NCD announces new Executive Director Anne Sommers McIntosh
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON–The National Council on Disability (NCD) announces Anne C. Sommers McIntosh, as its new executive director.
The designation of Mrs. McIntosh was made official by NCD Chairman Andrés J. Gallegos, Esq., who was designated as Chairman by President Biden on Jan. 20, 2021.
“With great enthusiasm, I announce my selection of Anne as NCD’s new Executive Director,” said Chairman Gallegos. “She has the experience, expertise and energy to hit the ground running to address the critical work ahead and her analytical and direct approach enhances the Council’s ability to fulfill its important role of providing federal policymakers – from the President and Vice President, to Congressional and executive department leaders – the best data and recommendations on disability policy.”
NCD is an independent, nonpartisan federal agency that advises the President, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policy. NCD’s executive director is responsible for the overall program management and operations of the agency, including oversight of its full-time federal staff who support the Council.
Current NCD Council members include: Chairman Andrés Gallegos, Vice Chair Jim Brett, Jim Baldwin, David D’Arcangelo, Dr. Munr Kazmir, Dr. Rick Rader, Neil Romano, Daniel Schreck and Mary Vought.
Mrs. McIntosh has been with NCD since 2008, the last 10 as the Director of Legislative Affairs and Outreach, where she oversaw congressional engagement and communication for the agency.
Biography of Anne Sommers McIntosh:
Anne C. Sommers McIntosh is the Executive Director of the National Council on Disability (NCD), responsible for the overall program management and operations of the independent federal agency. Anne joined NCD in 2008 as Legislative Affairs Specialist and has served as Director of Legislative Affairs and Outreach for the past 10 years, where she directed the agency’s Congressional affairs and communication activities. Prior to her time at NCD, she served as Policy Counsel at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD); copywriter at a disease management subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield, and as a free-lance journalist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Anne served as the Chair of Not Dead Yet from 2015-2019. The national grassroots disability rights group opposes legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia as deadly forms of discrimination. She previously served as its Secretary in 2014 after first joining the board in 2013. She attended Virginia Tech University on a Cathy Faoro full merit scholarship for students with disabilities and graduated summa cum laude from the Honors Program, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree from the Pamplin School of Business with a minor in Communications. While at Virginia Tech, she was the Chair of the Judicial Committee and the Opinions section editor of the university’s award-winning daily newspaper, the Collegiate Times. She is also a proud alumnus of the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, a top 10 best public high school in the U.S. Anne attended the William and Mary School of Law as an Ann C. and R. Harvey Chappell, Jr. Fellow, where she graduated with a Juris Doctor degree. Her scholarly research regarding wrongful life litigation earned her the distinction of Benjamin Rush Health Law Scholar in 2005. Anne was a founding member of Students for Equality in Legal Education.
About the National Council on Disability:
First established as an advisory Council within the Department of Education in 1978, NCD became an independent federal agency in 1984. In 1986, NCD recommended enactment of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and drafted the first version of the bill which was introduced in the House and Senate in 1988. Since enactment of the ADA in 1990, NCD has continued to play a leading role in crafting disability policy, and advising the President, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policies, programs, and practices.
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