NCD Thanks Claudia Gordon for Service as Public Engagement Advisor at the White House
April 1, 2014
WASHINGTON – The National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency that advices the President, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policy, applauds Claudia Gordon, Esq, for her service as the White House’s Public Engagement Advisor for the Disability Community in the Office of Public Engagement. Gordon served in the position from July 2013 until March 28th, 2014 and following her detail at the White House, Gordon is returning to the Department of Labor where she’ll resume her role as Special Assistant to Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Patricia A. Shiu.
“NCD thanks Claudia Gordon for her excellent work as the Public Engagement Advisor for the Disability Community on behalf of the White House,” said Jeff Rosen, NCD Chairperson. “During her term, Claudia amplified numerous issues of importance to both the disability community and the Administration. Under her stewardship, disability issues received heightened visibility and inclusion reflecting both the diversity of our community and our value to the nation at large. In addition to her critical efforts on disability policy issues, Claudia worked tirelessly to include people with disabilities at the White House, such as the historic first-ever Black History Month event at the White House last February that shined a spotlight on the intersection of race and disability. We applaud Claudia’s efforts to increasing the civic, social and economic opportunities for Americans with disabilities from across the nation and look forward to continuing to work with her as she returns to the Department of Labor. I have no doubt Claudia will continue to be a resource to her successor at the White House, which is critical during a time the Administration continues to roll out programs impacting people with disabilities and our nation continues to mark important civil and disability rights anniversaries.”
Prior to her appointment at the White House last year, Gordon was instrumental in strengthening regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities at the United States Department of Labor (DOL), where she served as a Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Federal Contracts and Compliance Programs. During Gordon’s tenure, DOL shifted its enforcement activities to hold government contractors accountable for their employment practices and has added 200 new compliance officers since the beginning of the Obama Administration.
Gordon, no stranger to pioneering new ground, was a consultant to the National Council on Disability in 2003 during the preparation of a report examining the literature surrounding “Outreach and People with Disabilities from Diverse Cultures.”
Prior to attending AU, Gordon graduated from Howard University in 1995 with a bachelor of arts in political science. At Howard, Gordon was a Patricia Robert Harris Public Affairs Fellow, a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, and the Political Science Honor Society. More awards and honors came at American University, where she was an Equal Justice Foundation Fellow, had the Myers Law Scholarship, and the J. Franklin Bourne Scholarship. In 2002, she received the Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities.
Gordon later became a senior policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties where her duties included enforcing an executive order for individuals with disabilities in emergency preparedness. When Hurricane Katrina hit, Gordon’s efforts to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities were met in hurricane relief efforts earned her both the Gold Medal Award and the 2005 Hurricane Response Award from the Secretary of Homeland Security. She is a member of the Alpha chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.