Paula Sotnik
Cultural Diversity Coordinator, Massachusetts Institute for Community Inclusion
Paula Sotnik, currently at the Institute for Community Inclusion UCEDD, has over twenty-five years of experience working as a director, curriculum developer, trainer, and diversity and disability specialist. She oversees the National Service Inclusion Project, the national T&TA center on disability inclusion funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service. She also coordinates Community Capacity Building activities designed to support underrepresented communities and individuals to access mainstream services. Ms. Sotnik has served as a lead training consultant and author on culture brokering for the Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Prior to this project, she developed and coordinated several projects to develop the disability inclusion capacity of grassroots organizations and examine the experiences of individuals with disabilities from diverse cultures related to person-centered planning and assistive technology. Paula has served on several consumer advocacy boards, consulted nationally, and conducted presentations and published on topics related to diversity and disability, accommodations, responsive outreach strategies, and developing the capacity of organizations to include individuals with disabilities. Paula has undergraduate degrees in social work and psychology and has taken graduate courses in business and nonprofit management. She is currently a member of the AUCD's Multicultural Council.
