Mobility International USA is pleased to announce that Co-Founder and CEO Susan Sygall has been named a recipient of the 2014 Henry Viscardi Achievement Award. She joins 11 other prominent disability rights leaders from around the world in this great honor.
"I am very grateful for this award and thrilled to be in the company of so many wonderful disability activists." – Susan Sygall
The Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards were developed to honor the extraordinary societal contributions of the Awardees in the spirit of the legacy and vision of the Center’s founder, Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr., who himself wore prosthetic legs. As one of the world’s leading advocates for people with disabilities, he served as a disability advisor to eight presidents, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter.
Susan Sygall is an internationally recognized expert and visionary leader in the areas of international educational exchange and leadership programs for persons with disabilities. Sygall has had a personal and professional commitment to disability rights and women's issues for more than 30 years. In 1981, she co-founded and continues to serve as CEO of Mobility International USA (MIUSA). MIUSA's vision is reflective of Sygall's vision to ensure a just, accessible and inclusive community in which the human rights, citizenship, contribution and potential of people with disabilities are recognized and celebrated. MIUSA's programs are reflective of Sygall's commitment to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities around the globe. Through Sygall's leadership, MIUSA's programs increase disability inclusion in international exchange, grassroots disability leadership and the development process.
The 2014 Award recipients include:
- Jim Abbott – Former MLB Pitcher & Gold Medal Olympian
- Marca Bristo – President & CEO of Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago
- Rory Cooper, Ph.D. – Distinguished Professor at the University of Pittsburgh
- Maryanne Diamond – General Manager Advocacy and Engagement at Vision Australia
- Neil Jacobson – Founder & CEO of Abilicorp
- Arlene Mayerson – Attorney at the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
- Marlee Matlin – Academy Award & Golden Globe Award-winning Actress
- Ron McCallum – Emeritus Professor at The University of Sydney
- Thomas Porter – Volunteer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
- Susan Sygall – Co-founder & CEO of Mobility International USA (MIUSA)
- Yevgeniy Tetyukhin – Professor at the Petropavlovsk North Kazakhstan State University
- Mary Verdi-Fletcher – President & Founding Artistic Director of Dancing Wheels
