On June 6, 2022, the board of directors for the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), voted to appoint Lois V. Simpson as their Interim Director, while they continue to search for a permanent Executive Director to replace Curt Decker who will be retiring next month. National Disability Rights Network is the organization that provides training and technical support to the national network of Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agencies in every state and territory. Below, you can view a brief video that gives an overview of the P&A Network, and the history behind its origins.
Ms. Simpson was the Executive Director for Louisiana’s Protection and Advocacy organization, the Advocacy Center (now know as Disability Rights Louisiana) for 38 years. The Advocacy Center was founded in 1977 and she was the first Executive Director. Since her retirement in 2016, she has also served as interim director for multiple P&As, including Disability Rights Arkansas and Disability Rights Wisconsin.
When Simpson first began in 1977, the Advocacy Center had a budget of $64,000, a staff of four, and one office in New Orleans. When she retired in 2016, the organization had a budget of $4.1 million, and a staff of fifty who work out of branch offices in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette, and in field offices throughout the state.
Ms. Simpson begins her appointment on July 16th. We offer her our congratulations and couldn’t be more pleased to see our parent network in such capable and caring hands.
