ADILN Conference Schedule

Theo W. Braddy

Executive Director of NCIL and National Council on Disability

Theo W. Braddy is a renowned disability rights leader with over four decades of experience advocating for disability rights, serving on national corporate boards and holding influential roles appointed by governors. He’s a dedicated professor, husband and father, inspiring change nationwide. He authored and narrated his memoir: From Shack to White House: A Memoir of Four Lives. Mr. Braddy is a person with a disability; a football accident at age 15 resulted in him being paralyzed and a C-4 Quadriplegic. He uses a complex motorized wheelchair.

Allison Gilbert

Author & Speaker on Social Health & Human Connection

Allison Gilbert, an Emmy Award–winning journalist, is known for translating complex research and personal stories into meaningful insights and delivers talks and workshops on social health and connection. Author and co-author of six critically acclaimed and bestselling books, including most recent national bestseller, The Joy of Connections, she also hosts Connected Lives, the signature conversation series at 92NY that explores how we create and sustain meaningful relationships in today’s world.

Alison Barkoff

Harold & Jane Hirsh Associate Professor of Health Law & Policy; Hirsh Program Director at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health

Alison Barkoff's research and scholarship focus on healthcare access, health and public health law, civil rights, disability and aging policy and long-term services and supports (LTSS). For 25+ years, Alison has focused on legal and policy advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities, older adults and others who face barriers to accessing health care and other critical community services.  She has testified before Congress and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is a nationally recognized expert on LTSS, disability and aging policy, Medicaid and civil rights.

Tracey Gendron, Ph.D.

Director for the Virginia Center on Aging

Dr. Tracey Gendron is the author of Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End It and serves as Chair for the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Gerontology. She is an internationally recognized gerontologist with 30+ years of experience as a grant-funded researcher. She speaks to audiences globally about the real-world impact of age bias.

Carrie Molke: Panel Moderator

Executive Director, Director of the Bureau of Aging & Disability Resources, Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS)

Carrie Molke provides statewide leadership in aging and disability policy and oversees a broad portfolio of programs and services that advance inclusion and ensure full participation in community life as we age or experience disability. She has 30+ years of experience in her field, including 25 years with DHS, where she has been instrumental in implementing aging and disability resource centers (ADRCs), advancing publicly funded long-term care reform, leading dementia systems redesign and strengthening numerous community living initiatives across the state.  She chairs the Wisconsin Dementia Plan Steering Committee.

Graham Nash

Legendary artist Graham Nash, as a founding member of both the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash, is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who has seen rock history unfold at some of its seminal moments – from the launch of the British Invasion (that’s him on-screen in 1967, eyewitness to the Beatles global broadcast performance of “All You Need Is Love” from Abbey Road studios) to the birth of the Laurel Canyon movement a year later. He is an extraordinary Grammy Award® winning renaissance artist, and self-described “simple man” who has contributed a wealth of songs to the popular music canon. Nash was inducted twice into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, for his work with CSN and for his work as a solo artist.

In recognition for his contributions as a musician and philanthropist, Nash was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth. While continually building his musical legacy, Nash is also an internationally renowned photographer and visual artist.

Nash’s lifelong commitment to his work is unwavering. His inspiration is simple: “All the things we stood for, that love is better than hatred, that peace is better than war, that we have to take care of our fellow human beings, because that’s all we have on this planet – those things are still true today. I need to know that I’ve brought something into the world that was positive and not negative.”