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Kimberly Knackstedt, Ph.D.

Kimberly Knackstedt is the Principal Consultant and Founder of Unlock Access, LLC.

Experience.

Professionalism.

Connections.

Kim Knackstedt is the principal consultant of Unlock Access, LLC and brings more than a decade of accessibility and disability policy experience to your projects. She previously served in disability policy positions in Congress and the White House and brings experience as a person with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and chronic illnesses to her accessibility and policy perspectives.
 
Kim’s experiences span education, government, and nonprofit sectors, with strengths in policy writing; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; accessibility program implementation; strategic visioning and planning; project management; public speaking; and coalition building.
 
Prior to launching Unlock Access, LLC, Kim was the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Public Policy Fellow, serving on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in 2016. She then served as the disability policy advisor for Chairman Bobby Scott on the Committee on Education and Labor in the U.S. House of Representatives. Next, she was the senior disability policy advisor for Senator Patty Murray on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in the U.S. Senate. In January 2021, Kim was appointed as the first ever director of disability policy for the Domestic Policy Council for the Biden–Harris Administration. Following her experience in the White House, Kim was a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, Director of the Disability Economic Justice team, and Director of the Disability Economic Justice Collaborative.
 
Kim received her Bachelor of Education in special education and elementary education from Gonzaga University, Master of Science in Education in special education from the University of Kansas, and Ph.D. in special education and policy from the University of Kansas.

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Three women stand in the front reception area of the oval office. Woman on the left is Vice President Harris wearing a tan suit.  Woman in the middle is Susan Rice wearing a black and white dress. Woman on the right is Kim wearing a grey dress with blue blazer. They are standing in a semi-circle talking and laughing.
Staff sit in the oval office around the desk staffing President Biden who is behind the desk looking at papers while sitting. Five staff are in chairs facing the desk.
Kim is at a podium speaking to an audience (not in the image). Kim is wearing a black dress and white blazer and is holding a mic and using her hands to explain something.

Kim and Tom Foley from NDI are in chairs on a stage for speaking engagement. Tom is wearing a suit. Kim is wearing a striped sweater and black pants. Kim is speaking and facing Tom.
Representative Bobby Scott is speaking at a podium on the House floor for a bill regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act. Kim is sitting behind him. The image is from C-SPAN.
A group of people are smiling on the side of the rose garden at the White House. Kim is in the center raising her hand. Susan Rice is next to her clapping. Other staff are looking toward Kim and smiling and clapping.

Quotes and Links to Press Hits

One of my key goals is making sure that we are putting people with disabilities at the beginning of our policy development, not as the afterthought
Time Magazine


Biden marks Americans with Disabilities Act Anniversary by Saluting disabled WH policy Director
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MSNBC
Across the entire government, whether it’s the Hill, whether it’s the Administration, there’s a lot more that can be done to make the work accessible
Time Magazine

Students – who often are students with disabilities – are put on a track of essentially exclusion
USA Today


​How long covid could change the way we think about Disability
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The Washington Post
Disability and poverty are so connected, and some say the whole structure and the whole system is broken. Well, unfortunately, the whole system is actually working exactly as it was designed.
FAIR Media, CounterSpin

'We know that students and parents don't always have access to their rights.' These shortcomings, combined with deep economic and racial inequities says Knackstedt, mean that students with disabilities don't have the same access to educational opportunities and general-education students.
Mother Jones


Labor Department to review subminimum wage policy for disabled workers
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Marketplace Morning Report
From curb cuts of sidewalks to websites, everyday activities are easier to navigate for all of us because of [the ADA]. Now, thirty-three years later, we have an opportunity to "curb cut" research, policy, and practice and put disability at the forefront of all our work to achieve equity, access, and inclusion for all.
Perspectives, Sage Blog
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