Who We Are

Shaun Bickley is an Autistic activist and community organizer. They joined the Commission in 2016 after moving here from Texas, where they trained other people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in Texas' state institutions and community on advocacy, as well as advocating on issues like community living and employment. Shaun is also the Secretary of Self-Advocates in Leadership, an advocacy group for people with I/DD, and has traveled around the country to present on topics of disability justice.

A  former member of Texas' Employment First Task Force, they have been organizing against the practice of paying disabled workers subminimum wages for years, and recently lead Seattle to become the first city in the country to ban the practice. Shaun lives in Queen Anne.

Diana Chaikin is an attorney working in private practice with a focus on disability law. A former attorney advisor for the Social Security Administration Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, she is a 2009 graduate of Seattle University School of Law, where she was a recipient of a Public Interest Law Foundation grant and served for two years as an Article Editor for the Seattle Journal for Social Justice.  Diana is proud to have represented hundreds of clients in disability hearings.

Rebecca Craemer is an experienced attorney in the field of accessibility.

After graduating from Brooklyn Law School in 2006 as a Sparer Interest Fellow, she worked at Advocates for Children in New York representing families of children with disabilities and running a pro bono legal program. She then worked at Disability Rights Legal Center in California on impact litigation involving a broad array of issues affecting people with disabilities including; service animals, police misconduct, building/facility and programmatic accessibility challenges to private and public buildings and transportation systems. During her time in litigation, Rebecca found she had a passion for accessibility and in 2016, she became certified as an expert in building and facility accessibility (CASp) through the California Division of State Architect's Office. Rebecca plans to use her experience to help make Seattle a more accessible city.

Matt Kanter was initially appointed to the commission as a member of Seattle YMCA's Get Engaged Program. He grew up as a kid with disabilities, with a brother with disabilities, and a father who worked in Special Education. the injustices and struggles faced by people with disabilities were always present to him and something he wanted to fight. Matt is an Alumni of Lake Washington Technical Academy and Lake Washington Institute of Technologies Culinary Arts program. He is a 2016-2017 Get Engaged Cohort Member and was a fellow with the Institute for a Democratic Future. He was also involved in partisan politics as the County Chair and a Statewide General Board member for the Youth Wing of the largest political party in the State, He currently works as a community outreach and alumni outreach coordinator for a large employment training non-profit. He used to work with City Councilmember Mike O'Brien, State Treasurer candidate John Paul Comerford, and companies like Zillow and Microsoft. If you need to get a hold of Matt feel free to e-mail matthew.kanter.official@gmail.com. He lives in Belltown in the 7th City Council District. 

 

Khazm "King Khazm" Kogita is a multifaceted artist, educator and community organizer who has become a prominent figure in the Hip-Hop community within Seattle and around the world. His work to engage and empower communities is demonstrated through over 20 years of art and community service.

Khazm serves as a member of the Seattle Commission for People with disAbilities, board member of paralysis support organization The Here & Now Project, executive director of indie record label Fresh Chopped Beats, manager of the historic venue/community space Washington Hall, and executive director of community organization 206 Zulu.

Diane was born with Cerebral Palsy and that's all that she has ever known.  She feels lucky to have grown up with loving family and friends but know many people with disabilities are not nearly as fortunate. She is a seasoned advocate for the disabled as well as a filmmaker and artist. Her diverse life experiences and dealing with negative attitudes toward people with disabilities are her inspiration for filmmaking. She hopes to continue to contribute her passion to the work of the Commission.

Mr.  Morris was disabled at birth with dysgraphia with ADHD. He is a longtime advocate for people with disabilities in the following areas Education, Employment, and community participation and inclusion. His goal is to leave this disabilities community more independent in the city the when he found it.  He has an electrical engineer degree from electrical engineer degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville famous for Wernher von Braun. He has an MBA and working on His Doctorate. He serves on the Ballard Nickelsville Community Advisory Committee and elected as a precinct committee officer (PCO) of SEA 36-3318 for a local political party.

ChrisTiana ObeySumner is a 2nd term commissioner, and chair of the Housing Committee. She is an Alaskan-Born, Philly-Raised, East-Coast transplant who moved to the area in 2010 to attend Seattle University as a Transfer Scholar. She has her B. Sc in Psychology, a Masters of Nonprofit Leadership, and is currently pursuing her M. Ed in Clinical Mental Health & Addictions Counseling. She is also Mrs. American Beauties National 2017 whose winning platform was "Ending Homelessness with Equity and Inclusion." ChrisTiana is a nerd who loves research and statistics, WWE, and vacillates musical obsessions between WWII-era Jazz and swing, and late 90's/early 2000's modern rock. She has personal experience with Neurodivergence, (psychiatric, emotional, cognitive, & developmental,) physical, and invisible chronic/zebra illnesses.

Nicole Palczewski is a native to the Seattle area and graduated magna cum laude from Oregon State University with a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology.

Growing up, she always felt the need to give back to her community, and started volunteering with Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center, which led to a focus on social inequality and disability rights during her early career.

Nicole works in Seattle as a nonprofit fundraiser, and uses her experience as a chronically disabled individual and an advocate for people experiencing homelessness to try and include all possible needs and viewpoints in her advocacy work. 

Eric Scheir is a resident of Shoreline, Washington. Eric works as Accessibility Specialist for a national phone company. He has more than 35 years of experience in non-profit organizations both locally and nationally. He brings a myriad of experiences and resources to the Commission. Determined to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace and public arena for people who are diverse Deaf, DeafBlind, Deaf+ and Hard of Hearing, Eric strives to improve initiatives, resources and barrier-free environments within the community.

Dorian Taylor has been advocating for the rights of folks living with disabilities and surviving the experiences of institutional violence since Dorian's life was changed by that same reality. For the past 6 years, Dorian has paved the way for their own health and well-being this leading by example and supporting others in the community to:advocate for themselves for medical and housing needs,interpersonal outreach and community advocacy, and improving relationships between disabled riders and bus drivers.Dorian uses their personal experiences as education to help those in need.

Dorian Taylor was also a member of the 2016 USA Paracanoe World championship team

Jessica Williams-Hall is a native of the Seattle area and grew up on Bainbridge Island.  She attended the University of Washington where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood and Family Studies and obtained her Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Western Washington University.  She was fortunate enough to intern at the Alliance of People with DisAbilities during her Master's Program and where she now works.  She realized early on that she would gravitate to working with other people like her that had a disability that didn't hold them back.  She really wants to make a difference on the Commission and is looking forward to making a difference.