Mary Dolan
Mary is the Executive Director of the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee which serves to preserve the memory of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s catalytic involvement in issues of equality and freedom – especially for people with disabilities - as celebrated at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC. Mary helped establish this organization in 2019. Mary has been involved in disability rights for over twenty years. She was a member of the senior leadership team at the National Organization on Disability (NOD) from 1995-2011 and served as Director of the World Committee on Disability, NOD’s international program, with responsibility for executing all aspects of the FDR International Disability Award with presentations to heads of state at the United Nations.
In 2012 Mary founded Inclusion Zone (IZ), a 501c3 organization with the mission to educate and inform on issues that impact the lives of children with disabilities and their families and hosted over 100 podcasts on disability issues on BlogTalkRadio.com. She also worked as an educator of students with disabilities in DC schools from 2012-2019.
In 2007, Mary was named to the US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin convened by the Ford Foundation and visited Vietnam twice to investigate the continued impact of Agent Orange and dioxin on the population and to consult on programs serving people with disabilities. At the start of her career, Mary worked as a staff member for her hometown member of Congress, Representative Norman F. Lent of New York.
Mary holds an M.A. in Special Education from George Washington University School of Education and Human Development, an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Denver Korbel School of International Service, and a B.A. from the American University School of International Service. She is a past board member of the Washington, DC Special Education Cooperative. Mary is an educational advocate for her son and has blogged about her own disability experience.