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

Submit a workshop proposal

Note: The deadline to submit a workshop proposal has been extended to March 18, 2022.

NCIL is excited to announce our 2022 Annual Conference on Independent Living! The theme of NCIL’s 2022 Annual Conference is Forging Justice. This year’s conference will be NCIL’s first-ever hybrid conference, with options for in-person and virtual participation.

2022 is NCIL’s 40^th Anniversary! We have grown so much over these past 40 years. We certainly have much to celebrate. But we must also reflect on our movement, our priorities, and what we can offer each other. The NCIL Conference is designed to provide peer support, organizing, advocacy, and learning opportunities. We will come together this summer not only to gather and learn, but to strategize and plan the future of Independent Living.

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.

December 8, 2021; 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern

Register online

We are all adapting to the virtual environment. So much of our work is done virtually now that we hardly have a choice. But, we must do everything possible to ensure that our virtual spaces are as accessible as possible. Join us in December for a panel discussion of promising practices from the IL-NET team including APRIL, ILRU, and NCIL to make your virtual events accessible and engaging. We will share specific tips, features, and accommodations, along with a broader discussion of ideas and resources to consider for your meetings and events.

Registration Fee: This event is free-of-charge.

Target Audience: Executive directors, program managers, and staff members of Centers for Independent Living

Source: ACL

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the Administration for Community Living (ACL) will receive $150 million to increase the public health workforce’s disability and aging expertise and strengthen the collaboration with public health systems to support the health and safety of people with disabilities and older adults who are disproportionately affected during emergencies and disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public health promotes and protects the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work, and play. The aging and disability networks funded by ACL play essential roles in that work. These networks are the nation’s visible and trusted infrastructure providing health and wellness education and information, counseling, case management, community services, and guidance related to health and social needs, as well as information on how to access those supports in every local community in the country.

“This funding will allow our national network of over 20,000 community-based organizations to further assist in efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and bring help to communities that need it most,” said Alison Barkoff, ACL’s Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging.

The funding will directly support wages and benefits for public health professionals within the disability and aging networks. These professionals provide a wide range of public health services and supports, including provision of culturally affirmative and linguistically accessible information, access assistance for vaccines and boosters, transition and diversion from high-risk congregate settings to community living, provision and connections to health and wellness programs, and activities that address social isolation and social determinants of health.

The networks and organizations eligible to receive public health workforce funding include:

• Independent Living Centers
• Independent Living Designated State Entities
• No Wrong Door Systems/Aging and Disability Resource Centers
• Paralysis and Limb Loss Resource Centers
• Protection & Advocacy Systems
• State Assistive Technology Programs
• State Councils on Developmental Disabilities
• State Health Insurance Assistance Programs
• State Units on Aging/Area Agencies on Aging
• Traumatic Brain Injury State Partnership Programs, and
• Tribes and tribal organizations
• University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs)

“Our networks have a reach across states and into local communities across the county to assist people with disabilities and older adults who need support,” said Acting Administrator Barkoff. “These funds are part of our critical mission to support older adults and people with disabilities in their desire to live, work, and contribute to their communities and to make sure they have access to the supports they need during and after the pandemic.”