Meet the Advisory Board

photo of Pat Nobbie with arm around daughter

Patricia D. Nobbie, Ph.D.

I’m Pat Nobbie, a Disability Policy Engagement Director at Elevance Health in Atlanta, Georgia. At Elevance, I engage stakeholders in states that implement managed care models of supports and services for people with IDD, foster children, older adults, and others. I have worked on projects about teaching self-determination in high schools, supporting student-led Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), and encouraging alternatives to guardianship. My daughter, Mia, has Down syndrome (pictured here with me). My two other children in San Diego also keep me in line.

Houston

I was trapped in my body, unable to tell anyone what I was thinking or feeling, for 21 years. Only God knows how much I suffered in my silence. That’s when I learned about spelling my thoughts. The reason I want to be an advocate is to be a voice for others like me. My purpose is to make sure you see others like me as intelligent human beings that each have their own opinions about how to live their life and fight to protect their rights. No voice should not equate to no rights.

Ketrina (“Trina”) Hazell

My name is Trina. I am a strong self-advocate, motivational speaker, blogger, and college student. I live in Brooklyn, NY. I am the founder of my own advocacy group called Voices of Power. I recently founded a mentoring program called Disability Champion Mentoring Network. In January 2020, I began working for the Regional Center for Workforce Transformation (RCWT) as the self-advocacy lead. I am affiliated with many disability-related organizations, and I serve on many disability-related councils. My platform is to bring self-advocacy into schools and make them more inclusive.

Jack Bradley

I am a junior and Lincoln Scholar at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. My passion is history and making sure that we never forget the lessons of the past. I am a youth disability rights self-advocate, co-founder of my college’s Disabled Student Alliance, and an advisory board member on CYVYC. I do presentations to educators and students all over the US because I do not feel that our special education system is all that special; too many students have to fight to have access to equal education opportunities. Being autistic, having a learning disability, and having Tourette’s Syndrome do not make me unable.

Lauren A. Proby

I am currently a rising sophomore at Spelman College. I am passionate about disability justice and exploring the ways that ableism, racism, and sexism intersect and make the world inaccessible for Black disabled people. I myself am learning to step into my journey through Black disabled womanhood, and I enjoy examining disability as a radical addition to the richness that Black culture houses. Some of my activism consists of representing students with disabilities on the Illinois State Advisory Council on the Education of Children with Disabilities. I am also involved in the Justice for Black Girls 'Black Girlhood Studies Fellowship' and a new addition to Spelman's Social Justice Program.

Leslie Thornton

I am a 29-year-old from St. Mary’s, GA who is passionate about people with disabilities having real lives, with real jobs, real relationships and making real decisions. I work to advocate for the human and civil rights of all people and equality for people with disabilities, especially in employment. I have spent the last four years working as a Social Media Content Developer and joined the CYVYC advisory board in November 2022. I believe, “equity should be a standard for all lives. No human being has more worth than another.”