Committee Founders
Jane Deland
Widow of Mike Deland, former Chairman of the National Organization on Disability (NOD), who led the campaign to add the statue of FDR in a wheelchair.
Jim Dickson
Former Vice President of American Association of People with Disabilities and National Organization on Disability; directed grassroots campaign for the FDR wheelchair statue.
Mary E. Dolan
Executive Director, FDR Memorial Legacy Committee
Board of Directors - FDR Memorial Legacy Committee
Helena Berger, Chair
former CEO and President, American Association of People with Disabilities
Jane Deland, Vice Chair
Co-Founder, FDR Committee
Carlos Avila, Secretary
Bilingual Multicultural Education Program Specialist, New Mexico Public Education Department
Eli Yussuf, Treasurer
Eli currently is the Grants Administrator at Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Mary E. Dolan, Executive Director
Co-Founder and Executive Director, FDR Committee
Christopher Bell
Chairman, Board of Trustees, University of the District of Columbia; Deputy General Counsel, The Conservation Fund
Arlene King Berry, J.D.
Professor, University of the District of Columbia (UDC); Chair of Faculty Senate
Mary Kay Turner
Retired Educator
FDR Memorial Legacy Committee Advisors
The following individuals provide guidance and support to the FDR Committee and we are thankful for all that they do to support our mission.
Leslie Guadalupe Alarcon
Inspector, DC Regulatory Agency
Joyce A. Bender
CEO and Founder, Bender Consulting Services, Inc.
Linda Bloss-Baum
Professor and Assistant Director, Business and Entertainment Program, American University
Jim Dickson
Co-Founder, Retired Vice President American Association of People with Disabilities
The Honorable Luis Gallegos
Foreign Minister of Ecuador
Steven Graham
Posthumous Emeritus, President, Robert Graham Studio
Daria Halprin
Co-Founding Director Tamalpa Institute
Senator Tom Harkin
Retired - Iowa
Judith Heumann
Posthumous Emeritus, International Disability Rights Advocate
Dr. I. King Jordan, Ph.D.
President Emeritus, Gallaudet University
John D. Kemp
President and CEO, Lakeshore Foundation
John P. Langan
Chief Industry Officer-Regulated Industries CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Christine Liao
Program Manager, American Association of People with Disabilities
Meg O’Connell
President, Global Disability Inclusion
Katherine Ott
Curator, Smithsonian Museum of American History
William Raimondo
Former Lieutenant, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ Fire Department
Louise Raymond
Founder and CEO, L. Raymond Advisors
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Board Chair, Roosevelt Institute
Christopher du Pont Roosevelt, J.D.
Of Counsel, Shapiro Gettinger Waldinger & Monteleone, LLP
James Roosevelt, Jr., J.D.
Counsel, Verrill Dana LLP
Richard Allen Simms
Executive Director, District of Columbia Center for Independent Living
Paul Sparrow
Former Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt President Library and Museum
David B. Woolner, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow and Resident Historian, Roosevelt Institute
Staff
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. Mary was a key staff member on the campaign to add a statue of FDR in a wheelchair to the FDR Memorial. Mary also served as Director of the World Committee on Disability with responsibility for executing all aspects of the FDR International Disability Award with presentations to heads of state at the United Nations.
From 2007 – 2011 Mary was a member of the US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin convened by the Ford Foundation and later the Aspen Institute. She is co-contributor to the 2009 paper funded by the Ford Foundation titled, US Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange: Understanding the Impact 40 Years Later. In 2009, Mary testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment at the hearing “Agent Orange: What efforts are being made to address the continuing impact of dioxin in Vietnam.”
Prior to establishing the FDR Committee, Mary worked as a licensed educator of students with disabilities in DC area schools from 2013- 2019.
Mary holds a M.A. in Special Education from George Washington University School of Education and Human Development, a M.A. in International Relations from the Josef Korbel School of International Service at the University of Denver and a B.A. in International Studies from the American University School of International Service.