BBI Staff
María Verónica Reina, M.E.,
Executive Director, Global Partnership on Disability and Development (GPDD)
After an open, international competitive process, Ms. Reina was jointly selected in February 2008 by leadership from the Global Partnership on Disability and Development (GPDD) and the Burton Blatt Institute to serve as Executive Director of the GPDD. Reina, who has been the Director of International Projects at the BBI Washington, D.C. office since 2006, has diverse experiences working on disability research, advocacy and development work, including an intensive dedication to the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee for the Disability Convention.
Before joining the Burton Blatt Institute, María Verónica Reina served as President of the Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR). In this capacity she oversaw the CIR’s programs including Engineering Research, E-Learning and the International Disability Rights Monitor Project, a landmark international research process that documents and assesses the situation of people with disabilities worldwide.
María is an educational psychologist, a specialist in learning disabilities and a renowned international disability rights advocate. Prior to working in the US, María’s advocacy work focused on raising awareness and involvement of the international community on the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. María has organized Inter-American campaigns on the Convention aimed at the media, governments and other nongovernmental organizations, including the “Susana Abalo defense” campaign. In addition, María has chaired international disability rights meetings and conferences, moderated the International Disability Caucus communications and managed the Spanish translation and distribution of Disability Convention documents throughout Latin America.
Other organizations with which Ms. Reina has worked include the Inter-American Institute on Disability, the Institute for International Disability Advocacy, the Institute for International Cooperation and Development, Argentinean Disabled People Organization CILSA, and University Institute “San Martin”, where she was adjunct professor.
A graduate of the Catholic University of Santa Fe, Argentina, Ms. Reina received a specialization in Special Education for School Integration and a Master’s degree in Open and Distance Learning and Teaching, at the Spanish University UNED.
Curriculum Vita - M. Reina (Word file)
Selected Publications
- Distance Education Initiatives and Their Early 21st Century Role in the Lives of People with Disabilities
William N. Myhill, Deepti Samant, David Klein, Shelley Kaplan, María Verónica Reina, & Peter Blanck
In Focus on Distance Education Developments (Edward P. Bailey, ed., Nova Science Publishers, forthcoming 2007)
Word format - Defying Double Discrimination (2007)
Reina, M.V., Adya, M. & Blanck, P.
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 8, 95-104
** Pre-publication draft **
Word version
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