Advocacy Monitor

We are pleased to announce that Jenny Sichel, NCIL’s Program Coordinator, has accepted the position of Operations Director beginning March 1, 2022. Jenny has been on NCIL staff for a little over a year, most recently managing the Barrier Removal Fund project. She previously coordinated the Next. and LINK20 programs where she led over 500 disability advocates in developing and implementing social and policy change. She will complete her Master’s in Public Administration at Northeastern University in Boston in May, and also has a B.A. in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College. Jenny is a Paralympic rowing coach and has previously won a Silver Medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games. Additionally, Jenny has been a keynote speaker on multiple occasions and excels at event coordination and planning. Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Jenny in this important role.

We also wanted to publicly say farewell to Tim Fuchs and thank him for his 18+ years of amazing service to NCIL and to the Independent Living community. Tim’s values, vision, and ethics have imprinted a deep and lasting legacy on NCIL’s character and we will miss him terribly (although he will always be connected to Independent Living and we know where to find him!). Thank you, Tim. And congratulations on your new adventures!

July 25-28 (Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC); August 1-3 (Virtual Workshops)

Dear Friends of NCIL,

The in-person portion of NCIL’s 2022 Annual Conference on Independent Living is scheduled for July 25-28, 2022 at the Grand Hyatt Washington. If you are interested in volunteering, we have opportunities for you!

Committed volunteers are critical to this conference’s success. We have wonderful incentives for those who put in volunteer hours.

• If you volunteer 5-9.9 hours, half of your registration fee is waived / reimbursed.
• If you volunteer 10 or more hours, your full registration fee will be waived / reimbursed.

The Operations Director’s function is to manage the day-to-day operations of the organization. They shall also direct all of NCIL’s major projects and grants, the national Annual Conference on Independent Living, membership activities, trainings, and special events. Read full job announcement.

Deadline to apply: February 15, 2022

The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has named Darrell Jones (she / her) as its Interim Executive Director. Jones has more than 40 years’ experience in the disability and Independent Living movement, including being involved in the founding of the National Council on Independent Living.

Most recently, she served as senior advisor to the national training and technical assistance programs for CILs and SILCs at the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) IL-NET project, where she previously served as Project Director for five years and Program Coordinator for six years. Prior to these positions with the IL-NET at ILRU, she served as Training Specialist for the National Council on Independent Living’s IL-NET sub-contract with ILRU. Jones was founding Executive Director of one of the first Title VII funded CILs in the nation in Rochester, New York, then served as founding Executive Director of the Association of Independent Living Centers in New York for seven years. Jones identifies as a person with a disability.

During the next several months, Jones will help to advise the organization through the transition by working with the Board of Directors and a Transition Team. The Transition Team will be assembled with members serving under the direction of NCIL President Kent Crenshaw, and will include members of the Board and external stakeholders that will continue the work of assessing the organization and planning for the future of NCIL.

At this time, we are also announcing that the search will begin immediately to fill the upcoming vacancy of Operations Director. The job posting will be shared on NCIL’s website in the coming days. We encourage any candidates that have interest in the position to apply. We hope to fill this position as soon as possible.

At this time, NCIL remains committed to our mission and activities of the organization continue to be fully operational. This includes legislative and advocacy work, projects and grant activities, and the preparation for the next Annual Conference.

Like many organizations, when NCIL went remote in March 2020, we had to adapt very quickly. While we missed the social and practical benefits of a physical office, it became apparent that our productivity wasn’t diminished by working remotely. We could still get the work done – and we did. We’ve hosted two virtual conferences, transitioned previously on-location trainings to webinars, and made countless gains in our policy work. In addition, we found that remote work was much more accessible for many of our staff.

Going virtual made financial and logistical sense. So, as of today, we are pleased to announce that our office is now fully remote. Our business phone numbers are still active, and you can reach us by the same phone numbers as always. Our new mailing address is as follows:

National Council on Independent Living
PO Box 31260
Washington, DC 20030

We look forward to continuing our work and the future we will create together.