Ten Disability Leaders, Including Five Members of Congress, to be Recognized with 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 this morning that 10 leaders will be recognized next week with the association’s 2025 Excellence in Public Policy Awards. Included in this year’s class of honorees are five members of Congress, who will be honored with Medicaid Champion Awards at ANCOR’s 2025 Policy Summit & Hill Day on September 8-9.

New to the Excellence in Public Policy Awards this year is the Medicaid Champion Award, which recognizes the outstanding leadership of members of Congress who fought to strengthen Medicaid-funded I/DD services earlier this year during Congress’ debate over its reconciliation package. Although sweeping cuts to Medicaid were ultimately passed that will have a harmful impact on access to community-based I/DD services, the recipients of the Medicaid Champion Award fought tirelessly to ensure the most harmful impacts of Medicaid cuts were curtailed.

The five members of Congress being honored with a Medicaid Champion Award are:

• Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
• Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
• Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
• Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC)
• Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Additionally, ANCOR’s 2025 Excellence in Public Policy Awards will recognize four accomplished leaders in the I/DD services field, as well as a leading coalition working to strengthen the rights and well-being of people with I/DD.

Among the association’s top honors 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 two recipients of the 2025 Suellen Galbraith Award for Excellence in Public Policy are Barry Simon, president and chief executive officer for Hartford, Conn.-based Oak Hill, and Cheryl Wicks, vice president of external affairs for Omaha, Neb.-based Mosaic. Among their many contributions to advocacy on behalf of community disability services, Simon and Wicks are being recognized for their roles as two of the three co-chairs of the association’s Government Relations Committee. The third of the Committee’s co-chairs, Alliance president and chief executive officer Josh Rael, was a 2023 recipient of the Suellen Galbraith Award.

Also to be honored on September 8 is Pete Van Runkle, the recipient of the 2025 Diane McComb State Association Star Award. Van Runkle, who recently began PVR Consulting after a nearly 35-year career leading the Ohio Health Care Association, is a recognized leader both within the Buckeye State and at the national level. He truly embodies the spirit of the Diane McComb Award, which recognizes the role of a state provider association leader in advocating for innovation and transformation within the field of community-based I/DD services.

Joining Simon, Wicks and Van Runkle is Christina Ingoglia, who will receive the 2025 Bonnie-Jean Brooks Rising Star Award. This award—named for a pioneer who, even in her retirement, continues to drive the field forward through her advocacy—recognizes emerging leaders who are redefining community-based disability services for the next generation.

Ingoglia, who recently left her post as director of advocacy for St. Louis, Mo.-based Emmaus to become the director of policy advocacy for the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council, has spent her career raising her voice on behalf of people with I/DD. Among the many reasons Ingoglia was selected for this honor is her work to strengthen the direct support workforce, which has made significant strides in the Show-Me State following decades of stagnant wages, high turnover and high vacancy rates.

Finally, ANCOR will bestow the Grassroots Star Award upon New York Disability Advocates (NYDA), a coalition that brings together 300+ provider agencies and several of the leading disability associations across the Empire State to strengthen the system of services for New Yorkers with disabilities. The Grassroots Star Award recognizes the contributions of leading-edge grassroots advocacy efforts that have the potential to meaningfully transform the lives of people with I/DD. NYDA was selected for this honor for a number of reasons, most notably the substantial work it did to ensure people with disabilities could take their seat at the table when it comes to advocacy against cuts to federal Medicaid funding.

“This year has been incredibly challenging given the many threats to community-based I/DD services, not the least of which being nearly $1 trillion in cuts to federal Medicaid funding,” said Barbara Merrill, chief executive officer for ANCOR. “But in an otherwise dark time, the five congressional champions we’re honoring this year are bright spots, reminding us all that ensuring the inclusion and well-being of people with disabilities is a bipartisan endeavor. We couldn’t be more grateful for the leadership of Senators Wyden, Collins and Tillis, as well as Representatives Fitzpatrick and Palone.”

Lydia Dawson, ANCOR’s vice president for government relations, added: “As a national community of providers, we simply cannot improve access to community disability services on our own. It requires the hard work, commitment and dedication of leaders who truly believe that fully inclusive communities are within reach for folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Frankly, I can’t think of leaders more deserving of these honors than Pete [Van Runkle], Christina [Ingoglia], Cheryl [Wicks] and Barry [Simon], as well as the countless advocates who have been involved in NYDA’s advocacy.”

The recipients of ANCOR’s 2025 Excellence in Public Policy Awards will be honored on Capitol Hill on Monday, September 8. 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.

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