National Council on Independent Living
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"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: Washington, DC
Founded: 1984
Mission: NCIL is a national membership organization that provides technical assistance and training on issues related to running and operating centers for independent living and federal services available to people with disabilities.
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Kelly Buckland.
In 1978, Kelly graduated from Boise State University with a B.A. in Social Work and in 1988 Summa Cum Laude from Drake University with a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling. In recent years, Kelly has been honored with numerous state and national awards, including the University of Idaho President’s Medallion, the United Vision for Idaho Lifetime Achievement Award, the Hewlett-Packard Distinguished…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
16.50%
Total Revenue:
$1,118,513
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Address:
1710 Rhode Island Ave 5TH Flr
Washington, DC 20036, USA
Story:
The National Council on Independent Living is the longest-running national cross-disability, grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities. Founded in 1982, NCIL represents thousands of organizations and individuals including: Centers for Independent Living (CILs), Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs), individuals with disabilities, and other organizations that advocate for the human and civil rights of people with disabilities throughout the United States.
An outcome of the national Disability Rights and Independent Living Movements, NCIL was founded to embody the values of disability culture and Independent Living philosophy, which creates a new social paradigm and emphasizes that people with disabilities are the best experts on their own needs, that they have crucial and valuable perspective to contribute to society, and are deserving of equal opportunity to decide how to live, work, and take part in their communities.
Since its inception, NCIL has carried out its mission by assisting member CILs and SILCs in building their capacity to promote social change, eliminate disability-based discrimination, and create opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in the legislative process to affect change. NCIL promotes a national advocacy agenda set by its membership and provides input and testimony on national disability policy.
Expert Reviews of National Council on Independent Living
Evidence of Impact Summary:
Small yet effective, the National Council on Independent Living has consistently been a leader in guiding policy discussions regarding the vitality of people with disabilities on a national level.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Both the executive director and the board of directors for the National Council on Independent Living are known for their leadership skills and bringing issues to the forefront in a way that is understandable and palatable by legislators. According to experts in the field, they know what kinds of advocacy work best in a given situation and how to strategize to bring multiple united voices to an issue.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
According to experts, the National Council on Independent Living needs to do more to be inclusive of people who are deaf and hard of hearing. Additionally, many of its staff work there a relatively short time before moving on. Providing a better package of salary and benefits could allow them to retain qualified employees.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Training |
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The National Council on Independent Living trains of the staff at centers on independent living to focus on keeping people with disabilities out of institutions. | ||
Strong Advocacy |
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The National Council on Independent Living has been around for nearly 40 years and has succeeded in making Independent Living Centers stronger through information sharing, advocacy and their annual conference. They partner with Independent Living Utilization Program (ILRU) of TIRR in Houston to provide a range of training that is geared toward independent living center staff and IL issues. Their lobbying and policy work covers funding for ILCs, health care, voting, assistive technology and recently they began to get involved in emergency planning that includes people with disabilities. Most recently, through their advocacy and organizing across the country, we have been able to keep devastating cuts from happening in Medicaid. They have impacted the section 8 housing vouchers and other housing programs at HUD, work to lessen the institutional bias of Congress toward warehousing people with severe disabilities and seniors in nursing homes and maintain our gains in accessible transportation. | ||
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The National Council on Independent Living has consistently been a leader in guiding policy discussions regarding the vitality of people with disabilities on a national level. | ||
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Their leaders are strong advocates for the rights of persons with disabilities all across the country and coordinate the hundreds of Independent Living Centers around the US. | ||
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The strength of NCIL is that it is consumer driven. People with disabilities should be involved in directing all facets of their lives and that includes the crafting of legislation that directly impacts their lives. | ||
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NFB along with AFB are very vocal activists who do succeed in getting a lot of federal support, along with NCIL. | ||
Strong Services |
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The National Council on Independent Living is a membership organization that has impacted the lives of people with disabilities across the country through its legislative work on many issues pertaining to the rights of people with disabilities. One of its major focuses is keeping people out of nursing homes and in their own homes and the myriad services that are involved in making that happen. | ||
Strong Network |
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Through advocacy and education, the National Council on Independent Living has built a national network of organizations supporting people living in the community. These organizations are transforming disability services from institutionally based to a mix that gives consumers more choice. | ||
Partnerships |
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The National Council on Independent Living recently partnered with FEMA for emergency and disaster relief response in Alabama. | ||
Small Yet Effective |
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The Council is a membership organization that advances independent living and the rights of people with disabilities through consumer-driven advocacy. It also provides benefits to its member organizations. It is run by and for people with disabilities. With only 10 staff members, and a budget of only $1.3 million, it testifies and consults with members of Congress, works to reauthorize the Rehabilitation Act (crucial to funding of ILCs across the country), fought discrimination by US Airways and the Pew Research Center, helped pass Section 811 legislation, develops and promotes practical outcome measurement for the ILCs, and honored the 20th anniversary of the ADA in 2010. Its 2010 annual conference attracted over 900 people in Washington DC. They also help members accomplish advocacy victories in their local communities. | ||
Strong Grassroots Network |
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This organization has a strong grassroots network. Its staffing is designed to support the work of this network. It has primarily built this network through membership but has expanded its financial base in recent years through strategic grants and contracts and other fundraising. The cross-disability approach means its actions positively affect people with disabilities in the broader community. It has actively undertaken projects that recognize and overcome the barriers caused by segregated service systems. | ||
Local Impact |
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The National Council on Independent Living has tremendous impact on the services that reach people with disabilities at the local level. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Innovation |
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The National Council on Independent Living promotes innovation in the independent living movement. | ||
Strong Leadership |
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Director Kelly Buckland has done a tremendous job bringing diverse groups together to work on issues rather than fight each other. Their weekly electronic newsletter, WHAM, is another trusted source of information about what is going on in DC as well as around the country in the disability community. | ||
Board of Directors |
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The National Council on Independent Living has a very strong board of directors and an evolved committee structure to accurately define their member needs. | ||
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Both its executive director and its board of directors are known for their leadership skills and bringing issues to the forefront in a way that is understandable and palatable by legislators. They know what kinds of advocacy work best in a given situation and how to strategize and bring multiple united voices to an issue. | ||
Strong Staff |
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They have strong advocates in their executive staff and they are deeply involved in the history of the disability civil rights movement. | ||
Strength in Numbers |
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One strength of this organization is the extent its members are involved in implementing its plans. Another strength of the organization is the fact that it addresses all types of disabilities rather than organizing separate services for different disabilities or different classes of disabilities. Another strength is that people with various disabilities are actively involved in management and governance of this organization allowing it to address the needs of people with disabilities with particular expertise. | ||
Advocacy |
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The National Council on Independent Living has been a referral we have relied on for years. They are great at helping people with disabilities maintain status in our society. | ||
Transparency |
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The National Council on Independent Living has excellent transparency on its website, a strategic plan for 2011, 3 national onsite trainings and 9 teleconferences & webcasts. They also have an excellent mix of revenue. | ||
Change Makers |
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The National Council on Independent Living has the ability to effectuate significant change in the everyday lives of people with disabilities. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Congruency |
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Some state chapters are not as strong as others | ||
External Relations |
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Some members and board members can be rigid in their thinking. They need to bring in the youth of the disability community as it may make them a bit more flexible in their dealings with other organizations. | ||
Lack of Practical Impact |
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National Council on Independent Living has very limited presence and impact. Other than serving as something of a trade association and central resource for local centers on independent living, I would be hard pressed to identify what they have accomplished in recent years. | ||
Marketing |
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As with most non-profits, the National Council on Independent Living could use a more effective vehicle for information distribution. | ||
Strategy |
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They have been criticized occasionally about not being quick enough to respond to a given situation, but I think some of that is a need to be strategic and careful about how to approach the "politics of the beltway." | ||
Staff Turnover |
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Many of its staff work a relatively short time before moving on. Providing a better package of salary and benefits could allow them to retain qualified employees. Its coordination of advocacy and other activities with other organizations has been lacking at times. | ||
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This organization could improve by providing a stronger package of wages, benefits and working conditions to reduce staff turnover. | ||
Partnerships |
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We question the wisdom of expansive work expected in the FEMA alliance. There is policy-level work that regards people with disabilities in disasters and as victims of violence in the US system which should be established before attempting to administer funding on these issues. | ||
Reporting |
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The National Council on Independent Living should create a national report that quantifies overall impact of local independent living councils. | ||
Programs |
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The National Council on Independent Living needs to do more to be inclusive of people who are deaf and hard of hearing. | ||
Leadership
Kelly Buckland
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
with your request.