Board Members

Berthy De La Rosa-Aponte, M.A. has been a disability advocate for over 30 years. Her professional experiences centered on administering services and programs to the disability and/or the Hispanic communities in the US in the educational and social service fields. She has served in numerous local, state and national boards. She served as a Presidential appointee as the Chair of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel, a congressional Bi-partisan committee, and as a Member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Her youngest daughter, Lucy has significant Developmental Disabilities.

Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn is Professor at American University in Washington, DC. He has a joint appointment in the School of International Service where he serves in the International Communication and International Development Programs; and in the Kogod School of Business where he serves in the Department of Information Technology & Analytics. He also serves at the founding Executive Director of the AU Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP), is Faculty Co-Director of the Internet Governance Lab (IGL), and is Director of COTELCO the Collaboration Laboratory.

Colette is based in Cape Town, South Africa and is the chief Universal Access Consultant at Inclusive Design. Her areas of focus include the built environment, transport services and standards development and her clients include companies, local and national government as well as international clients. She has a passion for teaching and skills transfer on Universal Design and is a regular guest speaker at local universities and local and international companies. Colette was among the first international applicants to receive the highest echelon of accreditation, Level 3 Advanced Accessibility Consultant for the Certification of Professionals in Accessible Built Environments (CPABE) Program by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP).

Shelley Siegel, FASID is founder of Universal Design & Education Network, a Universal Design focused interior design firm, as well as a consulting designer with Siegel Design Group, Inc., a design-build company she owns with her husband, Roy Siegel.