Speaker

James T. Brett
Vice Chair
National Council on Disability
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Jim Brett is the Vice Chairman of the National Council on Disability. He formerly served for more than 15 years as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. While serving as a legislator he was appointed Chairman of five committees and was recognized on 10 occasions as Legislator of the Year. Brett currently serves as Chairman of both the Governor’s Commission on Intellectual Disability in Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission. He formerly served as Chairman of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, and was the former President of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health. In 2014, he was inducted into the Special Olympics Massachusetts Hall of Fame. Also in 2014, the Disability Law Center bestowed upon him the Edward M. Kennedy Leadership award. In 2013, the University of Massachusetts Boston established the James T. Brett Chair in Disability and Workforce Development, the nation’s only endowed chair in disability and workforce development. In 1996, Bay Cove Human Services of Boston named a new community home for disabled adults “Brett House” in his honor. Mr. Brett is a recipient of 14 honorary degrees.