IDF soldier Ya’acov Brown born with Down Syndrome and a soldier in the IDF after participating in AKIM’s Equal in Uniform program

Julie Ridge, LCSW-R, swam the English Channel in 1982; became the 1st person to swim 2 consecutive laps around Manhattan Island in 1983 (earning her a guest appearance on the Letterman Show); completed the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon in ’84; and swam into the Guinness Book of Records in ’85 by swimming one 28.5 mile lap around Manhattan each day for 5 consecutive days. In 1990 she bicycled across America with her father Frank Ridge. Julie performed on Broadway, is a published author and motivational speaker. She earned her Masters degree in social work from Columbia University. Now a clinical social worker with over 25 years experience, she facilitates learning seminars for mental health professionals. When her father died at the age of 90 in 2013, she established the Frank Ridge Memorial Foundation (a non-profit organization), dedicated to living well with mental health conditions through awareness and understanding. In December of 2018 she presented a one-woman show BIPOLAR & THE ENGLISH CHANNEL at an off Broadway venue in NYC. She is proud mom to Jason Peterson-Ridge. Julie lives well with bipolar disorder.

ILENE LAINER Co-Founder and President, provides the strategic vision and tactical direction of NEXT for AUTISM.   Ilene co-founded NEXT for AUTISM, because she is committed to transforming the system of services and pursuing the latest innovations, so that all families living with autism would have access to the educational, social, recreational and support services they need. Formerly a partner at the law firm of Grotta, Glassman & Hoffman, P.A., Ilene practiced labor and employment law on behalf of management for nearly two decades, developing a strong interest in working with clients that were in the midst of internal structural change. Ilene has published and spoken widely about autism topics, and is currently on the Board of Trustees of the NYC Autism Charter School and on Advisory Committees for Felicity House and the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain.

Tahria Sheather is an Australian producer and director who most recently produced the documentary Homeless: The Soundtrack, which premiered at Tribeca 2018 and won a Special Jury Mention. With Irene, she also produced The New York Times’ Op-Doc, Between Sound and Silence, about the impact of technology on deafness, and a series of 17 short films on sex trafficking.

Ryan J. Haddad is an actor, playwright and autobiographical performer based in New York. His acclaimed solo play Hi, Are You Single? was presented in The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and continues to tour the country. Other New York credits include My Straighties (Ars Nova/ANT Fest), Noor and Hadi Go to Hogwarts (Theater Breaking Through Barriers), and the cabaret Falling for Make Believe (Joe’s Pub). Regional credits include The Maids, Lucy Thurber’s Orpheus in the Berkshires (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Hi, Are You Single? (Guthrie Theater, Cleveland Play House, Williamstown Theatre Festival).

Television credits include “Bull,” “Madam Secretary,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Haddad has performed original work at La MaMa E.T.C., the New Museum and The LGBT Center of New York City. His plays in development include Good Time Charlie and Dark Disabled Stories. He is a member of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group and a former Queer|Art Performance and Playwriting Fellow under the mentorship of Moe Angelos.

Learn more at www.ryanjhaddad.com and follow him on social @ryanjhaddad.

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Marianne Leone is an actress who appeared in The Sopranos, a screenwriter, an essayist published in The Boston Globe, and author of the 2010 book, Jesse: A Mother’s Story. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, actor Chris Cooper, and two rescue dogs. The Jesse Cooper Foundation funds inclusion and adapted sports for children with special needs, and supports disabled orphans in Romania.

Chris Cooper won the 2003 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in Adaptation. He has been an actor on stage, screen, and television for three decades, with notable roles in Lone Star, American Beauty, Seabiscuit, The Bourne Identity, October Sky, August Osage County, Lonesome Dove, and dozens of other films. In 1987, Cooper and his wife, Marianne Leone, had their son Jesse, who had cerebral palsy and epilepsy. They became advocates for inclusive education, and Jesse became a high school honor student. In 2005, Jesse died suddenly from a seizure at age 17. Cooper worked tirelessly donating his time working on the film.

Writer, artist and part time superhero, Jess Thom co-founded Touretteshero in 2010 as a creative response to her experience of living with Tourettes Syndrome.

Jess has written in the mainstream and disability press including The Guardian, The Observer and Disability Now. In 2012 she published Welcome to Biscuit Land – A Year In the Life of Touretteshero, with a foreword by Stephen Fry.

In 2017 Touretteshero hosted Adventures in Biscuit Land at Tate Modern as part of their Tate Exchange programme. In the same year Jess débuted her critically acclaimed performance of Samuel Beckett’s short play Not I as well as hosting and curating Brewing in the Basement at the Barbican Centre. In 2018 Jess took her stand-up show Stand Up, Sit Down, Roll Over to the US and Switzerland, hosted Heroes of the Imagination at Southbank’s Imagine Festival and Brewing in Battersea at Battersea Arts Centre. The year ended with Hacks for the Future, a residential theatre project for disabled young creatives in the highlands in association with National Theatre Scotland.

Jess is a visual, performing, and participatory artist based in London. She graduated from The Royal College of Art in 2005. She has worked as an artist educator and workshop facilitator for Tate Galleries, The South London Gallery and The Chisenhale.

Jess is committed to increasing opportunities that allow the experiences of people living with Tourettes Syndrome to be heard, and to ‘changing the world one tic at a time.’

Nina G is the San Francisco Bay Area’s favorite female stuttering stand up comedian (granted, she is the only one).  Nina performs at night clubs and colleges across the country as well as being a keynote speaker spreading her message of Disability justice and access.  Her first book Once Upon an Accommodation: A Book About Learning Disabilities has helped countless children and and adults become advocates while deepening their knowledge of what it means to have ADHD/LD.  Her second book, Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen, comes out August 6, 2019 and is available for pre-order.  Whatever the venue, Nina G infuses humor with advocacy.