Illinois officials honored leaders advocating for people with disabilities at the 2026 ACED Awards in Chicago, and reaffirmed the state's commitment to protecting civil rights as federal protections are rolled back.
The Accessibility Committee for Employees with Disabilities, known as ACED, recognized four honorees:
- Employee of the Year – Jay Williams
- State Agency of the Year – Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology
- Advocate of the Year – Donna Hardy
- Legislator of the Year – Representative Gregg Johnson
ACED is a statewide committee administered by the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Department of Human Services. It supports state employees with disabilities and state agencies on disability-related issues.
"Today's ACED Award recipients embody the values that guide Illinois: inclusion, dignity, and equal opportunity," said Illinois Department of Human Rights Director James Bennett. "At a moment when national protections are uncertain, Illinois is doubling down."
IDHS Secretary Dulce M. Quintero said, "We cannot take for granted living in a state where civil and human rights are protected and taken seriously."
Aleeza Strubel, Complex Litigation Counsel at the Illinois Attorney General's Office, delivered the keynote. "Their work could not be more important as federal agencies step back from long-standing civil rights obligations," she said. "Here in Illinois, our commitment is unwavering."
Federal rollbacks cited
Officials said the ceremony took place amid shifts at the federal level, including U.S. Department of Justice actions that the state says weaken enforcement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and narrow Olmstead community-integration protections, along with U.S. Department of Education moves to roll back civil rights enforcement. Officials said those actions reduce oversight of disability rights in schools and have contributed to a growing national backlog of civil rights complaints.
What Illinois says it is doing
State officials outlined steps Illinois is taking:
- The Attorney General's Civil Rights Bureau is prepared to identify pattern-or-practice civil rights violations in schools under the Illinois Human Rights Act.
- The Office of the Attorney General has joined a multistate coalition taking legal action to prevent cuts to school mental health funding and to object to Department of Education changes to data collection on disparities affecting students of color with disabilities.
- Illinois says it aims to strengthen state-level enforcement, citing federal enforcement staff reduced by more than 50% and complaint dismissals at the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reaching 90% in recent periods.
- The state is partnering with IDHR and the Illinois State Board of Education to ensure civil rights protections are realized in schools.
"Today we celebrate champions of inclusion," said Xavier Potts, ACED Chief Administrator. "And, we recommit to ensuring that Illinois remains a place where every person regardless of disability, race, national origin, sex, or gender has equal access to opportunity."
About ACED
ACED was created by statute in 1974 to support state employees with disabilities and state agencies on disability-related issues. Its mission is to promote access, independence and opportunity for state employees with disabilities. In June 2026, under Public Act 104-0465, the committee was renamed from ICED to ACED, the Accessibility Committee for Employees with Disabilities.
Source: the original release