About the Disability Rights Working Group
The Disability Rights Working Group (DRWG) is committed to the constant interrogation of our understanding and responses to issues that impact disabled people. The DRWG hosts activities that provide greater awareness of these issues and that foster disability equality.
Who We Are
Co-Directors
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Laverne Jacobs
- (During her service as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Professor Jacobs will continue to lead and work on academic projects with the Center, but will not be involved in any of our advocacy work.)
- she/her
Laverne Jacobs is a Professor of Law at the University of Windsor in Canada. She researches, writes and teaches actively in the areas of law and disability rights, human rights, and administrative law and justice. Through her research, she explores the lived experiences of people with disabilities in relation to the law. Professor Jacobs has published and lectured widely in Canada and internationally. She is the lead author of several books and articles including the first law and disability textbook in Canada (Law and Disability in Canada (2021)) and the Annotated Accessible Canada Act (2021). Professor Jacobs founded and directs The Law, Disability and Social Change Project, a research and public advocacy initiative housed at Windsor Law that works to foster and develop inclusive communities. She is also a Co-Director of the Disability Rights Working Group of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law.
Outside of the University, Dr. Jacobs has consulted with NGOs and government. She has been invited to serve on the Board of Directors of several organizations, has held public appointments on tribunals, and has testified as an expert before the Senate of Canada on disability issues. Dr. Jacobs has received recognition for her scholarship and leadership on disability equality, including the Touchstone Award from the Canadian Bar Association in 2021.
Dr. Laverne Jacobs was elected to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2022 for the 2023–2026 term.
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Lisa Waddington
- she/her
Lisa Waddington is the European Disability Forum Professor of European Disability Law at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
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Marie Spinoy
- she/her
Marie Spinoy is a PhD Researcher and Lecturer in Constitutional Law and Anti-Discrimination Law at the KU Leuven Faculty of Law.
Student Assistants
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Brittany Postle
- she/her