BY THE CUJ
WASHINGTON, D.C. – CTUIR attorney Brent Leonhard was one of 21 citizen members appointed to President Biden’s Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities (CPID) on March 11.
He will begin a two-year term as part of a committee that reflects the diversity of America and includes people with intellectual disabilities and their family members, researchers, service providers and other professionals, community and business representatives, and systems advocates, according to the White House. The committee serves as a federal advisor to the President and Secretary of Health and Human Services on matters relating to persons with intellectual disabilities.
Leonhard’s appointment included a short biography, stating he is an Attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He has spent his career advocating for the advancement and expansion of the rights of tribal nations and citizens. In 2011, Leonhard was appointed to Attorney General Eric Holder’s Federal/Tribal Domestic Violence Taskforce. In 2015, he was appointed to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Tribal Issues Advisory Group. As a parent of an Autistic child, he is intimately familiar with the structural and systemic problems and frustrations those with intellectual or developmental disabilities face. Leonhard is intent on advocating for significant improvements to federal law and policy in this area.
Other committee members include Shawn Aleong, Paul Aronsohn, Paul Boskind, Eva Bunnell, James Brett, Hillary Stanisz, Kara Jones, Nicole Jorwic, Cathy Kanefsky, Joseph Macbeth, Gabriel Martinez, Lucy Meyer, Tia Nelis, Santa Perez, Nick Perry, James Trout, Wendy Strauss, Liz Weintraub and Jordyn Zimmerman.
