Our Board of Directors

Photo of Alan Holdsworth

Alan performing at Disability Pride Philadelphia. He is a white man wearing a black t-shirt with Disability Pride written in Pink. He is playing a guitar and is singing into a microphone.

Alan Holdsworth A.K.A. Johnny Crescendo - President

Alan has been an educator on disability rights for 30 years as part of the first vanguard of educators through his music and poetry. He was schooled by the giants of the disability rights movement.

His major achievements include creating the first independent living program for people with learning disabilities, developing comprehensive training for Educators and Care Coordinators, being central to the passing Disability Discrimination Act in the UK., leading a grassroots movement, DAN the Direct Action Network, to make public transport accessible. He has also been a freelance consultant and policy advisor. Alan has been educating others and himself for almost 40 years about disability. Issues. He is also a world-famous disability rights singer-songwriter and one of the forefathers of the Disability Arts movement.

"My first love is education, be it in the classroom with young people or in the walls of power with those who can set disabled people free from the discrimination that persists.”

“I am so proud of this project and I see it as my last mission to pass on to all young people our Ideas and our history to create the perfect union between disabled and non-disabled people that shapes societies and communities for the better in the future."

“I do hope that all educators will embrace this idea of opening up the conversation, use our resources and teach us how to make it more relevant to your experience and the children you teach.”

  • Lisa Aquila is a white woman looking at the camera with her hand by her chin. Her brown hair is half up and half down. She is wearing makeup and hoop earrings. She is wearing a floral scarf with a dark blue blouse

    Lisa Aquila - Vice President

    Lisa is an advocate for the independent living movement since the early 1990s. Lisa has worked as a personal care attendant for Home & Community based services since 2006. Lisa is an active volunteer for Disability Equality in Education since 2017. She co-founded the Coalition on Disability Inclusive Curriculum with Sharon in 2021 to build awareness and support for Pennsylvania’s Disability Inclusive Curriculum Legislation which was made into law in July 2022.

  • Deirdre is a white woman with dark hair. She is smiling at the camera.

    Deirdre MacDermott - Treasurer

    Deirdre MacDermott recently retired from Liberty Resources, Inc where she served as a senior accountant. She continues to be deeply involved in their mission of inclusivity and justice for disabled people. She has also been active in the struggle for decent and affordable housing for low-income people and has spent many hours in Philadelphia City Hall, protesting for increased funding for affordable housing. She looks forward to a day when inclusion and equal access for all will be the norm.

  • Stacy is a white woman, looking at the camera and smiling in front of a grey background. She is wearing a grey suit with a button down white blouse. She has light makeup on and has her burgundy hair down that goes down to her shoulders.

    Stacy McCafferty - Secretary

    Stacy McCafferty is the Business Administrator for Disability Equality in Education project and works to challenge disability stigma in schools and colleges throughout PA. Stacy has been with DEE since it was founded in 2017. Stacy earned her Master’s Degree in Clinical-Counseling Psychology from La Salle University with honors. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends.

  • Christa is a white woman with long brown hair with highlights. She is looking up at the camera smiling

    Dr. Christa Bialka

    Dr. Christa S. Bialka is Associate Professor of Special Education and Director of the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program in the Department of Education and Counseling at Villanova University. Dr. Bialka received her M.Ed. in Moderate Special Needs Education from Boston College and her Ed.D. in Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a former English and Special Education teacher who currently teaches classes on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and Disability Studies in Education. Her research interests include understanding the development of teacher dispositions and raising disability awareness in K-12 and higher education.

  • Kathy is a white woman with chin length straight blond hair. She is facing the side with her head turned toward the camera. She's wearing a navy shirt and has glasses holding her hair back on top of her head.

    Kathy Brill

    Kathy Brill holds a Masters Degree in Education and Political Management with a concentration in grassroots advocacy. She currently serves on the boards of PENN TASH, National Advisory Board on Improving Health Care Services for Older Adults and People with Disabilities (NAB), and is President of MCIE (Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education). She is the Co-Founder Of Parent to Parent USA, and was the first Director of Parent To Parent PA. She recently launched Brill Consulting, LLC to foster support toward full inclusion and community living for children and adults. Kathy has been an active member Of The Coalition On Disability Inclusive Curriculum and supporter of DEE since their inception.

  • Photograph of Tony Brooks, a Black man with a light beard and mustache. He is looking intently at the camera and is wearing a white shirt.

    Tony Brooks

    Tony Brooks has been a disability activist and advocate since 2013. He’s an active member of ADAPT and proud to be part of the Disability Equality in Education Board.

  • Anita, a Black woman with long dreadlocks smiles at the camera posing with her My Itty Bitty Bio book.

    Anita Cameron

    Anita Cameron is a disability justice activist who has been involved in social change activism and community organizing for over 40 years. She is a published author and blogger writing primarily about issues that affect people with disabilities. Her passion is working to ensure that people with disabilities are equal participants in all aspects of society, not only as recipients of services, but as valued members of, and contributors to the well-being of their communities.

  • Christian is a white man with dark short hair. He is wearing glasses and a dark plaid shirt. He is smiling at the camera.

    Christian Huber

    Christian Huber is a Social Work and Music major and President of the Disability Pride Club at Bucks County Community College. He is passionate about fostering a safe and welcoming Zoom-based virtual club environment where he, along with other disabled students and their allies, authentically share and discuss the impact their disabilities have on their lives.

  • Thomas Neuville is a white man with grey short hair and beard. He is smiling at. the camera and wearing a dark collared shirt and is outdoors with a forest behind him.

    Dr. Thomas Neuville

    Thomas Neuville is Professor of Special Education and Disability Studies in the Department of Educational Foundations at Millersville University in Millersville, PA. He has more than forty years’ experience in education, community, and organizational development. Dr Neuville’s current work is centered on designing coherent models of planning and program development within the systems of Education. Specifically, he is working with teacher candidates to develop strategies that are founded on social justice and focused on true personalization.

  • Sharon is a white woman smiling at the camera. She is in front of a dark blurred out background. She has her burgundy hair down. She has teal-rimmed glasses and she is wearing an aqua blue blouse with a necklace on.

    Sharon Pennock

    Sharon Pennock has been a volunteer and board member with Disability Equality in Education since its inception in 2017. She co-founded the Coalition on Disability Inclusive Curriculum with Lisa in 2021. She loves listening and making connections to bring more awareness, acceptance, understanding, visibility and representation surrounding disability.