I am truly humbled and honored to join National Disability Institute (NDI) as its new Executive Director. I look forward to working closely with the board and staff to build upon the rich legacy begun by Michael Morris more than a decade ago.
I have been privileged to have had the opportunity to work closely with NDI since 2007, contributing to the Asset Accumulation and Tax Policy project, as well as the ABLE National Resource Center. In my previous role as the Managing Director of the World Institute on Disability, I oversaw the organization’s financial inclusion and consulting efforts with government, corporate and nonprofit partners.
Any organization’s success is principally owed to the passionate and dedicated people who handle the day-to-day operations. I am thrilled to be working with the NDI staff which provides unparalleled research, technical assistance and demonstrations that catalyze NDI’s ability to build a better financial future for people with disabilities and their families. I have seen, firsthand, this transformational power of financial inclusion in my own life and in the lives of others with lived disability experience. Poverty and underemployment need not be the status quo and NDI’s work has and will continue to change the disability narrative.
Over the next several months, I will be listening closely to staff, partners, funders and other stakeholders to build upon the vision originally cultivated in 2005. Where a small group of parents, family members, individuals with disabilities and leading thinkers and practitioners in the disability and asset building communities dared to imagine a society in which people with disabilities have the same opportunities to achieve financial stability and independence as people without disabilities. Our singleminded goal today, and into the future, is to achieve this vision.
I appreciate the support and passion of the board of directors, the leadership team, staff and other stakeholders who share in this vision. Much has been accomplished in the last 15 years at NDI and I look forward to all we can accomplish going forward.
Tom Foley
Executive Director, National Disability Institute
