National Louis University Sponsors Disabilities Rights Conference

Marca Bristo, a Chicago-based, internationally recognized leader of one of the nation's foremost disability rights organizations, will be the keynote speaker at the 13th Annual Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) Biennial Conference in Chicago on Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 2 pm at the Harold Washington Library.

Bristo, who received the Americans with Disabilities Act Award for her role in the creation and passage of this landmark legislation, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Access Living—one of the nation's first centers for independent living. She currently serves as Vice President for North America of Rehabilitation International, President of U.S. International Council on Disabilities and serves on the Boards of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, The United States International Council on Disability, and Citizen Action of Illinois Board. From 1994-2002, Bristo served as the Presidentially-appointed Chairperson of the National Council on Disability (NCD).

She has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Distinguished Service Award of the President of the United States and the Henry B. Betts Award. Bristo also was named by the Chicago Sun Times as one of Chicago's "100 Most Influential Women." She holds two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Beloit College, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Rush College of Nursing.

More than 600 scholars, activists, students and community psychologists from around the world will be at the conference, which runs from June 15 through June 19, at various locations throughout Chicago.  Sponsored by National-Louis University, the Adler School of Psychology and Roosevelt University, the Biennial, whose theme is "New Pathways Toward Community Change and Transformation," will feature roundtable discussions, presentations, poster sessions on topics ranging from "Assessing a Sense of Community in Online Grief Support Groups" to "Concentrated Poverty, Community Belonging and Mothering in a Shifting Urban Neighborhood."

The Society for Community Research and Action (Community Psychology) is a Division (27) of the American Psychological Association.  Its focus is community research and action—and its members are committed to promoting health and empowerment in communities, groups, and individuals.

For more information about the conference please visit the conference website.