Stacy Cervenka joined AFB in 2019 as Director, Public Policy. She has worked in the public policy field since 2006, having served as a legislative assistant to former U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, a government program analyst at the California Department of Rehabilitation, and as the executive officer for the California State Rehabilitation Council.

Stacy has worked primarily on issues surrounding disability employment policy, disability rights, adoption and foster care, juvenile justice, child protection, labor, and transportation. In October 2018, she received the Holman Prize for Blind Ambition from the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind to develop an online travel forum (Blind Travelers Network) for people who are blind and low vision.

Stacy formerly served as the Chair of the National Federation of the Blind’s Blind Parents Group and sits on her local public transportation agency’s advisory board.

Stacy holds a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Texas Tech University and a bachelor’s degree in French and Italian from the University of Minnesota.

More by this author

AFB Is Fighting to Protect Rights of Blind and Low Vision Students During COVID-19 Pandemic

During this national period of quarantine due to the novel coronavirus, many US schools have instituted distance learning programs that allow students to continue their education at home. This change should prevent students from losing important academic skills—for example, in reading and math—and ensure that they are prepared to advance to the following grade in the fall. Last week, Senator Lamar Alexander stated that the Department of Education should consider allowing states to choose not…
Author Stacy Cervenka
Blog Topics Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources, Education, Public Policy

Welcoming Blind Consumer Groups to Washington, DC

Stacy Cervenka, Director Public Policy. In the background the US Capitol Building can be seen
Each year, the United States’ two national consumer groups of people who are blind and low vision come to Washington, DC, to meet with members of Congress and advocate for policy changes that would improve the lives of blind and low vision Americans. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) held its annual Washington Seminar from February 10-13. The American Council of the Blind (ACB) will be hosting its annual DC Leadership Meetings from February 22-25. AFB is pleased to partner with both…
Author Stacy Cervenka
Blog Topics Public Policy

Have a Blind or Low Vision Parent on Your Holiday Shopping List? Start Here.

Stacy Cervenka, Director Public Policy, American Foundation for the Blind
Stacy Cervenka
As the holiday season approaches, many of us find ourselves looking for gifts for family and friends that are thoughtful, meaningful, and useful. For people with parents on their gift lists, we want to get something that will make their lives easier or allow them precious moments of self-care. For sighted people who have a parent who is blind or has low vision on their list, choosing the perfect gift can be particularly confusing. Perhaps you love your child’s new booster seat, but is it…
Author Stacy Cervenka
Blog Topics Accessible Holiday Gifts, parenting

Employment Program Gaps

Over the past several months, AFB Policy and Research Advisor Sarah Malaier and I have researched and analyzed a wide variety of nationally focused employment programs for people with vision loss. The purpose of this project was to understand what types of programs are available to blind and low vision people who are looking to find employment, retain employment, and advance in their chosen career fields. Just as importantly, if not more so, we wanted to identify what services and resources…
Author Stacy Cervenka
Blog Topics Employment

Blindness Hits Primetime — How Accurate Is This Is Us’s New Blind Character?

NBC’s syndicated series “This Is Us” consistently ranks in the top three most watched TV shows in the United States. For the 2018-2019 television season, it tied with “The Masked Singer” as broadcast’s top entertainment series. The show tells the story of the Pearson family and jumps between the present day, the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and the future. In the first episode of the show’s fourth season, “This Is Us” creators introduce us to Jack Damon, the son of show mainstays Kate and Toby. Though…
Author Stacy Cervenka
Blog Topics

AFB Is Working to Strengthen Paratransit Services

Stacy Cervenka, Director Public Policy. In the background the US Capitol Building can be seen
Stacy Cervenka, AFB's Director of Public Policy
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). Throughout this month, corporations and other organizations renew and refocus their commitments to addressing the barriers that face Americans with disabilities in the workforce. The American Foundation for the Blind hopes to address a significant barrier to employment for people with vision loss by increasing our focus on transportation, which remains one of the most trenchant barriers blind people face when seeking and…
Author Stacy Cervenka
Blog Topics Public Policy, Getting Around (O&M, Transportation, and More), Employment

AFB Celebrates the 29th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Celebrate the ADA 29 (1990-2019) Americans with Disabilities Act - July 26, 2019
On July 26, 2019, the United States will mark the 29th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the primary civil rights law protecting the rights of disabled Americans and one of the most comprehensive pieces of disability non-discrimination law in the world. AFB celebrates the tremendous progress our society has made toward equity in the past 29 years, but we also recognize that many barriers still remain. One of the primary focus areas of the ADA is employment. Title 1 assures…
Author Stacy Cervenka
Blog Topics ADA, Public Policy

Happy 20th Birthday to the Olmstead Decision!

Stacy Cervenka, Director Public Policy, American Foundation for the Blind
Stacy Cervenka, Director Public Policy, AFB
On June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court ruled in Olmstead v. L.C. that unjustified segregation of people with disabilities constitutes discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Often hailed by the disability rights community as the most important civil rights decision for people with disabilities in US history, the Olmstead decision flung open the doors of institutions and gave previously segregated people the right to live in their communities. Subsequent court decisions…
Author Stacy Cervenka
Blog Topics Accessibility Issues, ADA, Public Policy