Five North Carolinians Honored for Disability Advocacy and Leadership Across the State

Raleigh, NC (November 20, 2025) – Five North Carolina leaders in disability advocacy were honored at the 2025 Advocacy and Leadership Awards presentation at the November meeting of the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities (NCCDD) in Cary, NC. The awards celebrate advocates who have advanced opportunities and access for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD) in North Carolina.

The four awards include the Kerri Eaker Mountain Mover Award given to individuals who have driven transformative systems change for North Carolina’s I/DD community; the North Carolina Leadership Achievement Award recognizing advocates with I/DD; the Jack B. Hefner Memorial Award, recognizing family advocates; and the Helen C. "Holly" Riddle Distinguished Service Award that recognizes professionals who work with people with I/DD.

The honorees of the Mountain Mover Award include Lauren Howard, Director, NC Office on Disability and Health and LaDonna Huffaker, Workforce Engagement Manager, Division of Human Resources, NC Department of Health and Human Services, for their work in Western North Carolina during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Howard led daily video conferences at her own initiative from the North Carolina Emergency Operations Center focused on people with disabilities impacted by the storm. She created a critical daily connection for people in western North Carolina, state and federal emergency responders, local communities in western North Carolina, disability providers, and disability leaders. She made sure people with disabilities in Western North Carolina were prioritized.

Huffaker worked on the ground to make sure those needs identified during the disability calls, and by providers and local communities were met. She ensured that people with disabilities were checked on to see what they needed. She also made sure that shelters were meeting the needs of people with disabilities.

The North Carolina Leadership Achievement Award recognized Laura Newell from Charlotte, NC. Newell has been a long-time leader of a self-advocacy organization, Self Advocates of Mecklenburg. She supports self-advocates like herself to advocate and lead. Each year, she organizes people with I/DD to travel to the NC General Assembly to meet their legislators and to speak up on what matters to them. Newell works at InReach, a nonprofit that provides housing, employment, and community support for individuals with I/DD in Charlotte/Mecklenburg and nearby counties. Newell is a noted published author, and during the Awards ceremony, her newest publication that was recently launched. Two of her titles are Lindsay and Hope on the Horizon.

Ray Hemachandra, from Asheville, was this year’s recipient of the Jack B. Hefner Memorial Award. Hefner, also known as “Big Jack” was the father of a son with I/DD, Karl and was his son’s fiercest advocate. Hemachandra is a business consultant, an advocate for equity, and an author of many op-eds on disabilities in North Carolina. His op-eds are always a must-read for disability advocates in the I/DD community. He served on the Vaya Consumer and Family Advisory Committee for seven years. Most importantly, he is a parent of and champion for his autistic son Nicholas.

The recipient of the 2025 Helen C. "Holly" Riddle Distinguished Service Award was Pat Keul, who has been a champion of employment for people with I/DD for over 35 years. She is the Director of Operations at Disability:IN where she has led several projects funded by NCCDD to increase I/DD employment across the state. She collaborated with people with disabilities to create the curriculum for the I/DD Peer Mentor training program, a pioneering curriculum that NCCDD and its partners have used to teach people with I/DD to mentor others with I/DD. She also founded Supported Employment Training (SET, Inc.) as one of the first supported employment programs in the state.

Talley Wells, Executive Director of NCCDD, said, “We celebrate these individuals whose steadfast advocacy transformed lives and brought communities together across North Carolina. Our award recipients are committed to supporting individuals in navigating the complex care and service systems in our state, while advocating for essential resources, information, and empowerment. They are ensuring North Carolina is a place where individuals with I/DD have a voice and the support to thrive in their communities.”

### 

About the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities: The North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities (NCCDD) works to assure that people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families participate in the design of, and have access to needed community services, individualized supports and other forms of assistance that promote self-determination, independence, productivity and inclusion in all areas of community life. Through its Five-Year Plan, the Council identifies and funds innovative projects and initiatives that promote the goals of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act) for all North Carolinians. www.nccdd.org