Diane Coleman
Not Dead Yet
President, CEO
Diane Coleman is the President and CEO of Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group which she founded in 1996 to give voice to disability rights opposition to legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. Prior to that, she served for three years as Director of Advocacy at the Center for Disability Rights in Rochester, New York and twelve years as Executive Director of Progress Center for Independent Living in Forest Park, Illinois. Ms. Coleman has presented invited testimony four times before Subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. She is a well-known writer and speaker on assisted suicide and euthanasia, and has appeared on national television news broadcasts for Nightline, CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC and others, as well as National Public Radio. She co-authored Amicus Briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court and various state courts on behalf of Not Dead Yet and other national disability organizations on the topics of assisted suicide and surrogate health care decision making. She has a law degree and Masters in Business Administration from UCLA. From 2003 to 2008, she was a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago and co- taught two graduate courses in disability and medical ethics. Ms. Coleman is a person with neuromuscular disabilities who has used a motorized wheelchair since the age of eleven.
Matt Vallière
Institute for Patients' Rights
Executive Director
Matt Vallière is the Executive Director of the Patients Rights Action Fund (PRAF), a national, secular, non-partisan leader defending the rights of patients, people with disabilities, our elders, and the poor from the threat of legalized assisted suicide. PRAF is a 501(c)(4) not for profit corporation.
Mr. Vallière was born in Worcester, MA, did his undergraduate work at Thomas Aquinas College in California, and earned a master’s in Philosophy at Boston College. He has owned and managed various private businesses and worked both professionally and voluntarily for non-profit causes, most currently with PRAF since 2014. He proudly serves as a volunteer emergency medical services first responder. As an experienced caregiver to people with life-threatening disabilities, Mr. Vallière is a tireless advocate for the rights of patients and people with disabilities, both in the medical setting and the public square. He has been published in media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, and Newsweek, among others.
He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and children.
Lillibeth Navarro
CALIF
Founder & Executive Director
Matt Vallière is the Executive Director of the Patients Rights Action Fund (PRAF), a national, secular, non-partisan leader defending the rights of patients, people with disabilities, our elders, and the poor from the threat of legalized assisted suicide. PRAF is a 501(c)(4) not for profit corporation.
Mr. Vallière was born in Worcester, MA, did his undergraduate work at Thomas Aquinas College in California, and earned a master’s in Philosophy at Boston College. He has owned and managed various private businesses and worked both professionally and voluntarily for non-profit causes, most currently with PRAF since 2014. He proudly serves as a volunteer emergency medical services first responder. As an experienced caregiver to people with life-threatening disabilities, Mr. Vallière is a tireless advocate for the rights of patients and people with disabilities, both in the medical setting and the public square. He has been published in media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, and Newsweek, among others.
He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and children.
Vincenzo Piscopo
United Spinal
CEO
United Spinal has announced Vincenzo (Enzo) Piscopo, an experienced professional in diversity, inclusion and social causes, has been appointed president and CEO by the organization’s board of directors.
Piscopo will begin his tenure as United Spinal’s president and CEO on November 16, 2020 replacing James Weisman, who is retiring after 40 years of service to the disability community as an advocate for disability rights and accessible transportation.
“I’m honored to lead United Spinal’s important mission to improve the quality of life and independence of people with spinal cord injuries and disorders and to ensure the inclusion of wheelchair users in all facets of our society,” Piscopo said. “When we do this, not only do people with disabilities win, but our communities, employers, and all of society wins.”
“As we approach our 75th Anniversary next year, we are grateful to have Enzo continue United Spinal’s legacy of providing our members programs and services that maximize their independence and enable them to remain active in their communities,” Weisman said.
Piscopo, a wheelchair-user who was paralyzed from a herniated disk in 2010, previously worked at The Coca-Cola Company for 25 years in a variety of strategic roles both in the US and internationally.
In his most recent position as the Community and Stakeholder Relations Director at The Coca-Cola Company, Piscopo managed and cultivated company relationships with disability, veteran and Hispanic organizations and advocates for these communities.
“With the help of United Spinal’s talented staff and dedicated chapter leaders, I remain committed to advancing opportunities for people with disabilities, strengthening their voice and empowering them to have a positive impact in their community,” Piscopo added. “I’m looking forward to continue building on the amazing work James did to take this organization to the next level.”
Piscopo has based much of his work on the belief that people with disabilities are assets for corporations because of their resilience, perseverance, and creative problem-solving skills. “For corporations to hire us is not only right, but also smart,” he said.
Piscopo is also the founder and Executive Director of the opens in a new windowWheels of Happiness Foundation which helps people with motor disabilities in disadvantaged areas of the world, and a member of the board of directors of the organizations opens in a new windowRespectability and opens in a new windowFriends of the Disabled Adults and Children.
Born in Venezuela of Italian immigrants, Piscopo currently resides with his wife and four children in Atlanta, Georgia.
He has a bachelor’s degree in economics, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Masters in Creativity from Buffalo State College.
Ingrid Tischer
Ingrid Tischer (White, she/her) is an organizational consultant and coach specializing in work-disability balance for disabled/aging/chronically ill workers and family caregivers. She was a Bay Area–based “accidental” fundraiser and non–profit manager for 30 years, beginning in a women’s free clinic on Haight Street, before moving on to Breast Cancer Action, Equal Rights Advocates, and Legal Aid at Work. For10 years, she served as the Development Director for Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and worked to redirect philanthropy’s culture of compliance toward an equity-based culture of access. Her media advocacy includes working with the Labor Project for Working Families, MomsRising and The Impact Fund,
Her blog Tales From the Crip explores the emotional landscape of disability and systemic ableism that also informs her long-time activism on assisted suicide legislation. She lives with muscular dystrophy, respiratory insufficiency, and depression.