senate, House or state governors races bring about substantive discussion on any of the issues that directly impact Americans with disabilities. There is a desperate need for vision implemented by the White House under a President who will harness the energy and strength of the public, private, nonprofit and religious sectors. When programs are showcased in a factual, non-partisan way, we can emphasize how to make government work better and cost less. But who will do it? It will be vital to ensure that responsible voices from both political parties are heard in the media. They will need to be joined by leaders from corporations, faith-based groups and nonprofit organizations.

Leaders need to see that their constituents with disabilities and their loved ones want results and that there is a political price to be paid if leaders are not responsive. At the same time, it is vital for people with disabilities to recognize the financial

realities facing our nation. We cannot simply throw money at problems. We need to use cost-effective best practices. These need to be identified and showcased in site visits and educational programs for Capitol Hill leaders, Presidential candidates and their staffs. They need to see with their own eyes the best practices approaches that help people with disabilities achieve increased economic self-sufficiency and independent living.

2.2 Disability GroupsBipartisan solutions need to go well beyond Capitol Hill. Today, most of the nonprofit disability groups are at least perceived to lean left politically. Their websites detail wish-lists for government action that can often be summed up as give us more money.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a landmark victory for human justice. But we are still far from the promised land of equality and empowerment in everyday life. Our task now is to complete the revolution of free enterprise democracy by implementing the inalienable right and the inalienable responsibility of all people to fulfill their personal potential to be fully equal, fully productive participants in the mainstream of society.

Justin Dart, recipient, Presidential Medal of Freedom, considered a

forefather of the Americans with Disabilities Act

5. http://www.c-c-d.org/press_room/CCD_statement_on_Forum.pdf

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This has alienated Republican leaders who believe in smaller government and that more dollars spent does not necessarily equate to better outcomes. The issue also been a non-starter with many Democrats who recognize that Americas coffers are simply out of funds, and any new expenditure requires an offset through cuts or efficiencies found somewhere else. Even the recent vote on the disabilities treaty, a measure that did not require cash outlays, came down along highly partisan lines. It is time to utilize the federal governments potential as a catalyst to private sector, nonprofit and faith-based investments in human capital, and to expect metrics to measure the ROI in terms of more Americans being independent.

Americans with a broad variety of disabilities have more in common with each other than not. Many of the more than 200 national groups that serve people with disabilities do excellent work, especially those with the specific disabilities that many of them represent. However, the disability community is fractured and often at war with itself. Thankfully, disability groups have started to form coalitions. The National Disability Leadership Alliance (NDLA) and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) are the largest, but they are volunteer organizations that dont have staff, budgets or real strategic communications capabilities. Additionally there is a serious split between groups of consumers with disabilities (i.e. the NDLA member groups) and groups that say they care about people with disabilities but can be perceived by people with disabilities as controlling or patronizing.

Disability activists and leaders sometimes get mired in disagreements over issues of sheltered workshops, sub-minimum wage, cure strategies vs. acceptance, and more. But without broad focus groups

or polling to determine what the masses of Americans with disabilities feel they need most to become independent, everyone is playing a guessing game. There is a need for a new organization that will help them break silos and work towards common goals.

RespectAbility will work with dozens of nonprofit groups, looking for best practices and cost-effective ideas that can be shared with public leaders. We will offer disability organizations and those willing to stand with them services such as focus groups, polls, media contacts and advocacy training that can support the entire movement. We will showcase best practices and case studies of people with disabilities who are working and making a difference.

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi with Rep. Brad Sherman and wife, Lisa

I have worked with Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi since 1997. She knows how to frame facts and issues to get page one coverage in The New York Times and The Washington Post as well as on the networks. She has a special passion for helping people with special needsShe is creative, connected and gets things done in Washington.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA)

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2.3 Private Sector Role Empowerment and employment of people with disabilities has become a practice at companies such as Walgreens, Bank of America, Marriott, Disney, TimeWarner and AMC Theaters. They have found that they can do good and do well at the same time. It turns out that when done right, employing people with disabilities can improve the corporate bottom line and improve shareholder value. However, many companies may still think of employees with disabilities in terms of quotas to meet for government contracts, or are concerned about the legal risks associated with dismissing employees with disabilities who fails to perform at their job. These are real challenges that need to be addressed. We can only be successful on a large scale when hiring employees with disabilities is win-win for employers and employees alike.

Meanwhile it is vital that the private sector use medical and scientific innovations to create dramatic breakthroughs that can enhance the quality of life and independence for people with disabilities. The intersections of neuroscience and nanotechnology now enable people who are paralyzed to think movement through new computers; provide new computer apps that empower people with disabilities who are mute to speak and the deaf to hear, and the blind to see. Additionally, innovations may eventually enable blind people to drive and people with Autism to read emotions and recognize faces. Such breakthroughs must be encouraged and brought to market. We need to enable people with disabilities to live in the most independent and least restrictive ways possible. Already, the Coleman Institute at the University of Colorado, Boulder and TEDMED are bringing some

important new ideas forward, but much more can and must be done.

Until now far too much of our public investment has been in medical treatments and disability payments rather than cures and innovations that can make treatments and government payments obsolete. Note that at one point, America spent a fortune on iron lungs, wheelchairs and disability payments for people with polio. But the March of Dimes, federal investments in scientific research and Dr. Jonas Salk stepped in. Now we dont have to suffer or pay for polio. Lives and dollars were saved, and America is better off.

To reinforce the goals of the ADA and to move disability policy forward into the next century, it is critical to maintain a united and solid partnership between the disability and business communities as well as the public and private sectors. Working together, we can ensure that every American citizen will be provided the access and opportunity to be a part of all that society offers. More importantly, by increasing public awareness and through education, we can break down the attitudinal barriers that prevent full participation in the American mainstream.

Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) and 1996 Republican Presidential Candidate, on the

signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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2.4 Faith-Based GroupsMany Americans believe that every person (including individuals with disabilities) is made in Gods image. Moreover, in the Biblical traditions, a societys righteousness is often measured by how it treats those on the margins. Numerous leaders in the Biblical traditions had a disability or other limitation of one form or another, e.g. Moses had a speech impediment (some think stuttering); Isaac was blind; Jacob limped, etc. Much can be done through the power of the pulpit and faith-based organizations to end discrimination and replace it with inclusion, dignity and equal rights.

Religious leaders have previously been at the forefront of civil rights in America, and can do much more to help people with disabilities learn how to fish for themselves. Faith leaders can help recruit private sector and other employers in their congregations to offer unpaid internships and entry-level jobs to congregants with disabilities so they can get their foot in the door toward independence. Retired members of congregations can be recruited and trained to be volunteer job coaches who can help teens and young adults with disabilities get and maintain their first internships and jobs.

Still, in the faith community we need to walk before we can run. Americans with disabilities have as much of a right to freedom of religion as their fellow citizens. Sadly, however, in stark contrast to their religious precepts, many religious organizations still discriminate against Americans with disabilities. Some do so knowingly, and some out of ignorance. Regardless, this discrimination robs people with disabilities of their religious faith, culture and community. Freedom of religion is a core American value and a part of what makes us a great nation.

Faith-based groups can do much by walking the walk on inclusion, not just talking the talk. Important work on this front already been accomplished by a number of religious leaders, including Ginny Thornburgh at the AAPD, visionary Rev. Bill William Gaventa and Professor Eric Carter at Vanderbilt University. However, the gaps are monumental as it is legal in America for religious institutions that do not get federal funding to discriminate against people with disabilities because they are explicitly exempted from the ADA. To remedy this, laws do not need to be changed as faith-based groups can learn how easy and inexpensive it can be to include people with disabilities. They do, however, need to learn the moral costs of shutting out those who have disabilities from religious freedoms.

2.5 PhilanthropistsPhilanthropists overall play a major role in making the world a better place. In this space, however, few philanthropists have yet significantly used their resources to move the needle. Many philanthropies have refused to even consider funding the disability sector even as they fund or study issues and programs that disproportionately impact

Few knew that former President Franklin D. Roosevelt served while using a wheelchair.

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people with disabilities (i.e. Annie E. Casey and Child Welfare, and RWJ and Health). This may be because the ground was not yet laid to show cost-effective bipartisan solutions that can be good for both people with disabilities and America overall.

Still, even those who do not provide funding in this sector can make a tremendous positive difference if they request that their grantees explore ways of becoming more inclusive of people with disabilities. For example, if foundations that support religious groups were to ask their grantees that discriminate against people with disabilities to end those practices as a condition of future funding, significant progress could be made relatively quickly. This would not threaten the success of any of their grantees as the ADA standards exempts groups that find including someone with a disability would cause undue hardship, risk safety or fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the business.

2.6 MediaAnother challenge that can be turned into an opportunity is the media. It can be the lens through which hundreds of millions of Americans see these issues. Thoughtful press coverage of disability issues is scarce today. While NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour and The Boston Globe offer some quality coverage of disability issues periodically, no major media outlet has done consistent, deep and regular reporting on disability issues. Major media outlets do not have a disabilities beat for reporters, despite the fact that those with disabilities represent a group in the same way as Latinos, African-Americans and others followed by the media.

The entire media industry is experiencing a dramatic transformation in which press outlets have fewer reporters, thus relying

more on information packaged by outside groups. Today there is no outside trusted group that has made filling this gap on disability issues its mission. RespectAbility will change that as we will work with disability groups and experts to educate the media so that their coverage can inspire positive change. After all, the media can help leaders, employers and the public better understand the potential for all people with disabilities, regardless of diagnosis or severity of disability to work at real jobs for minimum wage or more so they can pursue the American dream. We will focus especially on shining a spotlight on companies that are using the talents of people with disabilities to achieve a better bottom line.

The time for positive change is now. At RespectAbility we can make it happen.

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi moderates Bill Kristol, Clarence Page and Eleanor Clift at the National Press Club

I have known and worked with Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi for over two decades. She runs the sharpest seminars on what makes Washington and the media tick.

Eleanor Clift, Contributing Editor, Newsweek & The Daily Beast;

Panelist, The McLaughlin Group

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The team of RespectAbility believes in planning our work and working our plan. Our CEO, with support from other team members, previously founded and for 10 years led a highly successful public policy educational organization which effectively used techniques similar to those discussed herein. RespectAbility will build on proven leadership skills and techniques. In this new organization, we seek to improve opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities and America overall by educating leaders, employers, philanthropists and the media through the use of public opinion research, strategic communications, and high-quality training and education. Indeed, we will focus more on the communications side than any group in this sector. Our plan of action has four overall objectives for our first year:

3.1 Create our infrastructure and team

Accomplish the legal work to acquire IRS approval and register its name. An outstanding board and staff will be recruited, and policies established. Basic operational issues such as office space and an accessible website will be set up.

Raise over $1.5 million. The first contributor to the project was founder Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi who has worked pro-bono on the organization to get it started and has funded some preliminary start-up costs including a major conference scheduled for May 2, 2014. Half of her time during the first year will also be donated and she will not draw a salary until basics are set up.

Engage the services of experienced and outstanding strategic communications experts who can help ensure that elected officials, leaders, and members of the media understand the values, goals, and strategic needs they share with Americans with disabilities. Where possible we will get top-flight support either pro-bono or at a dramatically reduced rate.

Build a database of key decision-makers and influentials who can dramatically improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. The list of key decision-makers includes the President of the United States along with select White House and administration staff, members of Congress and the Senate (as well as their staff members), state governors, commerce and labor secretaries, Presidential candidates, political consultants, media (print, TV, radio, columnists and bloggers), significant philanthropists, think-tanks, journalists, media personalities, CEOs, human resource directors, celebrities, religious leaders and disability groups.

Tactics and Goals

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.

Charles Darwin (who many now think was on the Autism Spectum)

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3.2 Conduct baseline research for messaging and contacts to achieve a platform for education on crucial disability and independence issues.

Conduct focus groups of key stakeholders. This includes the customers (working-age Americans with disabilities who want/need to live more independently and be more economically self-sufficient and successful), as well as policy makers (especially those on the political right who are highly skeptical of government-led solutions), and other key decision-makers/influentials. Special attention will be paid to voters with disabilities in swing states such as Ohio and Florida.

Lead focus groups of primary voters from early states in the Presidential campaign (i.e., New Hampshire) to determine which messages will work

to persuade voters to put issues that have an impact on people with disabilities into their voting equation.

Conduct three surveys to identify the messages that will win the support of the disability community, American leaders and voters. The first will be an online poll of self-identified Americans with disabilities and their families to find out how they view the issues and where their priorities lie. The second will be a national telephone poll of registered voters. It will contain an oversample of Americans with disabilities and their loved ones. The third will be a telephone poll of New Hampshire Presidential primary voters with the goal of injecting disability issues into the 2016 Presidential campaign. All research will be used to find the best messaging for the disability community and will be shared broadly with dozens of nonprofit organizations that champion the causes of people with disabilities, as well as with leaders who are willing to join our cause. Both political parties and all major Presidential candidates will be given equal access to polling data that shows what voters with disabilities care about.

Become a trusted source of proven public opinion research on how Americans view people with disabilities and issues that impact them, and which messages work to bring increased support for the rights and opportunities for people with disabilities.

Create standard, professional and proven messages for spokespeople and organizations committed to promoting rights and opportunities for Americans with disabilities.

Disability policies and programs should be about fulfilling the abilities and ambitions of each and every American to the fullest extent possible. They should not be about creating and perpetuating dependence on the federal government.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Chairwoman, House Republican Caucus and mother

of a child with Down syndrome

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

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Strengthen partnerships and coalitions between disability groups. Lead intensive personal sessions with the disability communitys relevant spokespeople to help them conduct winning TV interviews.

Create and disseminate regular e-newsletters that will provide expert information, Op-Eds and invitations to relevant training opportunities. The earned media plan would also include a series of conference calls for activists to be briefed by our pollsters on which messages work best. We will offer media training.

3.3 Provide policy leaders, press and philanthropists the facts and contacts they need to support meaningful progress which can help empower people with disabilities to achieve the American dream of a job, freedom, equal rights and independence.

Produce and disseminate invitations to 10,000 leaders, campaign consultants, reporters and elected officials nationally to an educational event and introduce RespectAbility as a resource for facts on solutions for empowering Americans with disabilities to have a better life. We need to make sure we dont just know them; they need to know us as a can-do, trusted provider of facts that can help them in their goals of making America a better place.

Write and place numerous Op-Eds on disability topics in publications. Use social media to do outreach via Facebook (especially to policy makers and job creators), Twitter and in commenting online to media coverage on related topics.

Produce and air television ads on CNN, MSNBC, FOX as well as online in the Washington area to highlight the importance of solving problems on disability issues. Ads will use the successful messages determined by focus groups and polls to win hearts and minds for results-driven public policies that will improve the lives of people with disabilities who want to become independent.

Help with key planning and design for a major conference on employment for people with disabilities that will be done with Georgetown University and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A goal of the bipartisan event is to have President Obama speak out on

RespectAbility CEO with Goldie Hawn, Piers Morgan, and Sen. Rick Santorum.

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this topic, and to get White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough (a Georgetown University alumnus) to engage on enabling people with disabilities to have opportunities to achieve the American dream. Key Republicans such as Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rep. Pete Sessions will be invited, along with Gov. Jack Markell, National Governors Association Chair.

Design and implement sophisticated site visit tours for leaders of best practice approaches in disability work in the metro Washington, D.C. area and in New Hampshire. The D.C.

tours will transport Capitol Hill staff by bus and take them to conduct site inspections of successful approaches for integrating people with disabilities into jobs. Sites could include: transition service organizations that assist and support people with disabilities to develop career paths, pursue postsecondary education and get jobs of their choice for real pay in the community; and job and entrepreneur coaching programs that help people with disabilities achieve the American dream of having a job and career path and become more economically self-sufficient. The tours in New Hampshire will be for potential 2016 Presidential candidates and their staffs as well as political reporters. All tours, like all of our work, will be done in a non-partisan way.

Recruit disability groups to sign letters to foundations to encourage them to push for the creation of non-discrimination policies and practices at the organizations that they fund. Letters will also be created and sent to encourage religious institutions to stop hiding behind the ADA exemptions to duck following the letter and spirit of ADA laws as every American should have their religious rights. It will also be clear that religious schools, camps, institutions and places of worship should set the example (walk the walk) by being inclusive of people with disabilities. Letters will recognize that the ADA does NOT force groups (and we do not want to either) to include people with disabilities if it would cause imminent danger, cause undue burden on their budget or organization, or cause fundamental change in the

Lack of political power during far-reaching budget debates is dangerousmost importantly, we must remember that rights secured can never be taken for granted not only in terms of keeping the law on the books but also in ensuring that we continue to build on our rights amidst changing circumstances. Rights are not perfected at their creation. They must be cultivated. Sustained. Implemented. Enforced. Only then do rights have meaningful effect. This requires ongoing political engagement. Friends, we need to cultivate and wield sustainable political power.

Jonathan M. Young, Ph.D., J.D., Former Chairman, National Council on Disability

18

nature of their programs. We would also initiate media outreach on the fact that disability groups are asking funders to stop funding institutions that intentionally discriminate.

Encourage elected officials to speak out in favor of improved employment prospects for people with disabilities. A key partner for this will be Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, National Governors Association Chair. He has made this issue a centerpiece of his tenure.6 He is willing to do much more to see a positive outcome, and it will be important to find leaders who will take on these issues when his term expires.

Work to develop new Capitol Hill champions since Sen. Tom Harkin, viewed as Washingtons most devoted leader on disability issues, has announced his imminent retirement and Sen. Ted Kennedy has passed away. Outreach to those interested, such as Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Rep. Pete Sessions, Sen. Mark Kirk, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Brad Sherman will be important as they have recently indicated to RespectAbilitys CEO that they are interested in playing a more substantive role in partnering with Americans with disabilities. Other leaders who also have shown an interest in these issues include Rep. George Miller, Rep. Greg Harper, Rep. Ander Crenshaw, Sen. Robert Casey, Sen. Patty Murray, Rep. Tom Morino, Rep. Doug Collins, and Rep. Tammy Duckworth. We plan to reach out as broadly as possible and in a bipartisan

way to bring increased attention to these issues.

RespectAbilitys CEO will also reach

out to trend-setters. On the right this includes former Sen. Rick Santorum and former Gov. Sarah Palin, both parents of children with disabilities. Each of them has a strong grassroots following but is not yet known for being involved deeply in these issues. However, these groups have strong capacities and reasons to engage in helping people with disabilities learn to fish and celebrate their talents and gifts. On the left we expect to reach out to personalities such as The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who already has been supportive on Autism issues.

Designed and ran a conference on May 2, 2013 in Washington, D.C. on inclusion for children with disabilities to be welcomed and accommodated in camps and youth education programs. Co-sponsors included numerous religious organizations as well as Washington Parent magazine. Speakers

6. http://www.harkin.senate.gov/documents/pdf/500469b49b364.pdf

19

included Professor Stuart Schleien and expert Aron Hall. Design and implement a conference in November of 2013 in the Washington area focused on creating welcoming and inclusive faith-based educational and spiritual programs.

Host a series of conference calls and webinars on key topics of empowering people with disabilities. Topics may include best practices in evidence-based therapies, community early intervention, inclusion, transition services, job-coaching, benefits-planning, housing and support options, assistive and environmental technologies, and how science is changing the future for people with disabilities. All target decision-makers will be invited to these events.

Showcase concepts for solutions-based and cost-effective strategies for assisting and supporting people with disabilities to start their own companies. This could include hosting a webinar on the creation of a micro-enterprise project to provide seed funding for fledgling and promising businesses. It could also include publishing articles on successful business creators who have disabilities.

3.4 Give top-level decision makers the ability to make personal connections with people with disabilities and successful programs to empower them to make these issues a much higher priority.

RespectAbility will have an in-house fellowship program with preference for people with disabilities to learn how to be successful in policy and political skills.

In New Hampshire and at pre-Presidential events/candidate forums, RespectAbility staff, volunteers and/or partner groups will be present to build relationships with Presidential candidates, their teams and the journalists who cover them. We will educate them in a non-partisan way on issues important to the disability community.

The best way for leaders, decisions makers and reporters to understand the true disability story is to see it for themselves as part of developing relationships on tours highlighting important issues. Journalists will get the facts they need to cover disability issues accurately, and leaders will be provided information to make smart policies. RespectAbility will partner with key disability groups to get help in tailoring special agendas and trips for leaders and journalists. Each field trip/site visit will have a customized agenda, ensuring that the leaders, decision-makers and journalists are exposed to the facts that show the importance of helping people with disabilities become independent.

We say no to ignorance, no to prejudice. We say yes to dignity and respect for disabled people; yes to empowerment; and yes to judging people on abilities, not disabilities.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) on the signing of the Americans

with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Sen. Tom Harkin.

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RespectAbilitys team has the skills and proven experience needed to create and implement a sophisticated educational campaign in the United States. Our team is a virtual all-star roster of communications experts. Each member has run winning issue and political campaigns around the world.

4.1 Management & Administration for RespectAbility

President/CEO, RespectAbility: Jennifer Laszlo MizrahiMizrahi is a proven nonprofit leader. She is an expert in strategic communications, public opinion research, media and

politics. She previously founded and led for a decade the nonprofit, non-partisan group The Israel Project (TIP). For that effort Mizrahi recruited dozens of Congress members and senators to serve on TIPs board of advisors, raised tens of millions of dollars to support its ground-breaking and successful work, and reached out to all the Presidential candidates and campaigns. RespectAbility will duplicate TIPs tremendous success in educating the press and policy leaders about policy issues. A visionary in leading teams to use social media for profound social change, Mizrahi founded a program to reach out to Arabs in Arabic using social media to encourage peace through economic empowerment. More than 50 million Arabs clicked on the site, and more than 1 million liked its content on Facebook.

Prior and after running TIP, Mizrahi led her own strategic communications firm, Laszlo Strategies. She worked with The White House, 60 U.S. senators and 114 Congress members. She organized and ran a series of high-level training seminars on how to make government work better and cost less with GOVERNING and GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE magazines. Mizrahis previous clients include the National Education Association, the American Medical Association, the Ford Foundation, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation and many others. She is an expert in organizing training programs including leading campaign training behind the former Iron Curtain for the teams of President Boris Yeltsin, President Vaclav Havel, Solidarity Leader Lech Walesa, as well as in Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary. She has worked on winning campaigns across the globe including in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent, Antigua, Barbados, and Venezuela.

Our Team

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Mizrahi has been interviewed on One on One with John McLaughlin and has been viewed hundreds of times on CNN, CNBC, FOX, MSNBC, and C-SPAN. She has been quoted in the press, including in The Washington Post, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, The Economist, People, and Investors Business Daily. She has been profiled in The Washington Post, Working Woman, Jewish Woman Magazine, The Forward and other publications. She holds degrees in Judaic studies and international studies from Emory University and has thrice been named by The Forward as one of the 50 most influential Jews in America.

Born with dyslexia and unable to functionally read or write until she was 12, Mizrahi also knows the joys and challenges of raising a child with a disability. Mizrahi credits her own disability, family support, and persistence in finding new ways to solve challenges and problems. She has published hundreds of columns on public policy and politics, including dozens on disability issues.

Vice President of Research and Communications: Meagan BurenMeagan Buren is a strategist and public opinion research expert with a strong background in focus groups, dials tests, polling, media relations and in leading communications and training programs. Previously

she served as senior project director for Luntz Global, a leader in corporate, political and nonprofit message creation and image management worldwide. Prior to that, Buren worked with Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi at The Israel Project (TIP) from its inception. The

two worked side by side for eight years. Together, and with their teams, they built the organization into a major educational, policy and communications organization that reached out globally in 10 languages. At TIP, Buren managed focus groups, polling, dial testing, grassroots and educational training, and media outreach in the U.S., Europe, Russia and the Arab world. Buren conducted interactive language and media training sessions for ambassadors, top-ranking public officials, professionals and leaders who had significant impact on Middle East security and peace. She initiated and led media tours of Middle East experts worldwide, including at two cycles of the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention and Presidential primary and debate seasons. She has been interviewed on national and international television and radio and is gifted in strategic communications. Buren holds a masters degree in communications, culture and technology from Georgetown University, and a bachelors degree from The Ohio State University.

Director of Administration: Tonya KosloKoslo is an experienced administrator whose skills include database management, computers, billing, legal requirements of administration,

websites and support services. She has worked with Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi for years on a variety of projects.

Fellows: RespectAbility has hired four fellows, all of whom have disabilities and/or have worked in the field of disabilities.

Meagan Buren with Former President Clinton.

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4.2 The Public Opinion Experts/Key Strategists

As the majority of Americans have a loved one with a disability, there are many pre-eminent experts who care about these issues. RespectAbility will engage top-level consultants who, when possible, will assist the organization pro-bono or at cost. Our in-house team of experts will conduct polling and focus groups as well as working with the pollsters/ strategists noted here who have all confirmed their interest in working with RespectAbility. It is important to note that some polling and focus group work will be conducted in-house by Meagan Buren and Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, both of whom have significant experience in those areas.

Key Strategist for Quantitative Research and Strategy: Stanley B. Greenberg, Ph.D. Stan Greenberg has served as lead polling advisor and

strategist to President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and their national campaigns. He has conducted extensive polling on domestic issues and published numerous books. He consulted for more than a decade with Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and for eight years with Meagan Buren in conducting polls for The Israel Project. Greenberg earned his Ph.D. at Yale University, where he also was a lecturer.

Key Strategist for Dial Testing of Spokespeople, Messages and Ads: Frank Luntz, Ph.D.Frank Luntz is one of the most honored political and communications professionals

in America today. He is widely credited for his work on the Contract with America, which enabled Republicans to take control of the House of Representatives after 40 years out of power. TIME Magazine named Luntz among 50 of Americas most promising leaders aged 40 and under. USA Today labeled him one of the nine most influential minds in the GOP, while The New York Times wrote that his well-chosen words helped turn an election. The Boston Globe called him the hottest pollster in America. Luntz was named one of the four Top Research Minds by Business Week and was a winner of the coveted The Washington Post Crystal Ball award for being the most accurate pundit. The Instant Response focus group technique Luntz pioneered was profiled on 60 Minutes. He has also been a guest on Meet the Press, This Week, 60 Minutes, Capital Gang, The NewsHour, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Charlie Rose Show, Politically Incorrect, and Hardball with Chris Matthews. Luntz received his Ph.D. at Oxford University and is the author of several books. He has worked on projects with Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi for more than two decades and with Meagan Buren for a decade.

It was ability that mattered, not disability, which is a word Im not crazy about using.

Marlee Matlin, Deaf super-talent who won Academy Award for Best Actress

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Key Strategist for Qualitative Research: Neil NewhouseNeil Newhouse is a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, one of the largest political and public affairs polling

firms in the country. Newhouse has directed research for thousands of individual projects over the last 20 years, and he and his partners have established a client base that ranges from presidential candidates to Fortune 500 companies. Newhouse was lead pollster for Romney for President and his firm did the polling for former Presidential contender Sen. John McCain. Newhouse also does polling for more than 25 U.S. Senators and members of Congress. Former Democratic National Chairman Ed Rendell described Newhouse as one of the most respected pollsters in the country. Newhouse is quoted frequently in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal and USA Today to The Washington Post. He has worked extensively with both Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Meagan Buren.

4.3 The Communications TeamRespectAbility is currently working to secure top-level communications consultants who, when possible, will assist pro-bono or at discounted rates. Below are consultants who previously worked with RespectAbilitys CEO at another nonprofit she founded and led. The final team of consultants is still being formed.

Television and Radio Advertising Production: Mark MoskowitzMark Moskowitz is one of the worlds leading producers and directors of films and television commercials made to persuade

audiences. As head of Point of View Productions Inc., he creates and executes communication strategies for national and international political campaigns, corporations, associations, and high-profile entertainers and athletes. He produced, wrote, and directed the media for two presidential primary campaigns. Adweek called Moskowitzs biographical spots a model of the medium, and Newsweek described his media as brilliantly targeted. His issue-oriented media, including over 3,000 political spots, has been awarded Pollies for five years and has been the subject of features on all of the major television networks. He has worked with Mizrahi in the United States, Antigua, St. Vincent, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Trinidad & Tobago. He produced numerous commercials for The Israel Project.

The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are: Equality of opportunity for youth and for others. Jobs for those who can work. Security for those who need it. The ending of special privilege for the few. The preservation of civil liberties for all.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Governed while using a wheelchair)

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Media & Advocacy Training: Michael R. ShannonMichael R. Shannon founded MANDATE: Message, Media & Public Relations a media/public affairs consulting

firm specializing in radio and television advertising in 1980. Since then, the firm has participated in over 70 elections on three continents. A former reporter, Shannon is an expert in media training and has worked at the highest levels nationally and internationally, helping clients understand how to communicate effectively with the media. Shannon worked with Mizrahi in Trinidad & Tobago, where they defeated an incumbent government that had held power for 36 years. They also worked together for Unia Wolnosci in Poland and on efforts in Antigua, Israel, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela and Canada. Shannon served as a media coach and advisor to The Israel Project.

Print Media and Graphics: Dan HazelwoodDan Hazelwood formed Targeted Creative Communications (TC2), a Republican direct marketing company based in Alexandria,

Virginia in 1992. TC2 has worked for campaigns in virtually every state. Hazelwoods past clients included several Presidential campaigns, U.S. senators and state governors, and more than four dozen members of the House of Representatives, among them former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Campaigns & Elections magazine named Hazelwood a rising star of the political consulting community in 1994 and a Mover & Shaker. He has worked extensively with Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Meagan Buren.

4.4 Board of Directors and Board of Advisors

RespectAbility has just started to form its board. Its CEO, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, will serve on the board along with the following individuals:

Chair, RespectabilityUSA: Donn WeinbergEffective March 1, 2013, Donn Weinberg concluded his three-year term as Weinberg Foundation Chairman of the Board. He continues to serve as

the Foundations Executive Vice President. The Weinberg Foundations sole purpose is to assist financially disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals and families through grants (operating, program, and capital) to direct service organizations. The end goal is to help these individuals and families overcome obstacles and achieve greater self-sufficiency.

Weinberg earned his B.A. from The George Washington University, where he double-majored in philosophy and communications. He earned his law degree in 1978 from The University of Baltimore School of Law and served as editor-in-chief of the schools Law Review. In law practice from 1978 through 1992, he specialized in general civil and medical malpractice litigation. A resident of Owings Mills, Maryland, Weinberg has served on many boards in the past and currently is a board member of the The Philanthropy Roundtable and the Jewish Funders Network.

25

Thomas M. SweitzerThomas M. Sweitzer co-founded The Campaign Group, a political consulting and advertising firm based in Philadelphia. For the last 30 years Mr. Sweitzer has helped elect more than 60

state governors, U.S. representatives and senators. He recently served as chairman of the Advancement Committee of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which represented 14 universities and over 122,000 students.

Secretary: Shelley Cohen Shelley Cohen is an active advocate for the inclusion of children with special needs in educational and recreational environments. A member

of the boards of directors of the New Jersey YM/YWHA Camps, and of the Beit Issie Shapiro School for the Developmentally and Physically Disabled in Raanna, Israel, Cohen was one of the founders of Kesher, LD, a multi-school special needs program in South Florida. She is also the founder of the Jewish Inclusion Project. She co-initiated and led a major national summit on inclusion with Gov. Jack Markell as keynote speaker on jobs for people with disabilities.

Prior to taking time off to raise her children, Cohen was active in the Jewish community as Congressional liaison at the Coalition to Free Soviet Jews and as director of Israel affairs at the JCRC of Greater New York.

Board of Advisors:RespectAbility plans to build a bipartisan board of advisors that includes both elected officials and leaders in the field of disabilities. Many leaders are currently being consulted for advice in the creation of this business plan. This includes Rep. Pete Sessions, Gov. Jack Markell, Rep. Brad Sherman, and the teams of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Sen. Tom Harkin. The first to formally join the board of advisors are Kelly Buckland, Steven M. Eidelman, Donna Meltzer and Steven James Tingus.

Kelly Buckland Kelly Buckland is a person with a disability and the executive director of The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL). NCIL is the longest-running national cross-disability,

grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities. Founded in 1982, NCIL represents thousands of organizations and individuals including: Centers for Independent Living (CILs), Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs), individuals with disabilities, and other organizations that advocate for the human and civil rights of people with disabilities throughout the United States. Buckland previously worked as a social worker in Boise and an employee for Idahos protection and advocacy system. He served for years as the executive director of the Boise CIL, Living Independence Network Corp.

Buckland graduated from Boise State University with a B.A. in social work and Summa Cum Laude from Drake University with a masters degree in rehabilitation counseling. In recent years, Buckland has been honored with numerous state and national awards, including the University of Idaho Presidents Medallion, the United

Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine.

Whoopie Goldberg, Tony, Grammy, Oscar, and Emmy winner

with a learning disability

26

Vision for Idaho Lifetime Achievement Award, the Hewlett-Packard Distinguished Achievement in Human Rights Award, and induction into the National Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame.

Buckland has testified before Congress several times on issues such as universal health care, fair housing and appropriations for centers for independent living.

Steven EidelmanSteven Eidelman is the H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Human Services Policy and Leadership at the University of Delaware. Professor Eidelman is a former executive director of

The Arc of the United States and serves as executive director of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation. He is a past president of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) and is senior advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics. He is on the board of The Open Society Institutes Mental Health Initiative, based in Budapest. His recent efforts have focused on leadership development for practicing disability professionals and on implementation of Article 19 of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, focusing on deinstitutionalization.

Donna Meltzer Donna Meltzer is CEO of the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD), a national nonprofit organization that supports the nations 56 governor-appointed

Developmental Disabilities Councils that work within state government to promote independence, productivity, and integration of people with disabilities through systems change activities. In this capacity, Meltzer oversees the organizations public policy and advocacy agenda as well as technical assistance to the members. Meltzer joined the NACDD in October 2012. Previously she was the senior director of government relations for the Epilepsy Foundation, where she worked from 1987-1993. She rejoined the Epilepsy Foundation in July 2005. She also served as director of legislative affairs for the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) from 1995-2005. Meltzer began her career on Capitol Hill working for the Honorable Tony Coelho (D-CA), a former member of Congress and House Whip. Meltzer also spent two years as the government affairs director for the National Health Council, where she directed the advocacy agenda for the Councils Voluntary Health Agency (VHA) members. She is a graduate of the University of Marylands School of Journalism.

Meltzer also participates in several key coalitions including serving on the board of directors of the Coalition for Health Funding. She most recently stepped down from a three-year term as chairwoman of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) where she is an immediate past chairwoman and co-chairwoman of the CCDs Fiscal Policy Task Force. She is

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein (could not speak until he was four, had learning disabilities)

27

also a past chairwoman of the National Health Councils Government Relations Affinity Group.

Steven James Tingus Steven James Tingus is recognized as a national expert on disability, aging and health care policy. Tingus has more than 17 years of experience in managing policy issues impacting the disability,

aging and veterans communities, as well as the health care and medical rehabilitation research field. Tingus worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C. as deputy assistant secretary for Planning and Evaluation for Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy.

Before joining HHS, Tingus served as director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

While in California, Tingus served as chief government and public relations officer for the Los Amigos Research and Education Institute, Inc.; director of Public Policy and Resource Development for the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, Inc.; and health care policy analyst for the California Department of Health Services Office of Long Term Care. Tingus is a graduate of the University of California, Davis (B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. candidate), and has received many awards at the federal, state, and nonprofit foundation level. He also has testified before the California Legislature and Congress, has been published in nationally recognized publications and appeared nationally on NBC, C-SPAN, and CNN.

Tingus currently lives in Davis, California.

Where to send Tax-Deductible Donations

Donations may be made to RespectAbility c/o the Autism Society of America. Pending our final IRS approval, the Society will be our host nonprofit and providing office space for this endeavor. Contributions should be sent to:

RespectAbility c/o Autism Society and mailed to Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, 4340 East-West Hwy, Suite 350, Bethesda, MD 20814. For more information call (240) 744-0543 or email JLM@laszlostrategies.com

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Budget for Year One

Polls, Focus Groups and Strategic ConsultingThree Polls (National Voter Poll with Plus DC Oversample, NH Poll, Disability poll) ..................................................$158,000Focus Groups 12 per year @ $10,000 each ....................................................................................................................$120,000Strategic Consulting ..........................................................................................................................................................$124,000Washington Elite Opinion and Swing VoteResearch/Dial Testing .....................................................................................$80,000

Subtotal ................................................................................................................................. $482,000

Media and CommunicationsDC TV Media Buy and Social Media Ads .........................................................................................................................$100,000Direct Mailings to Press/Leaders ...........................................................................................................................................$30,000TV, Social Media, Video and Webinar Production (30 Sec. Ads Plus Webinars) ............................................................$130,000Monthly Conference Calls @ $1,000 apiece ........................................................................................................................$12,000Training Materials .................................................................................................................................................................$12,500

Subtotal ................................................................................................................................. $284,500

Travel and EventsReporter & Leader Field Trips (10-15 Reporters/Leaders Each Trip) .................................................................................$80,000Capitol Hill Events ..............................................................................................................................................................$30,000Travel/Lodging to N.H., Major Political Events, Fundraising .............................................................................................$60,000

Subtotal ................................................................................................................................. $170,000

Staff Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi President (Part-Time Paid/Part-Time Pro Bono) ....................................................................$100,000Fundraising Staff/Expenses ...................................................................................................................................................$30,000Director Research and Communications (half-time) .....................................................................................................$50,0002 Associates (full-time) ......................................................................................................................................................$110,000Bookkeeping/Admin (half-time) ..........................................................................................................................................$30,000Interns/Fellows .....................................................................................................................................................................$40,000 Subtotal ................................................................................................................................. $360,000

Professional Fees Accounting Fees Outside ...................................................................................................................................................$6,500Attorney Fees ........................................................................................................................................................................$12,000 Subtotal ................................................................................................................................... $18,500

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Office Supplies and MiscellaneousParking, Taxis, Metro ..............................................................................................................................................................$4,600Basic Supplies (Paper, Pens, Folders, Labels, etc.) .................................................................................................................$4,000Stationery (Envelopes, Letterhead and Business Cards) ........................................................................................................$6,000E-newsletter Services ............................................................................................................................................................$22,000 Subtotal ................................................................................................................................... $36,600 Dues, Subscriptions and Website Database Updates/List rentals ...............................................................................................................................................$10,500Memberships (National Press Club, AAPC, Disability Groups, etc.) ..................................................................................$5,000Website Development and Maintenance .............................................................................................................................$30,000 Subtotal ................................................................................................................................... $45,500

Insurance and Benefits FICA (7.65%) .......................................................................................................................................................................$28,500Unemployment Insurance ...................................................................................................................................................$10,800Health Insurance 3 (JLM and Project Assistants) People-Basic Coverage ....................................................................$45,000Liability Insurance ..................................................................................................................................................................$7,000Workers Comp. Insurance ......................................................................................................................................................$2,500 Subtotal ................................................................................................................................... $93,800 Office Rental and Utilities Expenses Office Space, Furniture and Equipment Rental ...................................................................................................................$50,000Office/Cell Phones ................................................................................................................................................................$14,500Cable Modem..........................................................................................................................................................................$2,400Copiers and Printers .............................................................................................................................................................$10,000 Subtotal ................................................................................................................................... $76,900

TOTAL ..................................................................................................................... $1,567,800

RespectAbility CEO has decades of proven experience and a bipartisan track record.

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Appendix

By 41%-1% Margin American Voters More Likely to Vote for Candidate Committed to Those with Disabilities

51% of likely voters say they, a family member, or a close friend has a disability

Washington, DC. A new national survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in conjunction with Laszlo Strategies finds that even in this difficult economic climate, voters believe their representatives should focus on disabilities in this election year. Among likely voters, 41 percent say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who is committed to making policies and programs to help those with disabilities a national priority. Just two percent say it should not be a national priority. The numbers do however demonstrate a significant partisan divide, Democrats, 52-1 and Republicans, 27-5.

Fully 51 percent of voters report having a family member or close friend with a disability; 48 percent do not. Fifty-two percent of Democrats report that they or a loved one has a disability; among Republicans, 44 percent report they or a loved one has a disability. The highest number of those reporting having a family member or loved one are Independents, at 58 percent.

There is a similar partisan divide when respondents are asked, Thinking about the current policies and programs the U.S. government has to help people with disabilities, how much is the government doing to help those with disabilities lead a normal life? Is the government doing more than enough, doing enough, not doing enough, or not doing anywhere near enough to help those with disabilities lead a normal life? While 46 percent of voters responded that the government is doing enough, 44 percent not enough, almost 10 percent more Democrats (54 percent) believe the government is not doing enough. Only 33 percent of Republicans feel the same.

Said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder & president of Laszlo Strategies, The majority of likely American voters are experiencing the challenges of living with a disability, either because they have a disability or have a loved one who does. It impacts voting, and elected officials need to pay attention.

PDF of Survey with 1,000 Likely Voters on Disability Issues

PDF of Full Questionnaire with Disability Questions

PDF of Full Set of Crosstabs

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Opinion Editorials by RespectAbility CEO Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi can be found at: http://www.laszlostrategies.com/index.php/blogThe Jewish Week, The 10 Commandments Of Politics For People With Disabilities, March 21, 2013

PJ Media, Conservatives Missing Massive Voter Opportunity, March 21, 2013

The Jewish Week, Experts, Politicians Testify On Disability Employment Before U.S. Senate, Feb 26, 2013

EJewish Philanthropy, Effecting Change by Asking the Right Questions, Feb 21, 2013

Washington Jewish Week, Jobs for Young Jews with Disabilities, Feb 20, 2013

The Jewish Daily Forward, Jewish Day Schools Dirty Little Secret, Feb 8, 2013

The Jewish Week, To Serve Children With Disabilities, We Must Invest In Our Professionals, Feb 7, 2013

JTA, Play the money card to push rights for disabled, Feb 7, 2013

From Awareness to Inclusion: Making the Jewish Community Accessible and Welcoming

The Jewish Advocate, Boston sets example for full inclusion of disabled, Dec 14, 2012

The Times of Israel, Jewish groups, crushed in Senate on disability issues, must rise again, Dec 12, 2012

Washington Jewish Week, Doing more for inclusion, Nov 30, 2012

The Jewish Journal, The sound of the breaking dam, Nov 21, 2012

The New York Jewish Week, A Turning Point For Disability Advocates?, Nov 20, 2012

Fiscal Cliff Means We Need More Health Cures, Not Health Care, Nov 14, 2012

Disability Scoop.com, Disability Concerns May Sway Vote, Oct 1, 2012

Huffington Post, Alzheimers Disease: Could The Issue Affect The Election?, Oct 2, 2012

Washington Jewish Week, Sending kids with special needs to camp, Sept 12, 2012

JewishJournal.com, Leadership means taking the reinsand sharing them, Aug 20, 2012

Washington Jewish Week, Women CEOs move Jewish groups forward, Aug 2, 2012

The Jewish Week, Needed: A National Strategy For Including Jews With Special Needs, July 12, 2012

EdJewTopia, Enabling Jewish Children with Special Needs to Get a Jewish Education and Connection, June 28, 2012

Huffington Post, 10 Tips for Running a Successful Nonprofit Organization, June 27, 2012

JTA News, Op-Ed: Step up for civil rights treaty for people with disabilities, June 25, 2012

Washington Jewish Week, We need a national disabilities strategy, June 7, 2012