NCD Nominees Announced

FROM THE NRCA Capitol Insider:
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced on March 10 that the Committee had approved nominations to fill positions at the National Council on Disability and other federal agencies. The nominees now move to the full Senate for confirmation. The nominees for NCD membership are:

• Gary Blumenthal of Massachusetts
• Chester Alonzo Finn of New York (a board member of The Arc)
• Sara A. Gelser of Oregon
• Ari Ne'eman of Maryland (who formerly worked on UCP's Life Without Limits project)
• Dongwoo Joseph Pak of California
• Carol Jean Reynolds of Colorado
• Fernando Torres-Gill of California
• Jonathan M. Young of Maryland

US Senate Confirms Griffin Deputy Director of OPM

On Tuesday, January 5, 2010, the Senate confirmed Christine M. Griffin as the new Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

As Deputy Director of OPM, Director Griffin will be instrumental in the composition and management of the Federal government's 1.9 employees. Deputy Griffin, a native of the Boston area, is an ardent advocate for all individuals with disabilities and in 2006 launched the Leadership for the Employment of Individuals with Disabilities (LEAD) which addressed significant under-employment of individuals with significant disabilities in the Federal government.

Deputy Griffin received her undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1983 and received her law degree from Boston College Law School where she was awarded the prestigious Skadden Arps Fellowship upon graduation.In December 2005, Ms. Griffin was selected as one of the Nation's eleven "Lawyers of the Year" by Lawyers Weekly USA newspaper.