DEPARTMENT OF DISABILITIES

SECRETARY

Office of Secretary
Department of Disabilities
217 East Redwood St., Suite 1300, Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 767-3661; fax: (410) 333-6674; tdd: (410) 333-3098
e-mail: mdod@mdod.state.md.us
web: www.mdod.maryland.gov
www.mdtap.org (Technology Assistance Program)

Catherine A. Raggio, Secretary of Disabilities, February 2007. Photo by Mark Odell.

Member, Governor's Executive Council, 2007-; Children's Cabinet, 2007-; Interagency Committee on Aging Services, 2007-. Chair, Interagency Disabilities Board, 2007-; Advisory Committee, Technology Assistance Program, 2007-. Co-Chair, Interagency Transition Council for Youth with Disabilities, 2007-. Member, Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code Advisory Council, 2007-; Advisory Council to the Children's Cabinet, 2007-; Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council, 2007-; State Coordinating Committee for Human Services Transportation, 2007-; Instructional Materials Access Guidelines Committee, 2007-; State Advisory Council on Quality Care at the End of Life, 2008-; Maryland Commission on Suicide Prevention, 2009-; Governor’s Warrior to Worker Council, 2010-. Governing Board, Maryland Center for School Safety, 2013-. Member, Task Force to Study the Impact of Expanding Credit and Noncredit Courses for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2013-.

Executive Director, Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council, 1983-89 (associate director, 1980-83). Member, Maryland Statewide Independent-Living Council, 2000-06; Task Force for the Review of High School Assessment Options, 2007; Mental Health Transformation Working Group, 2007-11; Maryland Commission on Autism, 2009-12; Maryland Integrated Map Executive Committee, 2009-12; Work Group on Consumer Education and Customer Choice, 2011; Task Force to Study the Creation of a Maryland Center for School Safety, 2011-13.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 1, 1947. Bloomsburg State College, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, B.S. (speech & language disorders), 1969, M.Ed., 1977. Speech and Language Therapist, Selinsgrove State Hospital, 1969-72. Speech Therapist, Wilkes-Barre Area School District, 1972-74. Executive Director, United Cerebral Palsy of Wyoming Valley, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1974-79. Executive Director, United Cerebral Palsy of Prince George's County, 1979-80. Founder and Executive Director, Independence Now, Inc., 1994-2007. Principal investigator, Nursing Home Reform Project, United Cerebral Palsy Association, 1991-95. Board of Directors, National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils, 1986-90 (president, 1988-90); Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, 1996-2001 (secretary, 1998-2001). Chair, Maryland Youth Leadership Forum, 2000-. Humanitarian Service Award, United Cerebral Palsy of Wyoming Valley, 1980. Professional of the Year, the ARC of Maryland, 1985. Gilbert John Zucchi Award, The ARC of Maryland, 1991. Profiled in Maryland Women's History Month, 1992-93. Region III Advocacy Award, National Council on Independent Living, 1996. Leadership Appreciation Award, Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities, 2000. Leadership Award, Prince George's County, Commission on Individuals with Disabilities, 2004.

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