JOHN D. KEMP
President and CEO of The Viscardi Center
John D. Kemp, Esq. is President & CEO of The Viscardi Center. A renowned, global speaker and a person with a disability, he inspires others to achieve the impossible through knowledge, experience, vision, and persistence.
He graduated from Georgetown University in 1971 and Washburn University School of Law in 1974. He has received two honorary degrees, the first a Doctorate of Law from his alma mater, Washburn, and the second a Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Connecticut. In 1995, Mr. Kemp co-founded the American Association of People with Disabilities with Paul G. Hearne. In 2001, he became a partner in the Washington, DC Law Firm of Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, P.C. He co-authored Reflections From A Different Journey in 2004 with Dr. Stanley Klein, and the “Career and Workforce Development in the Arts for Youth with Disabilities” chapter of Handbook of Arts Education and Special Education Policy, Research, and Practices in 2018.
In March 2006, Mr. Kemp received the Henry B. Betts Award, widely regarded as America's highest honor for disability leadership and service. In December 2014, he received the Dole Leadership Prize and joined a prestigious group of international recipients including Nelson Mandela and two former U.S. Presidents.
He also chairs Viscardi’s Project Accessible Oral Health, a global public-private partnership in pursuit of improved overall health and access for the disability community, as well as the e-Advisory Board of the Center’s new National Center for Disability Entrepreneurship dedicated to empowering innovative self-starters to self-employment success.
Mr. Kemp, and his wife Sameta (“Sam”), reside on Long Island.