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Disability and civil rights leader to present annual Bobby Boyd Leadership Lecture

UNC’s School of Social Work is pleased to welcome disability and civil rights leader Mia Ives-Rublee as the guest speaker for the 2023 annual Bobby Boyd Leadership Lecture Series on March 21, 2023.

A 2009 MSW alumna of the School and director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for American Progress, Ives-Rublee will present “The Pain Points – A Story of Empathy and the Journey Toward Macro Social Work.” This event will be presented virtually and in person in the auditorium of the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The presentation starts at 12:30 pm and is open to the public. Participants are required to register for the event.

As a Korean American transracial adoptee born with osteogenesis imperfecta, commonly known as brittle bone disease, Ives-Rublee understands the challenges of integrating into mainstream society by persevering through stigma, discrimination and inaccessibility. Over the course of her career, she has leaned on the lessons from her personal and professional experiences to continuously push for the rights of people with disabilities, immigrants, and other marginalized communities.

In her lecture, Ives-Rublee will detail her journey from adaptive athlete to national activist, including how she helped to found the Women’s March Disability Caucus and organize the original Women’s March on Washington in 2017, one of the largest protests in American history. She will discuss how to use multiple tools including research, storytelling and lobbying to uplift the needs and priorities of marginalized communities.

One hour of continuing education credit will be offered to participants. Register now for the event.

More About the Speaker
A recipient of the School’s 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award, Mia Ives-Rublee also serves as a member of President Biden’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

Prior to joining the Center for American Progress, she advocated for disability justice and inclusion at nonprofit organizations and businesses across the United States. She has also worked with Families Belong Together, DC Action Lab, Adoptees for Justice, Fair Fight, People’s Collective for Justice and Liberation, and numerous other progressive organizations. In 2017, Ives-Rublee was recognized as one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year, and in 2020, She the People named her among “20 Women of Color in Politics to Watch.”

Bobby Boyd About the Bobby Boyd Leadership Lecture Series
Bobby Boyd, MSW ‘69, is a member of UNC School of Social Work’s Board of Advisors, a recipient of the School’s 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award, and the former director of Catawba County Social Services, where he retired after a nearly 30-year career.

The lecture series in his honor is made possible by the Bobby Boyd Leadership Fund at the School of Social Work. The fund was established by Boyd’s former staff at the Catawba County Department of Social Services, the Social Services Board and Catawba County Commissioners with the purpose of sustaining Boyd’s vision of focusing on results and excellence in public service. The fund supports leadership development and opportunities for UNC School of Social Work students. The Bobby Boyd Leadership Lecture provides a forum for leaders from various fields of practice to discuss their experiences and their use of specific strategies to provide leadership aimed at promoting social change interventions.