Meet Our Advisors
Marcie Roth
World Institute on Disability
Marcie Roth is Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer for the World Institute on Disability (WID). WID is a highly regarded global public policy center working to advance the rights and opportunities of over 1 billion people with disabilities worldwide by disrupting exclusion and accelerating radical social justice.
Marcie has served in senior and executive leadership roles for national and global disability advocacy and public policy organizations since 1995, establishing and leading coalitions committed to operationalizing disability inclusion as an intersectional imperative for global social justice. Marcie’s focus on improving emergency preparedness and disaster outcomes for people with disabilities and building accessible disaster resilient communities began in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks while advising the White House on the rights and urgent needs of people with disabilities living in the area around ground zero.
Appointed by President Obama to the U.S Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from 2009 to 2017, Marcie established and directed the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination (ODIC).
Under her leadership, ODIC led national transformation towards integrating the access and functional needs of the whole community throughout emergency preparedness and disaster response, recovery and mitigation. Ms. Roth represented the U.S. government internationally as an expert on whole community inclusive global disaster risk reduction from 2012- 2017, serving as a leader throughout the development and implementation of the United Nations’ Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
In 2017, Ms. Roth established the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, the only U.S. disability-led organization (DPO) focused exclusively on disability inclusion before, during, and after public health emergencies and disasters. At FEMA, in launching the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, and in her current leadership role with WID, Marcie leads transformation towards disability inclusive emergency management and disaster risk reduction as critical elements for expanding worldwide climate adaptation and disaster resilience.
Marcie is a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Fellow with a BS in Public Safety Administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus. She maintains offices at WID’s global headquarters located on the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley, CA, and in Washington, DC.