Dr. Robyn Powell serves as the team leader and co-researcher for the DPP. Robyn is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Stetson University College of Law and co-investigator of the National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities at Brandeis University. As a disabled woman, Robyn has dedicated her career to disability rights. Robyn was an Attorney-Advisor at the National Council on Disability, where she was the principal author of Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children. Robyn is an international authority and has published and presented extensively on the rights and experiences of parents with disabilities and their children. Robyn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from Bridgewater State University, a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Policy from Brandeis University. While not yet a parent, Robyn looks forward to the day she becomes a mother. Robyn lives in Florida with her dog.
Dr. Kara Ayers serves as a parent advisor and co-researcher for the DPP. She is an Assistant Professor and the Associate Director of the University of Cincinnati University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UC UCEDD). Kara’s interests include self-advocacy, parenting with a disability, community inclusion, and the use of film to teach and empower people with disabilities, their families, and professionals. Kara is actively involved in disability policy through listening to stakeholders and educating policymakers. Personally and professionally, Kara also leverages social media in advocacy. Kara is married with two children. She and her family live in Ohio.
Dr. Erin Andrews serves as a parent advisor and co-researcher for the DPP. She is a board-certified rehabilitation psychologist and her areas of interest are disability as diversity, disability culture and identity development, social justice in sexuality, reproduction, and parenting, and disability in post-secondary education. Erin has published and presented nationally on a wide range of disability topics and holds positions with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. Erin is married with two teenage stepchildren and two small children; they live in Austin, Texas.