Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards

Shaheena Ali is President, of the Women’s Wing at the Disabled Welfare Association and has played a key role in the mobilization of women with disabilities in Pakistan. Before joining Disabled Welfare Association (DWA) these women were home-confined, but through her efforts they are registered in an Independent Living program that provides peer counseling, socialization, and health activities. She also manages Disability Advocacy, Gender mainstreaming, and the Awareness Program of DWA, while organizing the organization’s capacity building program. Her media campaign creates disability awareness among the masses, while empowering and mainstreaming people with disabilities, particularly women. 

Alex Cohen is a native Philadelphian, husband, and father of two boys. He was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa while pursuing his B.S. in Hotel Administration from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.  As his vision continued to deteriorate, Alex decided to pursue cane training and a new career just two years after his first son was born.  Alex completed his master’s degree and began the doctoral marketing program at Drexel University. While pursuing his PhD, Alex gained distinction and notoriety as Drexel’s first and only blind PhD student. Alex’s dissertation focused on accessibility failures in the marketplace and behaviors from disabled consumers experiencing those failures.  He accepted a faculty position at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and recently achieved tenure and promotion to Associate Professor of Marketing. Professor Cohen’s research focuses on the marketplace experiences of people with disabilities and how these environments can be made more inclusive. Cohen and his business partners recognized the challenges of making existing healthcare models inclusive and accessible. They decided it was better to create their own marketplace which is how Accessible Pharmacy was developed. Accessible Pharmacy is a comprehensive healthcare service specializing in medication management for those living with blindness and low vision.

John Cronin is a 26-year-old entrepreneur who happens to have Down syndrome. Together with his father Mark, John created John’s Crazy Socks, a social enterprise with a mission to spread happiness. They have bootstrapped that business into the world’s largest sock store. John serves as the Chief Happiness Officer of John’s Crazy Socks. Every day, John shows what people with differing abilities can do – more than half his colleagues have a differing ability. John has spoken at conferences, businesses, colleges and universities across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. His advocacy work has seen John has testify twice before the U.S Congress and speak at the United Nations. He has been named EY Entrepreneur of the Year. He became “sock buddies” with President George H. W. Bush. John is a Special Olympic athlete competing in soccer, track and field, basketball, and snowshoe. John’s Crazy Socks pledges five percent of its earnings to the Special Olympics and has donated over $100,000 to the Special Olympics. John is a graduate of Huntington High School and Wilson Tech. John is a member of the Board for the National Down Syndrome Society and the CEO Commission for Disability Employment.

Susan Henderson joined Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) in 1997, and became its executive director in 2008. In addition to her executive director responsibilities, she manages the children and family advocacy and international disability rights programs. At DREDF she expanded the family advocacy program to protect the rights of disabled children in the child welfare system and launched the Disability & Media Alliance Project (D-MAP) to change sensational, cloying and misinformed disability coverage that undermines the public policy and legal advances of the last 35 years, to coverage that raises public awareness and helps to end disability discrimination. In 2020, Governor Newsom appointed Ms. Henderson to the California State Rehabilitation Council. She also serves on California’s Disability and Aging Community Living Advisory Committee. She works internationally with other disability-led organizations to conduct workshops on disability and human rights. Ms. Henderson has an MBA and a BA in Anthropology.

Emily Ladau is a passionate disability rights activist, writer, storyteller, and digital communications consultant whose career began at the age of 10, when she appeared on several episodes of Sesame Street to educate children about her life with a physical disability. Her writing has been published in outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Vice, and HuffPost and her first book, Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally, was published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in September 2021. Emily has spoken before numerous audiences, from the U.S. Department of Education to the United Nations. Central to all of Emily’s work is harnessing the power of storytelling to engage people in learning about disability

Nkosinathi Ndlovu was born in Nelspruit, City of Mbombela, South Africa. He is a multiple Award-Winning humanitarian and disability rights activist.  Born and bred in the era of apartheid, and introduced into the politics of liberation at an early age, he joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1999. He is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the disability community. His work with governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and various other youth and disability organizations, has produced significant contributions, to the development of human rights legislation and policies benefiting marginalized communities, youth and persons with disabilities. Ndlovu has played a leadership role in strategies to promote inclusive education. Prior to joining the Presidency in 2014, as a member of the Presidential Working Group of Disability (PWGD), he founded and served as CEO of the South African Deaf Youth Development Organisation (SADYDO), with the objective of addressing unemployment, skills shortage and eradication of communication barrier amongst the Deaf and Hearing communities. When Ndlovu took leadership of the PWGD, he lobbied for the adoption of South African Sign Language as the 12th official language.