Vivian G. Bass, Board of Directors – Vice Chair
Vivian Bass
Vivian G. Bass of Bethesda, Maryland currently serves as a Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Disability Belongs™, having been actively engaged with the organization essentially since its inception.
Bass is the CEO Emeritus of Makom (formerly JFGH), where she served for 30 years at the helm of the organization which supports for adults with disabilities. Makom ultimately grew to provide services to those in 77 residential locations throughout the Greater DC Area via a wide variety of models as well as to participants in two innovative transition youth programs.
She was formerly a Board Chair of Jewish Women International (JWI – formerly B’nai B’rith Women International) and is currently the Board President of Save a Child’s Heart US (SACH). In the local DC Area, Bass is a board or advisory board member of CaringMatters, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Tzedek DC and is a founding board member and longtime pro bono consultant of Potomac Community Resources (PCR) which evolved via disabilities advocates from within the local Catholic Community.
She is a Lion of Judah (“Woman of Valor”) the highest distinction awarded internationally for Jewish women; was named as ‘Washingtonian of the Year’ (Washingtonian Magazine) and has been bestowed numerous other distinctions for her advocacy with regards to persons with disabilities, women’s issues and/or global humanitarian causes.
Bass has presented at The World Congress on Disabilities in conjunction with the Paralympics, The National Organization on Disability (NOD), The American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), RespectAbility’s 30th ADA Anniversary Summit, and The International Lion of Judah Conference, among an array of other conferences, lectures and webinars.
She remains active with alumni endeavors of The University of Michigan, where she received undergraduate and graduate degrees in Special Education.
