James P. Ward
Executive Profile
James P. Ward, MSW is the founder and executive director of ADA Watch and the Coalition for Disability Rights & Justice (CDRJ), an alliance of disability, civil rights and social justice organizations working to amplify the many voices of the U.S. disability rights movement. He is a person with a neurodevelopmental disability, a former elected official and a father. He produced the Road To Freedom bus tour and lived on the road for 18 months mobilizing grassroots support for passage of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.
A former elected official and state party executive, Jim is a senior communications and government relations professional with extensive experience in building powerful coalitions of individuals and organizations to promote causes and effect real change. Jim’s career has been distinguished by a consistent track record of delivering high-profile results by uniting stakeholders, fostering collaboration, raising funds and generating desired outcomes via lobbying, grassroots organizing and skillful media relations. He has applied these skills to various causes within elective politics, healthcare, mental health, social justice and human rights.
With disability rights icon Justin Dart, Jr. as chair, Ward founded a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of more than 500 national, state and local organizations with millions of individual members. Organizations have included the American Association of People with Disabilities, National Council on Independent Living, National Disability Rights Network, AARP, SEIU, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Aliance for Justice, People For the American Way, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, American Federation of Teachers, United Cerebral Palsy, American Psychological Association, and more.
Ward has considerable experience in public policy analysis and advocacy, as well as drafting legislation and lobbying the U.S. Congress, Executive Branch, Federal agencies, and state and local governments. He is a veteran grassroots organizer committed to leadership development, organization building and community empowerment.
Throughout his career, Ward has served as an articulate spokesperson providing speech writing and delivery before varied audiences; press, TV, and radio interviews; direct mail; website development and management; as well as presentations to potential partners and funding sources. He has a proven record of achievement, including: clearly communicating complex and controversial issues; fostering and maintaining relationships with national and regional media; and coordinating high-impact media events. Demonstrated results include writing and placing opinion columns and news releases in the Washington Post, Associated Press, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Cincinnati Post, Newsweek, Roll Call, Boston Globe, Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Detroit Free Press, and more.
While some may joke about a political process in need of professional help, Jim actually trained and spent a decade as a practicing psychotherapist prior to launching his political career. He holds a master’s degree from Adelphi University, a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany, and completed a paid internship at Dartmouth College department of psychiatry at the Veterans Administration Hospital in White River Junction, Vermont.
