DEPARTMENT OF DISABILITIES

SECRETARIES

FORMER SECRETARIES

[photo, Catherine A. Raggio, Maryland Secretary of Disabilities] CATHERINE A. RAGGIO,
Secretary of Disabilities, 2007-14
Acting Secretary of Disabilities, 2007

Secretary of Disabilities March 6, 2007 to April 30, 2014. Retired April 30, 2014. Acting Secretary of Disabilities, February 21 to March 6, 2007. Member, Governor's Executive Council, 2007-14; Children's Cabinet, 2007-14. Chair, Interagency Disabilities Board, 2007-14; Advisory Committee, Technology Assistance Program, 2007-14. Co-Chair, Interagency Transition Council for Youth with Disabilities, 2007-14.


Catherine A. Raggio, Secretary of Disabilities, February 2007. Photo by Mark Odell.

Member, Task Force for the Review of High School Assessment Options, 2007; Instructional Materials Access Guidelines Committee, 2007-10; Mental Health Transformation Working Group, 2007-11; Interagency Committee on Aging Services, 2007-14; Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code Advisory Council, 2007-14; Advisory Council to the Children's Cabinet, 2007-14; Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council, 2007-14; Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2007-14; State Coordinating Committee for Human Services Transportation, 2007-14; Interdepartmental Advisory Committee for Minority Affairs, 2007-14; State Advisory Council on Quality Care at the End of Life, 2008-14; Maryland Commission on Autism, 2009-12; Maryland Integrated Map Executive Committee, 2009-12; Maryland Commission on Suicide Prevention, 2009-14; Governor’s Warrior to Worker Council, 2010-14; Work Group on Consumer Education and Customer Choice, 2011; Task Force to Study the Creation of a Maryland Center for School Safety, 2011-13; Virginia I. Jones Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Council, 2013-14; Task Force to Study the Impact of Expanding Credit and Noncredit Courses for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2013-14; Governor's Commission for Effective Community Inclusion of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2013-14. Governing Board, Maryland Center for School Safety, 2013-14. Co-Chair, Autism Work Group, 2013-14.

Executive Director, Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council, 1983-89 (associate director, 1980-83). Member, Maryland Statewide Independent-Living Council, 2000-06.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 1, 1947. Attended Gateway High School, Monroeville, Pennsylvania; Bloomsburg State College, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, B.S. (speech & language disorders), 1969, M.Ed., 1977. Speech and language therapist, Selinsgrove State Hospital, 1969-72. Speech therapist, Wilkes-Barre Area School District, 1972-74. Executive Director, United Cerebral Palsy of Wyoming Valley, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1974-79. Executive Director, United Cerebral Palsy of Prince George's County, 1979-80. Founder and Executive Director, Independence Now, Inc., 1994-2007. Principal investigator, Nursing Home Reform Project, United Cerebral Palsy Association, 1991-95. Board of Directors, National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils, 1986-90 (president, 1988-90); Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, 1996-2001 (secretary, 1998-2001). Chair, Maryland Youth Leadership Forum, 2000-. Board of Directors, Council on Quality and Leadership, 2012-. Humanitarian Service Award, United Cerebral Palsy of Wyoming Valley, 1980. Professional of the Year, the ARC of Maryland, 1985. Gilbert John Zucchi Award, The ARC of Maryland, 1991. Profiled in Maryland Women's History Month, 1992-93. Region III Advocacy Award, National Council on Independent Living, 1996. Leadership Appreciation Award, Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities, 2000. Leadership Award, Prince George's County, Commission on Individuals with Disabilities, 2004. Distinguished Service Award, On Our Own of Maryland, Inc., 2012. Married; two children.

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