Leah Daniels-Butler
Rockville, Md., July 13 – Leah Daniels-Butler, “Empire” casting director, will be speaking at RespectAbility’s summit From Hollywood to Capitol Hill: The Future of Americans with Disabilities.
Daniels-Butler is a casting director and producer most notable for launching the careers of gifted actors like Best Actress Nominee Gaborey Sidebe, star of the Academy Award winning film “Precious,” securing talent for both blockbuster and award-winning films like “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “Lee Daniels, The Butler” and as Casting Director for television’s #1 show, “Empire.”
Her ongoing commitment to championing the inclusion and representation of diverse acting casts of color, gender and ability has guided her career path to being appointed a National Board Director for the Casting Society of America, spearheading the CSA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Steven James Tingus
Daniels-Butler dedicates her time to helping shape the second chance futures of women in her community as Board Director for “A New Way to Life ReEntry Project,” an organization that provides housing and support to formerly incarcerated women in South Central Los Angeles.
RespectAbility Board Member Steven James Tingus will be introducing Daniels-Butler. A national expert on disability, aging and healthcare policy, he currently is advocating for diversity and inclusion within the entertainment industry. Tingus has worked with Daniels-Butler on disability inclusion in her casting work in Hollywood and helped develop a successful summit on disability inclusion with SAG-AFTRA last year.
The RespectAbility summit will celebrate the good that can be done to end stigmas and advance opportunities for the 57 million Americans with disabilities.
Daniels-Butler and Tingus join ten speakers who have previously been announced:
- Eleanor Clift, author of Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment (Turning Points in History) and Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Politics
- Calvin Harris, The Bipartisan Policy Center
- Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, President, RespectAbility
- Tommy Morrissey, One-Arm Golfer
- Commissioner Melissa Ortiz, Administration on Disabilities (invited)
- Gerard Robinson, AEI
- Brad Sherman (D-CA)
- Marc Summers, Television Host and author of Everything in Its Place: My Trials and Triumphs with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Donna Walton, Divas with Disabilities and author of Shattered Dreams, Broken Pieces
Location: Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. Tickets are free but spaces are extremely limited and RSVPs are required.
How can I request accommodations?
ADA seating, live captioning and ASL interpreters will be provided. Please let us know in advance if you need other accommodations.
More Information and RSVP: http://bit.ly/July31DC.
