- Executive Office for Administration and Finance
- Massachusetts Office on Disability
Media Contact for Mary Mahon McCauley to Retire as Executive Director of Massachusetts Office on Disability
Stephanie Knapp, Deputy Chief of External Affairs
Boston — Today, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced the retirement of Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD) Executive Director Mary Mahon McCauley. MOD is an agency within the Executive Office for Administration and Finance that provides information, guidance, and training on disability-related civil rights and architectural access.
McCauley’s retirement comes after five years as the agency’s Executive Director and over 35 years in Massachusetts public service. Her last day with MOD will be February 28, 2025. The administration has begun to search for McCauley’s successor. The online application for the position has been posted, and first consideration will be given to applications received by December 20, 2024.
“Thank you to Mary Mahon McCauley for her distinguished public service career, and her dedication to advancing the rights of residents with disabilities in Massachusetts through her leadership at MOD,” said Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew J. Gorzkowicz. “MOD provides invaluable leadership on disability rights, and we look forward to finding a successor who will continue spearheading the agency’s important work.”
“It has been an honor and privilege to have this platform to bring together thousands of people with disabilities to work toward a truly just and inclusive society. As a woman who has been blind since age 17 and sober in recovery from Substance Use Disorder since age 23, I’ve found both personal and professional fulfillment joining with consumers and colleagues who share my deeply held belief that we all, including people with disabilities, have the legal and human right to work, live, and play on an even playing field,” said Mary Mahon McCauley. “Social justice begins with human rights, and disability rights are human rights.”
During McCauley’s tenure, MOD provided expert guidance on disability-related laws and regulations to thousands of Massachusetts residents with disabilities, municipal officials, state agencies, and others. Under her leadership, the MOD team:
- Expanded MOD’s systemic impact, growing MOD’s footprint and its team, adding an Assistive Technology Information Specialist, Communications Manager, and increasing the capacity of MOD’s Disability Rights Unit to offer more expert one-on-one guidance to members of the public.
- Oversaw over $18 million in Municipal ADA Improvement Grant funds distributed across her tenure. Funds were given to municipalities for accessibility-related planning and capital projects to make local communities more accessible for people with disabilities.
- Established the Information Technology/Assistive Technology working group, a cross-Secretariat initiative to improve digital accessibility across the Commonwealth. This group was instrumental in developing Executive Order 614, establishing the Digital Accessibility and Equity Governance Board and the state’s first Chief Information Technology Accessibility Officer.
- Raised awareness of the disability community and their concerns through participation on several Boards and commissions, including the Special Commission on State Institutions, Massachusetts Architectural Access Board, State 911 Commission, and a formal partnership with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). This partnership established an Access and Function Needs (AFN) Officer position within the State Emergency Operations Center at MEMA headquarters to bring the voices of the disability community to the table during critical statewide emergency discussions.
- Implemented new training programs, including a Disability in Employment workshop series, “Quarterly Tea” webinar series on topical issues in the disability community, and a Peer Resource Group for municipal ADA Coordinators.
- Provided accessible, plain language disability rights guidance through a restructuring of the MOD website, allowing members of the public to easily find answers to their most frequently asked disability rights questions.
Prior to MOD, McCauley worked with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC, now known as MassAbility) for 30 years as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Unit Supervisor, Job Placement Specialist, and as the Downtown Boston office Area Director from 2008 until 2019. MassAbility empowers people with disabilities to live life on their own terms through programs and services that expand possibilities in careers and training, home and community life, and legal rights and benefits – including disability determination for federal programs.
McCauley was also the facilitator of a low vision group through the Massachusetts Association for the Blind from 1996 through 2013. McCauley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Master of Education in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Massachusetts at Boston. She also successfully completed the Commonwealth Management Certificate Program in 2014.
Julia O’Leary, MOD’s General Counsel, will serve as Acting Executive Director until the position is filled.
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