AUCD | Council on Leadership in Advocacy (COLA) in Plain Language

Council on Leadership in Advocacy (COLA) in Plain Language

The Council on Leadership in Advocacy (COLA) is a special team within the AUCD network. The team includes people who have disabilities and their family members. COLA started in 1994 because AUCD wanted more input from the people they were trying to help. This group is important because the people in it have "lived experience." This means they understand what it is like to live with a disability or care for someone who does. They use their voices to help lead programs and make life better for everyone.

Our Mission

The goal of COLA is to give advice and help the AUCD network. We want to make sure people with disabilities and their families have a great quality of life. The council helps AUCD by:

Building Partnerships: Working together with government agencies and other disability groups.
Helping Local Groups: Advising the best ways to run local committees at universities.
Speaking Up: Supporting new laws and rules that help everyone take part in their communities.
Creating Leaders: Training and mentoring new leaders so they can help make changes at all levels.
Setting Standards: Deciding how to involve people with disabilities in research and school programs.

Purpose

The Council’s job is to make AUCD stronger by supporting leaders who have experience with disabilities. This includes people with disabilities and their family members.

We want to help these individuals take on leadership roles within their local programs and their communities. To do this, we are opening up our membership to a wider group of people, including:

Program directors and teachers (faculty)
Program staff and advisors
Members of Consumer Advisory Committees (CAC)

History

How We Started

The Council first met in late 1994.

It was created because AUCD realized they needed to listen more consistently to the people they serve. A project called "Leadership and Choices" provided the initial funding to get the group off the ground.

Growing and Changing

Over the years, the Council has evolved. In 2003, AUCD leaders decided to "recharge" the group. They put together a special team to gather feedback and come up with a new vision. In 2005, they presented a new plan to make the Council a stronger and more influential voice within the network.

Leadership

The Council is led by two co-chairs who also serve on the AUCD Board of Directors. To make sure the community is always represented, our rules say that: One co-chair must be a person with a disability. The other co-chair must be a family member of a person with a disability.

Members

Our goal is to have one representative from every University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) across the country. We are still working to reach that goal of having every center involved.

Who Can Join?

Membership is open to anyone in the AUCD network. This includes students, staff, and family members. Each University Center picks one person to be their "voter" when the council has to make a big decision. One leader of the council must be a person with a disability, and the other must be a family member. You can find the leaders of this council on the left side of the webpage.