About the Presenters

Christina Mills is a nationally recognized youth leader. Currently she works as the Systems Change Advocate for the Access Center of San Diego, Inc and part time as a youth consultant for the KASA (Kids as Self Advocates) Project. Since 1997 she has been a volunteer staff member of the Youth Leadership Forum and for the past three years she has been the first youth to facilitate the entire weeklong event. Christina has been a guest speaker/trainer at a variety of different conferences, trainings, workshops, and seminars. In 2001 she was not only one of the Paul G. Hearn Leadership Award finalists, but was also appointed by the California Governor, Grey Davis, to represent the youth perspective on the Statewide Independent Living Council. Christina served one year as the Chair of the Youth Advisory Council for the National Council on Disability. Most recently, Christina was elected Chair of the State Independent Living Center. Christina was born with a disability, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, and has been advocating for herself and her peers for as long as she can remember. She has had over 200 fractures and has gone through over a dozen operations. Her area of expertise is in youth transition, independent living, healthcare transition, Medicaid, and SSI benefits.

Marissa Johnson: As the Education Policy Coordinator at Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago, Marissa Johnson works to create a more inclusive education system for disabled students in Chicago, Illinois, and the nation. Prior to moving to Chicago, Marissa spent a year running youth leadership programs for a Missouri Center for Independent Living after completing the coursework for her Master's of Education in Deaf Education. In addition to her education work, Marissa serves on many national committees related to youth with disabilities, including the National Youth Leadership Network, the National Disabled Students Network, and the National Council on Independent Living. One of her passions is passing on our disability heritage to young people and involving them in the disability rights movement. In the future, she hopes to write and publish children's books about the history of the disability rights movement to help give young disabled children a sense of pride in their disability heritage and help all children understand disability from a civil rights issue at a young age.