ANCOR Announces Six Recipients of the 2026 Excellence in Public Policy Awards

Annual awards program recognizes significant contributions of key leaders to national policy landscape in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – ANCOR, the leading voice in Washington for providers of community-based intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) services, announced the six recipients of its 2026 Excellence in Public Policy Awards.

The honorees—including five professionals from the field of community-based intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) services, as well as a leading member of Congress who has dedicated her career to improving the lives of people with disabilities—will be recognized in a ceremony next week in Arlington, Virginia, during ANCOR’s 2026 Policy Summit & Hill Day.

ANCOR’s Congressional Champion Award recognizes elected officials who have played an instrumental role in improving the lives of people with I/DD through public policy that enhances access to quality services. The recipient of this year’s Congressional Champion Award is The Honorable Diane DeGette, who represents Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Representative DeGette was chosen in recognition of her commitment to policy solutions that improve access to disability services and community inclusion.

Among the association’s top honors recognizing professionals in the field of I/DD services is the Suellen Galbraith Award for Excellence in Public Policy, which is named after the public policy professional who led ANCOR’s government relations work for several years before her untimely death in 2015. The award recognizes the contributions of advocates who have had a significant impact on ANCOR’s public policy agenda in the past year. The recipient of the 2026 Suellen Galbraith Award for Excellence in Public Policy is Alison Barkoff, who serves as the Harold and Jane Hirsh Associate Professor of Health Law and Policy at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. Barkoff is being recognized for her leadership and legacy in advancing the principles of Olmstead and defending the right to community integration for people with disabilities.

The Bonnie-Jean Brooks Rising Star Award recognizes an advocate and professional who is redefining community-based disability services for the next generation. The 2026 recipient of this award is Susie Parker, who serves on the Board of Directors for Missouri-based Emmaus Homes. Parker is recognized both as one of the ANCOR Foundation’s inaugural Self-Advocate Scholars, but also for her advocacy federally and in Jefferson City.

The annual Grassroots Star Award recognizes the advocate, coalition, or campaign that is exerting significant influence on disability policy through grassroots advocacy. The recipients of this year’s Grassroots Star Award are Mark Davis and Christine Brown. Davis serves as President & CEO of PAR, one of the statewide provider associations in Pennsylvania, while Brown serves as a Clinical Research Assistant and self-advocate faculty member at The Ohio State University’s Nisonger Center. Brown and Davis are recognized for their work to bring the Medicaid-Buy-In bill to fruition, a new law that would have a tremendous impact on the I/DD community by ensuring that working adults with disabilities who choose to continue working past age 65 can maintain Medicaid coverage and essential benefits.

The Diane McComb State Association Star Award recognizes the role of a state provider association leader in advocating for innovation and transformation within the field of community-based I/DD services. This year is the seventh time we have bestowed this award, but it’s an especially poignant one, as we lost Diane earlier this year after her short but audacious fight against a rare form of cancer. The recipient of the 2026 Diane McComb State Association Star Award is Sue Schettle, President & CEO of ARRM, a state provider association in Minnesota. Schettle is being honored for her long-standing commitment to ensuring access to better services for more disabled Minnesotans. She is also recognized for the work she has done recently to lift up the program integrity of Minnesota’s I/DD service delivery system at a time when the federal government’s imprecise action to root out fraud and abuse has threatened to weaken the state’s network of I/DD services.

The recipients of ANCOR’s 2026 Excellence in Public Policy Awards will be honored in a ceremony on Tuesday, September 15, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Washington, DC. Members of the press who have questions about the awards program or this year’s honorees should email Sean Luechtefeld, ANCOR’s vice president for membership and communications.

Congratulations to this year’s honorees, and thank you for your outstanding contributions to disability policy!

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