Patrisha A. Wright

Patrisha A. Wright served as Director of Government Affairs for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) in Washington, DC from 1979 to 2005. She presently directs special projects. Widely acknowledged as “the General” who coordinated the campaign to enact the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Wright also worked to establish acceptance of disability as a legitimate civil rights cause within the broad civil rights community as well as within traditional disability services organizations. She was the primary legislative and policy strategist for the disability civil rights community throughout both Democratic and Republican Administrations, beginning with Ronald Reagan. She was a driving force in the campaign to halt the deregulation of Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act in the early 1980’s; the regulations later set the stage for the ADA. Wright worked to secure enactment of the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act of 1986 and amendments to the Fair Housing Act, which, for the first time, banned discrimination against people with disabilities by landlords, and established the accessibility and adaptability principles for multifamily dwellings. She also represented disability concerns in a coalition of civil rights groups working for the passage of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987. Wright has received numerous honors for her contribution to the disability rights movement including the Presidential Citizen’s Medal in 2001. She speaks and consults on disability policy issues internationally.