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On June 26th, 2025, we convened a Hill briefing that marked the 26th anniversary of Olmstead v. L.C. (Lois Curtis), the landmark Supreme Court decision affirming the right of people with mental disabilities to live in their communities — not institutions.
We were honored to hear remarks from Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester, a committed champion of disability rights, who reminded us what’s at stake when lawmakers debate “abstract” budget numbers: people’s autonomy, dignity, and freedom.
Moderated by Jennifer Mathis, Deputy Director of the Bazelon Center, the panel brought together legal, policy, and lived-experience perspectives: Clarence Sundram, national expert and Independent Reviewer in O’Toole v. Cuomo; Ruby Moore, CEO of The Georgia Advocacy Office and a long-time disability rights leader; Luke Sikinyi, Vice President of Public Policy at The Alliance for Rights and Recovery (formerly NYAPRS); and Diana Vilá, who shared her powerful story of spending over a decade in an adult home that robbed her of independence and worsened her depression.
Watch the full recording here.
On Thursday, October 12, we had a wonderful evening at The Showroom in Washington, DC as we presented awards, welcomed the Bazelon Center’s new legal director Megan Schuller, and celebrated Ira Burnim, senior counsel, for his 30+ years of service as the legal director. We had over 200 guests, in person and virtually, and people came from all over the U.S.
Special thanks to our special guests Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent & Former Anchor & Managing Editor of the PBS NewsHour, Al Hunt, Co-host, Politics War Room & Former Columnist, The Wall Street Journal, and Raul Midón, 2x Grammy Nominee, genre-defying jazz singer songwriter guitarist.
We invite you to watch, re-watch, and share the event with family, friends and colleagues.
And we give a special thank you to all of our 2023 Annual Awards Sponsors:
Baker and Hostetler, LLP
The Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation
Reed Smith LLP
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Richard and Eileen Bazelon
The Bazelon-Sabin Charitable Fund
Bender Consulting Services, Inc.
BRG
Brown, Goldstein & Levy
Elevance Health
The Law Offices of Kenneth R. Feinberg, P.C.
Georgia Advocacy Office
Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, PLLC
Latham & Watkins LLP
Microsoft
Nauticon Office Solutions
NCQA
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Varnum LLP
The Honorable Tony Coelho
Gilbert Employment Law, P.C.
Goodwin Proctor LLP
Highmark
Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP
Featured Speakers Include:
ASL and Captioning will be provided. Please contact communications@bazelon.org for accessibility accommodations. Captioning and ASL will be provided.
Wade Henderson
Civil Rights & Human Rights Leader
Harvey Rosenthal
New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS) Inc.
Laura Van Tosh
Founder/Convener, Mental Health Policy Roundtable
Sally Zinman (Posthumous)
Mental Health Advocate
Senator Bob Casey
Democratic Senator of Pennsylvania
Vanessa Green
Call BlackLine®
Elizabeth B. McCallum, Esq.
Baker and Hostetler, LLP
Jonathan Van Ness
Emmy-nominated TV personality, author, and activist
Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu
Project LETS
Laurie Hernandez
Olympic Champion and Mental Health Advocate
Jonathan Capehart
Associate Editor of the Washington Post & MSNBC Host
Lachi
Award-Winning Recording Artist and Founder/President of RAMPD
Bryan Stevenson
Founder and Director of the Equal Justice Initiative
Judy Woodruff
Anchor and Managing Editor, PBS NewsHour
Katie Porter
US Representative (CA-45)
Cherene Caraco
CEO of Promise Resource Network & Director of Peer Voice NC
Jason Mitchell
Special Counsel at Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP
Thomas Hehir
Harvard University (Ret.)
Vesper Moore
Kiva Centers
Mandy Harvey
Jazz & Pop Singer & Songwriter, America’s Got Talent Golden Buzzer Winner
Yamiche Alcindor
Washington Week host and White House Correspondent, PBS NewsHour
** YOU ARE INVITED TO (RE)WATCH THE EVENT **
Monique Dixon
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the U.S. Education Department Office for Civil Rights
Kristen Harper
Director of Policy Development and Outreach, Child Trends
Narell Joyner
Consultant, Settlement Agreement G.P. et al. v. Montgomery (AL) Public Schools
Ebony Laboy
MPH Candidate, Rollins School of Public Health
Marvin Mitchell
Consultant; former Special Education Administrator, J.P. Manning Elementary School (Boston, MA)
Kadian Simmonds
2nd Grade Teacher, J.P. Manning Elementary School (Boston, MA)
Ira Burnim
Legal Director, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Holly O’Donnell
President & CEO, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Jalyn Radziminski
Communications Manager, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
We are grateful for your support.
Held on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 at
7:00 PM EST
** YOU ARE WELCOME TO (RE)WATCH THE EVENT **
Advocates of the year:
Allilsa Fernandez,
Northwell Health
Chacku Mathai,
Center for Practice Innovations at Columbia University
Outstanding Pro Bono Lawyer:
Jeff Goldman,
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Outstanding Pro Bono Partner:
Paul Weiss, Rifkind,
Wharton & Garrison LLP
See our save-the-date with special guests including
Valerie Jarrett, Judy Woodruff and many others:
(click to enlarge)
Learn More About 2021 Sponsorship Opportunities
We are grateful for your support.
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