Informational Hearing: Advancing Health Equity for People with Disabilities

The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities will hold an Informational Hearing on Health Equity on Monday, May 19, 2025, starting at 10:30 A.M. in Room 428 at the Massachusetts State House and virtually via Zoom.

This hearing serves as an opportunity for invited subject matter experts to introduce themselves to the Commission and identify significant priorities and challenges relevant to health equity for people with disabilities. The discussion will focus on the systemic barriers, ongoing initiatives, and opportunities for collaboration between state agencies, healthcare leaders, and disability advocates.

This hearing is not intended to address specific legislation or pending bills. Testimony will be limited to invited organizations, though members of the public are welcome to attend and observe.

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Commission's Executive Director Imene Bouziane Saidi at imene.bouzianesaidi@mass.gov

Invited Experts

Dr. Craig Andrade – Health Equity Compact

Craig Andrade is Associate Dean of Practice and Director of the Activist Lab at Boston University’s School of Public Health (SPH) where he is serves to catalyze and encourage SPH’s public health practice portfolio locally and globally among all members of the school community, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners. He is also a member of the Dean’s Cabinet and the Governing Council and chairs the school’s permanent practice committee.

Previously Dr. Andrade was the Director of the Bureau of Family Health & Nutrition (BFHN) at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). BFHN’s programs include Early Intervention (EI), Pregnancy, Infancy and Early Childhood, Children and Youth with Special Health Needs, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program, Home Visiting, Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, Breastfeeding Initiative, Birth Defects Surveillance, Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program, the Office of Data Translation and Birth Defects Research and Prevention. He also served as Director of the Division of Health Access at DPH, helped found the Racial Equity Leadership Team and Cross-Department Racial Equity Collaborative at DPH and was Associate Dean of Health and Wellness and Director of Student Health Services at Wheaton College in Norton, MA.

He served as critical care, public health and ward nurse at Boston Medical Center; nurse manager and head athletic trainer at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, MA; and was owner/operator of Active Health, a private health and fitness company. Craig is a registered nurse, athletic trainer, licensed massage therapist and strength and condition specialist with masters and doctoral degrees in public health from Boston University. His research interests include behavioral risk management and resilience-building among children, adolescents and young adults.

Linda Long Bellil – Assistant Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health, UMass Chan Medical School

Linda Long-Bellil, PhD, JD is an assistant professor of Family Medicine and Community Health is based at the E.K. Shriver Center. In addition to her research on health care and disability, including reproductive health care, she also teaches in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Fellowship program and has more than twenty years of experience teaching medical and other health professions students how to provide quality care to people with disabilities.

Dr. Joseph Giacino, PhD. - Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Joseph T. Giacino is Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School (HMS), Director of Rehabilitation Neuropsychology, the Disorders of Consciousness Program and the Neurorehabilitation Laboratory at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Co-Director of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Outcomes Center. He is also an Associate Neuropsychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Adjunct Professor in the Rehabilitation Sciences Doctoral Program at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

He is a Past-President (2010-2011) of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) and a Fellow in the National Academy of Neuropsychology and in the ACRM. His research is aimed at developing high precision neurodiagnostic procedures, multidimensional clinical outcome assessment approaches and targeted therapeutic interventions for persons with severe acquired brain injury and disorders of consciousness. He is a Principal Investigator/MPI on three federally funded multi-center grants, including the Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (NIDILRR, 2012-2027), Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in TBI (NINDS and DoD, 2013-2029) and Central Thalamic Stimulation for Traumatic Brain Injury (NINDS, 2015-2024) and oversees a large portfolio of additional studies funded by federal, philanthropic and private agencies.

Dr. Giacino has published over 200 articles and book chapters and is the recipient of the ACRM Brain Injury Special Interest Group’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Brain Injury Association of America's William Fields Caveness Award, the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Robert L. Moody Prize and the North American Brain Injury Society’s Clinical Research Award.

Nicole Godaire - CEO, Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts

Nicole Godaire is employed as Chief Executive Officer of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts (BIA-MA) and has been with BIA-MA since 2005. Nicole’s passion is advocating for the brain injury community, improving access to more programs and services for individuals with brain injury and caregivers in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Nicole’s relationships within the provider community have made it possible for BIA-MA to increase brain injury awareness and close gaps in services across the state.

Erica Guimarães - Deputy Director of the Office of Health Equity, MassHealth

Erica Guimarães is the Deputy Director of the Office of Health Equity at MassHealth, where she leads the implementation of the Quality and Equity Incentive Program—part of Massachusetts’ current 1115 Demonstration Waiver. This five-year initiative is designed to drive systemic change and advance health equity across the Commonwealth's healthcare systems. With two decades of experience in community and public health, Erica is deeply committed to ensuring equitable access to high-quality care for underserved populations.

Keith Jones - Disability Rights Advocate

Keith Jones is the President and CEO of SoulTouchin’ Experiences LLC. It is an organization aimed at bringing a perspective to the issues of access inclusion and empowerment, which affect him as well as others who are persons with and without disabilities.

To achieve this multicultural, cross-disability education and outreach efforts he collaborates and conducts trainings with the purpose of strengthening efforts to provide services and information for people with disabilities. The issues he tackles are wide ranging from immigration, criminal justice reform, health care and environmental justice just to name a few.

Paralleling with his policy and social justice work Mr. Jones is a multitalented artist who along with Leroy Moore and Rob Temple founded Krip Hop Nation which is an international collection of artists with disabilities. Krip Hop Nation is currently celebrating 14 years with the recent Emmy Award winning success of their title song for the Netflix documentary of the Paralympic Games, Rising Phoenix and its critical acclaimed sound track.

John Madondo – CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Massachusetts

John Madondo leads the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Massachusetts, overseeing both the Senior Care Options (SCO) and One Care programs, which provide integrated, person-centered care to individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. With more than 25 years of clinical and executive leadership experience, John has committed his career to improving access and outcomes for seniors, people with disabilities, and medically underserved communities. A registered nurse and nurse practitioner by training, he has worked across acute care, home-based care, and community health settings. John is also a co-founder of multiple healthcare organizations focused on delivering inclusive and compassionate care to people with physical, intellectual, and behavioral health needs. Before his role in Massachusetts, he held executive leadership positions with UnitedHealthcare in Tennessee, where he directed long-term services and supports (LTSS) programs and complex care initiatives. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Nursing from Tennessee State University and an MBA from the University of Tennessee.
 

Nassira Nicola – Deputy Director for Access and Inclusion, Office of Health Equity and Community Engagement, Department of Public Health

Nassira Nicola (she/they) is the Deputy Director for Access and Inclusion in the Office of Health Equity and Community Engagement at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Their work focuses on building capacity within public-health programs to partner with people with disabilities and those for whom English is not a first language. They have a deep personal and professional background in disability, including many years in the Independent Living movement, and currently serve as Principal Investigator for DPH's CDC-funded Health and Disability Program. Nassira holds degrees in linguistics from Harvard University and the University of Chicago, and ADA Coordinator certification from the Great Plains ADA Center.

Maura Sullivan – CEO, The Arc of Massachusetts

Maura Sullivan is the Chief Executive Officer for The Arc of Massachusetts. She will take on this role in November 2024. Maura has been leading Government Affairs for The Arc for a decade.  She is also the Director of Operation House Call, a nationally recognized training program and partnership between The Arc and all major Massachusetts Medical Schools. Maura’s Government Affairs work includes leading the advocacy for the passage of several significant legislative achievements, and she has been instrumental in securing increased funding for the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) budget, the direct support workforce, and MassHealth.

In addition, Maura directs the policy and advocacy of Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts. A former LEND Fellow, Maura holds a master’s degree in public administration from Suffolk University. She is also a devoted mother of three, including two transition-age sons who have autism and intellectual disabilities.

Heather Watkins – Disability Rights Advocate

Heather Watkins is a disability rights advocate, author, mother, speaker, consultant, peer researcher, graduate of Emerson College with a B.S. in Mass Communications. Born with Muscular Dystrophy, loves reading, daydreaming, chocolate, and serves on a handful of disability-related boards and projects. She is a former Chair of Boston Disability Commission Advisory Board and a former Vice Chair of Disability Policy Consortium's board of directors. Her publishing experience includes articles in MDA’s Quest magazine, Mass Rehab Commission’s Consumer Voice newsletter and has blogged for sites like: Our Ability, Art of Living Guide, Disabled Parenting, Rooted In Rights, Women’s Media Center, Femme Frugality, and Thank God I. Heather’s short story, “Thank God I have Muscular Dystrophy” published in 2013 as part of compilation in the Thank God I…Am an Empowered Woman ® book series. Her blog Slow Walkers See More includes reflections and insight from her life with disability.