Meet other fascinating administration women by checking out our post on Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank and our post on Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Kathleen Martinez. It comes about when Casey and Rosie get some alone time, a day on from Casey deciding not to . or. Claudia Gordon delivering the opening keynote in American Sign Language at the 50th Biennial Conference of the National Association of the Deaf in Philadelphia, PA. July 6, 2010. In 2022, Braddy was selected by Senator Robert Casey, Jr., as one of four Black leaders in Pennsylvania who has demonstrated power and persistency in overcoming challenges and creating meaningful change in the State, and his contribution was acknowledged on the Senate Floor at a Congressional Hearing. Profile. At OFCCP Claudia works on ensuring that contractors doing business with the Federal government do not discriminate and take affirmative action. Her mother immigrated to the South Bronx, in New York, so that she could earn a better living, and planned to reunite with her children as soon as she could. At AU, Gordon specialized in disability rights law and policy. Like (316) My life changed overnight, she said in an interview later in lifewith the White House. She was given some antibiotics but she eventually became deaf. [14], Gordon became a member of the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2017. The former Miss Deaf American and Delta Sigma Theta member, is a member of many organizations including the National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center and Black Law Students Association. [6][7][5][8], When she was eleven, Gordon attended a public school before enrolling at the Lexington School and Center for the Deaf in New York. Please enable JavaScript to use this feature. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Join Facebook to connect with Claudia Kordon and others you may know. At 11, she moved to the United States and attended Lexington School for the Deaf in New York. Previously she held a position in the White House Office of Public Engagement as the Public Engagement Advisor to the Disability Community for less than a year She is a former staff attorney with the National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center and have also worked as a consulting attorney with the National Council on Disability. I'm delighted by the growing . Claudia L. Gordon is Director of Government and Compliance with T-Mobile Accessibility a Business Unit within T-Mobile that offers communication products and services to reduce or eliminate communication barriers for customers with disabilities. Find where to watch Claudia L. Gordon's latest movies and tv shows The HandSpeak site is a sign language resource created with by the ASL instructor and native signer in North America. She works at the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and has. Claudia Gordon a trailblazer who reminds us that immigrants, they get the job done. [3][4], Gordon was born in St. Mary, Jamaica in March 1972.[5]. Get to know her by reading this post. Emailus. She has received the 2005 Hurricane Response Award, the Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award, the 2010 Deaf Life Magazine Deaf Person of the Year award, and the 2011 Amos Kendall Award. - Gordon, Obama White House, 30 August 2010[5]. By the time she reached her junior year in high school, Gordon knew that she wanted to become a lawyer. I did not realize until years later that a woman who everyone in my town knew as dummy, and who children my age would incessantly harass with stone throwing, was deaf. Claudia Gordon is a Senior Accessibility Strategist at T-Mobile based in Bellevue, Washington. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. She won a Skadden Fellowship for2000-2002, and worked as a staff attorney at the NAD Law and Advocacy Center and a consulting attorney with the National Council on Disability. #21. As the first deaf black female attorney in the United States, Claudia Gordon recounts her childhood in the West Indies, her search for identity while grappling with audism in a hearing college, and her ongoing quest to create spaces in society for seldom-heard voices. He is the father of two children, a daughter, Kimmi Braddy, and a son, Theo Braddy Jr.Claudia L. Gordon, Member, National Council on DisabilityClaudia Gordon is a dedicated advocate for people with disabilities with nearly 30 years of versatile professional expertise, with a personal mission to level the playing field and ensure the same opportunities are provided for all. This is historical material frozen in time. 2023 TV GUIDE, A FANDOM COMPANY. Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden. Senior Accessibility Strategy Partner at T-Mobile Speaker, Consultant, Mentor Seen in Obama White House, Google, BBC, Washington Post, and TED Talk ("Owning Otherness"). How Long Will Joe Goldbergs Rampage Be Left Unchecked? At Homeland Security, Gordon was the senior policy advisor for the Department of Homeland Security, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, At Homeland Security, Claudia Gordons focus was activities such as enforcing an executive order for Individuals with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness. She taught me about the unbelievable power of faith and love. Accessibility Quick Tips WeCo's Accessibility Blog Updates WeCo's Network for VCR Professionals & Job Coaches, Manual Accessibility Audits and Remediation, Accessibility, Usability, and Disability Awareness Training, Accessibility, Inclusion SME Speaker Services, National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center, http://deafness.about.com/od/deafwomen/p/claudiagordon.htm, http://www.deafpeople.com/dp_of_month/Gordon.html, From Jamaica to U.S., heres the story of the first female deaf Black lawyer who advised Obama africainmatters. American University Washington College of Law, American University, Washington College of Law, United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, American Association of People with Disabilities, United States Secretary of Homeland Security, List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States, "Employee Spotlight: Disability Awareness Starts with All of Us and Benefits All of Us TMobile Newsroom", "Meet the Women of the Administration: Claudia Gordon", "Claudia Gordon: America's First Deaf Black Woman Lawyer is Jamaican Born", "Claudia Gordon: 1st African American Female Deaf Lawyer", "NCD Applauds Appointment of Claudia Gordon as Public Engagement Advisor at the White House", "Skadden Fellows | Skadden Fellowship Foundation", "Disability Rights Campaigner, Claudia Gordon, joins DeafKidz International as Global Ambassador", "Trustee Appointed to White House Office of Public Engagement", "President Obama Announces Presidential Delegation to Attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Paralympic Summer Games", "Previous AAPD Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Award Recipients", "| U.S. How to say Claudia L. Gordon in English? She assisted in the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness, monitoring how Federal agencies worked together to ensure that deaf and disabled persons were included in emergency-preparedness plans. At 11, she moved to the United States and attended Lexington School for the Deaf in New York. By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. For each of the 28 days of February, we at The Mary Sue will have a post about a black woman you should know aboutsome you may have heard of, some a little bit more obscure, and some fictional who still deserve a lot of love. @claudia.l.gordon.1. [2] Prior to joining the telecom industry, Gordon held various roles in the public sector from 2002 to 2017most notably as the associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, where she advised White House offices and senior officials including former President Barack Obama on disability issues. In an interview she makes a point that there was a deaf intern working in the White House before her, and that there are currently other deaf people working in less prestigious positions in the White House, Claudia Gordon has been active in both the black deaf community and the broader disability community. It's time to renew your membership and keep access to free CLE, valuable publications and more. Recently, what has been new and exciting about your work? The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling., Have a tip we should know? My mother was my most influential role model. The clinic nurse couldn't diagnose the pain in Gordon's middle ears, nor could the healers restore her hearing. In the summer of 2019, Voorde returned to her hometown of South Bend, Indiana to support Secretary Pete Buttigiegs run for President, serving as Chasten Buttigiegs full-time body woman on the campaign trail. She has worked as a staff attorney for the National Association for the Deaf, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as a Public Engagement Advisor and in the White House. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. She is also a Member of Disability Lead. She was deaf at the age of eight. Which is exactly the type of work Gordon was driven to do: I am motivated by knowing that although progress is being made towards inclusion and access, there is still a great deal more work to be done. After leaving the OFCCP U.S. Department of Labors Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. She went from being the brightest and most outgoing kid in my class, to being pulled out of school, isolated from her friends, and became an object of ridicule. Claudia also answers to Caudia Gordon, Claudia Haller Gordon, Claudia H Gordon, Glaudia H Gordon and Claudia Haller Gordon, and perhaps a couple of other names. When I suddenly lost my ability to hear at the age of eight, I was taken out of school and kept at home to perform chores. [18], Gordon has been active in both the black deaf community and the cross disability community. The OFCCP has powerful investigative and regulatory authorities for protecting workers, promoting diversity, and enforcing the law. Born in Jamaica, Claudia became deaf at age 8. First Name Claudia #8. Director of Government and Compliance with T-Mobile Accessibility. While there she developed and executed technical assistance and training to JFO staff and coordinate resolutions of discrimination and accessibility issues. Progress has been made due to a combination of an increase of concern for safety in a post-9/11 world and the success of the disability rights movement; however, there are still some gaps that need to be filled. Have a tip or story idea? She took her to a clinic and healers, to no avail. All Rights Reserved. Claudia L. Gordon is the first deaf Black female attorney in the United States and the first deaf graduate of American University's law school. In 2002, Gordon received the Paul G. Hearne/AAPD Leadership Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities. She didn't believe she was deaf because she had been reading peoples lip and thought she was hearing their voice. Gordon is a native of Jamaica, graduate of Howard University, and graduate of the American Universitys Washington College of Law.Risa Jaz Rifkind, Member, National Council on DisabilityRisa Jaz Rifkind is a justice advocate who seeks to make change by shifting access to power and influence. November 1st, 2016
During the Obama-Biden Administration, Gordon served as the Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Labors Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and the Associate Director of Public Engagement for the White House Office of Public Engagement.Adding to Gordons professional expertise is her lived experience as an immigrant at the intersections of race, disability, and gender, which is the foundation for the strong emphasis on disabled individuals with multiple marginalized identities that she brings to her work. Benally is also involved with the National Congress of American Indians, Disability Sub-Committee. Thanks to the values that were instilled in me during my formative years, I understood then that those voices of doubt neither dictated my worth nor my capacity. While working with impoverished and minority deaf people, she became attracted to the prospect of working in a Federal office. The White House Aries Model. Now, she has come on the inside to create change from within government. Her career began as an AmeriCorps member and 2nd grade teacher in Pascagoula, Mississippi. None of the doctors did anything to really help or make clear what was going on. Some cited my deafness as an obstacle rendering it impractical if not impossible to pursue a law degree. A. degree from Howard University . How did you become interested in working for the Federal government? It was there that I confronted the truth that passing legislation is one thing but actual implementation with enforcement is another. This discrimination is what inspired her to become a lawyer. By my junior year in high school, I made it known to all that I would go to law school and become an attorney. Get to know her by reading this post. Gordon is also associated with the National Coalition for Disability Rights , where she is part of their national governance, Sources: http://deafness.about.com/od/deafwomen/p/claudiagordon.htm http://www.deafpeople.com/dp_of_month/Gordon.html, Sylvia Walker: A Champion for Disability Rights, Filed Under: Access Awareness, General, Making a Case for Accessibility, [] at the National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center, giving her the opportunity to provide direct representation and advocacy for poor deaf persons with a particular emphasis on outreach []. It's hard to wrap your mind around it when you see it on paper. She was the vice president of the National Black Deaf Advocates. At the age of 74, she is still teaching today. A domestic servant with only an eighth grade education, she literally scrubbed her way to America one garment at a time. WASHINGTON Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to serve as members on the National Council on Disability: National Council on DisabilityNational Council on Disability (NCD) is an independent federal agency charged with advising the President, Congress, and other federal agencies regarding policies, programs, practices, and procedures that affect people with disabilities. August 30, 2010. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/30/meet-women-administration-claudia-gordon, Copyright 1995-2023 Jolanta Lapiak. At Lexington, she learned sign language for the first time and became the valedictorian of her junior and senior high school graduating classes. Prior to attending AU, Gordon graduated from Howard University in 1995 with a bachelor of arts in political science. Her family was then forced to take her out of primary school for almost two years since her school couldn't accommodate her needs as a deaf student. Currently, Claudia is a Senior Policy Advisor for the Department of Homeland Security, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. After becoming deaf, Gordon experienced discrimination in Jamaica as deaf and disabled persons are stigmatized. Claudia L. Gordon is the first deaf Black female attorney in the United States. After two years of no education, Claudia and her mother immigrated to New York. Facebook gives people the power. In Jamaica, Gordon could not get an education, so she moved to the United States where she attended first a public school, then the Lexington School and Center for the Deaf in New York. Being around other deaf children, and being embraced by a community taught Gordon that her disability was not the end of the road. Gordon went on to earn adegree in Political Science at Howard University, then went on to study disability-rights law and policy at American Universitys Washington College of Law. Claudia L. Gordon currently a political appointee with the Obama administration serving as Special Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). - Gallaudet University", "Centene Diversity & Inclusion | People With Disabilities", "CDT Project on Disability Rights & Algorithmic Fairness Advisory Committee", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Claudia_L._Gordon&oldid=1140822421, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, DeafKidz International, Global Ambassador, Centene National Disability Advisory Council, Center for Democracy and Technology Project on Disability Rights & Algorithmic Fairness, Advisory Committee, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:32. She was instrumental in drafting and implementing an executive order on Individuals with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness. Voorde recently returned to her hometown of South Bend, Indiana. 49 Year Old Aries #13. In 2004, she was named secretary of the Board for the Lexington Board of Directors. Grounded in Navajo tradition and fluent in Navajo, Benally is an experienced cultural instructor. My interest in working for the Federal government was sparked while working as a Skadden Fellow and staff attorney at the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Law and Advocacy Center from 2000-2002. Claudia Gordon. On a personal level, Ive had so many wonderful moments at the Department that its difficult to pick just one. And so as a result, at age eight Claudia Gordon became deaf. She took her to a clinic and healers, to no avail. I felt that a job with the Federal government would more effectively allow me to affect the actual enforcement of laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, thereby alleviating the blatant discrimination that people with disabilities continue to face. From July 2013 to March 2014 Claudia was assigned to the White House Office of Public Engagement where she served as the liaison to the disability community and advised on disability policies. Looking back, I wish I knew her real name. Claudia L. Gordon, Esq. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Its hard to pick a single moment that stands out in the eight months Ive been here.Every day I get to be a part of a team of nearly 750 dedicated public servants working in every part of the country who are responsible for holding those who do business with the Federal government contractors and subcontractors to the very reasonable standard that they cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. One problem we still find is that those who create emergency preparedness plans need to realize that the disability community is not homogeneous. 234 Likes, 63 Comments - Claudia L. Gordon (@cascade4ever) on Instagram: "Happy Valentines Day friends!! Claudia L. Gordon, Member, National Council on Disability Claudia Gordon is a dedicated advocate for people with disabilities with nearly 30 years of versatile professional expertise, with a . Former staff attorney of nonprofit National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center. Handspeak trademarked. Model Born in Rhode Island. Claudia Gordon is the third featured guest in the Council on Women and Girls: Meet the Women of the Administration series. As she became deaf during the summer, the school and her parents decided that Claudia couldn't go back to school in the fall. sites@gsu - Blogs for Georgia State University. Her mother immigrated to the South Bronx so that she could earn Secretary Hilda Solis has laid out a pretty straightforward mission for our department: Good Jobs for Everyone. Gordon has held senior leadership positions with Sprint Corporation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the National Council on Disability, and the National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center. See Claudia L. Gordon full list of movies and tv shows from their career. Pat spent 26 years as a public interest attorney fighting on behalf of the victims of employment discrimination. She was also the associate director at the White House Office of Public Engagement. With her fellowship project sponsored by the National Association of the Deaf, she "provided direct representation and advocacy for poor deaf persons, with a particular emphasis placed on outreach to members of minority groups". Disclamer: the number about Claudia L. Gordon's Instagram salary income and Claudia L. Gordon's Instagram net worth are just estimation based on publicly available information about Instagram's monetization programs, it is by no . People believed I was unable to learn and succeed simply because I could not hear, she recalls, these experiences convinced me that I wanted to be a vehicle for change. Claudia decided on law school to help her pursue such change, attending American University, Washington College of Law to study disability rights law and policy.