Message From DRN Board Chair Ken Oakes re DRN's CEO
Message From DRN Board Chair Ken Oakes re DRN's CEO
Friends:Ilene Shane, Chief Executive Officer of the Disability Rights Network, has informed the DRN Board that she will retire effective September 30, 2011.
Ilene was the founder and Executive Director of the Disabilities Law Project (DLP) from 1977-2003. In 2003, Ilene became the CEO of Pennsylvania Protection & Advocacy, which merged with DLP in 2007 to form the Disability Rights Network.
During her career, Ilene has played a significant role in virtually every important legal, advocacy, and policy issue affecting persons with disabilities in Pennsylvania, including (to name only a few) the closings of Philadelphia State Hospital and Embreeville Center; the tremendous growth of integrated, community-based services for people with all disabilities; the establishment of Pennsylvania's Attendant Care Program and, most recently, the passage of Adult Protective Services legislation. Ilene represented thousands of individuals with disabilities in individual and class action litigation. She was one of the attorneys in the precedent-setting case of Helen L. v Di Dario, which was the first case in the country to hold that unnecessary institutionalization violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, and which became a key precedent that led to the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C.
I know you join me, the other members of the DRN Board, and the DRN staff in thanking Ilene for her many significant and lasting contributions to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities in Pennsylvania.
In addition, I am pleased to announce that, at its meeting on March 4, the DRN Board of Directors selected Mark Murphy to be the next Chief Executive Officer of DRN.
Mark has been the Legal Director of DRN since 2007. Mark also was a long-time staff member of the Disabilities Law Project, including serving as DLP's Executive Director from 2003 until 2007. At DLP and DRN, Mark has led an outstanding team of lawyers that is nationally recognized for its litigation and legal advocacy work on behalf of persons with disabilities, including precedent-setting cases involving the integration mandate of the ADA; the Fair Housing Act; the Medical Assistance statute; and Pennsylvania's guardianship law.
The Board and staff are fortunate to have such a talented lawyer and advocate to assume the leadership of DRN and are confident that, under Mark's direction, DRN will continue its great work on behalf of people with disabilities.
For more information, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Ken Oakes
Chair
Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania