Staff Bio

Barbara Gibbs Levitz, M.S.

Program Director, LEND Family Partnerships Training

Ms. Levitz joined WIHD in 1989 and served as the Project Coordinator for a Regional Planning Group for Early Intervention Services and coordinator for the Partners in Policy Making Training. In 1992, she became the director for the newly established Family Resource Center at WIHD, a parent staffed program called The Family Connection. She has worked extensively to forge partnerships between families and professionals, improve public attitudes and enhance opportunities for children with disabilities, to promote capacity building and systems change, and to integrate a family perspective into training professionals. She was the founder/chairperson of the Parent Assistance Committee on Down Syndrome (1972-1998), and served on the Board of Governors for the NYS ARC for more than 15 years.

Ms Levitz has been a presenter at family and professional conferences and has contributed publications related to families and disability, including co-writing the award winning film, Employ*ability: Integrating People with Developmental Disabilities Into the Workplace, and a Family-Directed Transition Planning Guide. She was appointed as a charter member of the NYS Family Support Advisory Council (1991) and assisted in the establishment of Parent to Parent of New York State and NYS and national Family Support legislation. She is an active member of New York State's Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council (Governor's appointment 1993) and the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (1996) representing the consumer caucus on the Executive Committee.