I have known and worked with Rhonda for many years both when she was a professional advocate with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and in her consulting work. Rhonda is extremely professional and gifted. She can really be an asset to you as an individual struggling to manage stress and adversity in today’s workplace, or for your whole office team. She has great skills in conflict management, advocacy work, civil rights work and how to ground yourself and your staff during difficult times. Whatever help or support you need, Rhonda can help!
I had the pleasure of working with Rhonda when I interned at Handicap International USA in 2009. Rhonda was the project manager for the Making it Work Initiative, and with her supervision, we developed a toolkit manual to support organizations who want to implement the principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in their country. As my supervisor, she mentored me in the field of international human rights issues concerning people with disabilities. Rhonda is knowledgeable about many domestic and international disability legislation, and is committed to sharing her expertise with people from the grassroots level to government officials. Rhonda’s advocacy work has empowered individuals who have been marginalized in different communities to speak up against discrimination. She continues to encourage me to develop my professional goals and connects me to the leaders of the disability community. Her caring attitude, inner strength, and professional achievements makes her a great role model and mentor for people with disabilities.
I worked with Rhonda on a variety of international disability and human rights efforts, including the campaign for United States ratification of the international disability rights agreement, the CRPD. We did a lot of outreach and stakeholder education together, and Rhonda was an integral part of our team. Rhonda was equally adept at engaging grassroots advocates as she is at educating policymakers. She has a natural talent for bringing people in. Fostering inclusion comes so naturally to Rhonda–she walks the talk! She easily builds colleague relationships and earns the trust of her colleagues–she is a solid partner, brings a professional skill set, and is not afraid of hard work. It is exciting to see her in this next stage of her work, bridging cultures, fostering advocacy and supporting advocates, and making our big world a little smaller–and a little bit kinder too. Thank you, Rhonda Raven Neuhaus, for your work and your vision.