Brian W. Chao

Founded in 2003 by Max and Colleen Starkloff and David Newburger, the Starkloff Disability Institute focuses on influencing societal attitudes and perceptions toward people with disabilities through activities that send positive messages in order to create a world that welcomes all people with disabilities. Our Mission: Empower people with disabilities, influence the non-disabled, and serve as liaisons between them, in order to achieve full participation of the disabled through economic independence achieved through practical and collaborative means. Our Future Vision: We envision a society where the disabled are seen by themselves and others as equally gifted. SDI is the preeminent national expert on understanding, valuing, including, hiring, accommodating, working with, and living with those with disabilities. SDI will have changed the vocabulary around disability and driven higher employment and participation of the disabled. Our Core Values: • We are open, honest, candid, and caring about our teammates • We embrace continuous improvement • We challenge thinking internally and externally • We embrace collaboration internally and externally • We are a team of leaders developing future leaders • We embrace life-long learning • We collaborate; we are empowered; we recognize our teammates'​ gifts Programming: • Employment - The Next Big Step Ongoing Key Initiatives: • Disability Studies • Universal Design • Direct Action