Amber Smock is the Director of Advocacy and External Affairs for Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago, a disability rights and services nonprofit organization active at the local, state and national levels in the US. Since starting at Access Living in 2005, Ms. Smock has developed a reputation as an effective organizer and a clear voice on a range of disability topics.
Ms. Smock is honored to visit Bulgaria and Hungary as part of the U.S. Department of State Professional Fellows exchange program.
As the Center for Independent Living for Chicago since 1980, Access Living is focused on empowering people with disabilities to live as independently as possible in their own homes in the community, while fighting for social change to create access and tear down barriers for people with all kinds of disabilities. Like every Center for Independent Living in the US, the majority of Access Living’s staff has a disability themselves, including Ms. Smock.
Ms. Smock currently oversees Access Living’s multi-pronged disability advocacy strategy, which includes community organizing, policy analysis, public relations/media, and one-on-one advocacy for individuals. She works closely with Access Living’s Director of Independent Living to ensure that Access Living’s advocacy reflects the need and voice of people with disabilities.
Ms. Smock’s team of 21 staff and interns works on the topics of housing, health care, education, employment, women, Latinos, young adults, and other matters as needed.
Ms. Smock is also a registered in-house lobbyist for Access Living, coordinating Access Living’s advocacy directly with state officials, focusing on budget matters and independent living for people with disabilities.
As part of her advocacy strategy, Ms. Smock runs a well-regarded e-mail action alert system that generated over 30,000 grassroots messages to elected officials in 2015. Her staff coordinate Access Living’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Ms. Smock began working at Access Living in 2005 as the Youth Leadership Coordinator, recruiting and training young adults with disabilities in community organizing.
Since 2005, Ms. Smock has also been active as a member of Chicago ADAPT, the local branch of National ADAPT, a grassroots disability rights organization dedicated to nonviolent direct action to end the forced segregation of people with disabilities in institutions.
From 2008-2012 she chaired National ADAPT’s Media Committee, and from 2006-2012 she served as a trainer for the National ADAPT Youth Summit. From 2005 to 2010, Ms. Smock co-founded and co-led Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA), a women with disabilities direct action group.
Ms. Smock has a severe hearing loss and identifies as Deaf. Since the age of four she has worn hearing aids and reads lips. Having learned American Sign Language (ASL) in her 20s, she now enjoys being part of the US Deaf community and using tools such as video relay and ASL interpreters. She is currently the Chair of the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission.
Ms. Smock has been honored to receive many awards for her work. Most notably, she is a recipient of the American Association of People with Disabilities Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award, as well as the Chicago Foundation for Women’s Founder’s Award. She was the 2009 Grand Marshal of the Chicago Disability Pride Parade, and has been voted the Best Deaf Activist in Illinois by Deaf Illinois. She is a Fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago.
E-mail: asmock@accessliving.org
Website: www.accessliving.org
Twitter: @AccessLiving
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