Skip Navigation
Find Your Easterseals
Search
Easterseals
Donate
Donate
Capitol Hill

Advocacy That Moves Us Where We Need to Go

Easterseals' advocacy takes many forms—from national campaigns to statewide action, we work together to ensure everyone can lead a life to their fullest potential.

Strengthening Our Presence: Renewed Advocacy Across the Nation

From the halls of Congress to state legislatures, we renewed our advocacy work to ensure more decision-makers nationwide are aware of Easterseals and that they understand the breadth and depth of our services and support. This year, advocacy is taking many forms: 

  • Leadership in Government Relations: We strengthened our government relations team by welcoming Ted Thompson as SVP and Matt Binder as Director of State Government Relations, deepening our ability to help us advance advocacy at every level. As shared by VP Major Gifts and Planned Giving Rob Henson of Easterseals Rehabilitation Center: 

Matt and Ted are excellent partners in building an advocacy program! It can seem intimidating to get started, but these two are absolute pros at making advocacy approachable and possible without taking up a ton of time from our other duties. I appreciate their time and expertise, and I especially appreciate how patient they are in explaining the concepts and policies that we are trying to work on as a team. 

  • National Advocacy Week: Our Affiliates came together in Washington, D.C. for National Advocacy Week—meeting with legislators to share real stories and put disability issues front and center on the national agenda.
  • Protecting Medicaid: Our Network mobilized. Despite months of calls, letters, and personal stories, legislation was passed that will harm our communities now and in the coming years. Affiliates shared impact stories, staff reached out to lawmakers to share their experience, and we worked in unison to safeguard essential services. Even when outcomes fall short, this work plants seeds for future progress and shows lawmakers, and our communities, that we will never stop defending what matters.  

National Advocacy Week

Get behind the scenes in Washington, D.C. where Easterseals Affiliates, leaders, and advocates came together for Capitol Hill meetings and panel discussions with disability and legislative leaders. With more than 100 meetings on Capitol Hill, Advocacy Week drew over 120 attendees, including several National and Affiliate board members and colleagues from 33 Affiliates in 2025, up from 27 in 2024. Stronger turnout, wider representation, and active engagement affirmed our collective resolve to protect and expand disability rights. This is but a small snapshot: for more photos, please refer to past issues of the Network Update. 

3 people in front of a screen that says Easterseals National Advocacy Week.
Wendell Primus with Easterseals Board Member and disability advocate Mark Raymond Jr. and Easterseals Louisiana President & CEO Tracy Garner. Primus is a Visiting Fellow at Brookings and a former congressional staffer who helped write the Medicaid expansion legislation.
A group of colleagues with guests. Everyone is posed in front of an event banner.
Disability advocates Emily Ladau, Tiffany Yu, and Andrea Jennings joined colleagues from Easterseals Southern California.
Mercedes Hawley, Kendra Davenport, Erin Hawley, and Mids Meinberg at a table during National Advocacy Week
From left to right: Mercedes Hawley, Easterseals President and CEO Kendra Davenport, Easterseals Editorial Manager Erin Hawley, and Mids Meinberg.
Two men on stage, one is smiling in focus the other is blurry. There is a sense of joy and respect in the image.
Former Republican Congressman Jon Porter and former senior congressional staffer Rick Terrazas offered advice on how to navigate the new Washington, with a particular focus on understanding how the administration and congressional leadership are approaching policy and regulatory matters. Journalist Terry Samuel (pictured) moderated this session.
People smiling and standing in front of a plaque that says, "Senator Richard J. Durbin."
From left to right: Easterseals Assistant National Director of SCSEP, Maximillian Zielinski; SCSEP Elevate Career Navigator Constance Lay, Easterseals SVP of Network Advancement Marcy Traxler; and Senior Resource Assistant Larry Huntley of Easterseals New Jersey's Work Resource Center.
  1. Wendell Primus with Easterseals Board Member and disability advocate Mark Raymond Jr. and Easterseals Louisiana President & CEO Tracy Garner. Primus is a Visiting Fellow at Brookings and a former congressional staffer who helped write the Medicaid expansion legislation.
  2. Disability advocates Emily Ladau, Tiffany Yu, and Andrea Jennings joined colleagues from Easterseals Southern California.
  3. From left to right: Mercedes Hawley, Easterseals President and CEO Kendra Davenport, Easterseals Editorial Manager Erin Hawley, and Mids Meinberg.
  4. Former Republican Congressman Jon Porter and former senior congressional staffer Rick Terrazas offered advice on how to navigate the new Washington, with a particular focus on understanding how the administration and congressional leadership are approaching policy and regulatory matters. Journalist Terry Samuel (pictured) moderated this session.
  5. From left to right: Easterseals Assistant National Director of SCSEP, Maximillian Zielinski; SCSEP Elevate Career Navigator Constance Lay, Easterseals SVP of Network Advancement Marcy Traxler; and Senior Resource Assistant Larry Huntley of Easterseals New Jersey's Work Resource Center.
  • SCSEP Advocacy: Participants in our Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) traveled to D.C. to meet members of Congress, sharing their personal experiences to protect job training opportunities for thousands of older adults.
  • Local Engagement: Affiliates regularly connected with elected officials at home—attending public hearings, hosting site visits, and providing expert testimony to help inform state policy and funding decisions.
  • Shaping Public Spaces: Our transportation and mobility team partnered with the National Science Foundation; University of Illinois, Chicago; Wichita State; and Lehigh University to help shape research on making outdoor environments and pedestrian pathways more accessible with direct input from people with disabilities.
  • Transportation Awareness: Across all facets of Easterseals' programs, the network raised awareness about the significance and impact of transportation on social determinants of health. Health isn’t just about doctors. Health is shaped by where we live, what we eat, how we learn, and the support we have around us—like transportation. 

Whatever the result, we’ll keep moving forward together.

Navigate this Year's Report

Explore this year’s progress from every angle. Jump between key sections and the impact we’re making across the Easterseals network. Whether you’re interested in advocacy highlights, team achievements, or new partnerships, each section offers a closer look at the moments that defined our first half of the year.

  • Three people of different ages together at home. They are smiling and a large bookcase is in the background.

    2025 Mid-Year Report

    Easterseals is building community, opening doors, and making a real difference. Discover how we're growing together in 2025.
  • Portrait of a young woman with Down syndrome, arms crossed, determined smile

    Our Story, Month by Month: April-June

    We elevated disability representation and showed up when it counted most. Catch the highlights from a month in motion and a season defined by the network's resilience and connection.
  • Five children sitting on a bench and smiling

    A Call to Action

    The first half of the year tested us, but it also proved how strong and caring our Network truly is. Now, we’re asking you to continue to be part of what’s ahead. Here's how.