Alexandria Resident Regan Linton to Be Honored by National Disability Nonprofit

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — United Spinal Association will host its third annual StrongWheeled Together Awards ceremony tonight in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. at the Abilities Expo at the Broward County Convention Center. The Awards celebrate the cultural and intellectual leadership of wheelchair users who have impacted the fabric of American life, part of a broader initiative that pays tribute to the power of community.

United Spinal Association is proud to present the Barry Corbet Community Voice Award to Alexandria, Va. resident Regan Linton, an accomplished actor, filmmaker, writer, and outspoken leader on inclusion in the arts. She is the co-director of the award-winning 2021 documentary IMPERFECT, which chronicles the activities of Denver-area theater company Phamaly in the making of their production of Chicago. Linton was the artistic director of Phamaly for many years.

Linton was the first wheelchair user to receive a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from University of California-San Diego. She is also among the first wheelchair users to be cast in a Broadway production. She also holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Denver. She is also a columnist for United Spinal’s membership publication, New Mobility. Linton has lived with paraplegia for over two decades. United Spinal Association is honored to present her with the first ever Community Voice Award.

The Barry Corbet Community Voice Award honors a creative professional who has advanced the positive and authentic representation of people with disabilities in American public life. It is open to visual artists, writers, and performing artists, befitting of its namesake. Corbet was a polymath who was best known as a filmmaker, essayist, and journalist.

This year, the Award recognizes winners across two additional categories.

The James J. Peters Community Builder Award is named after United Spinal’s most significant historic leader, a veteran and civil rights activist. It honors an individual who has achieved significant social progress for wheelchair users. The Community Builder Award will be presented to Mack Marsh of Franklin, Texas, a long-time advocate for people with disabilities, and founder of the Parking Mobility program, which educates and mobilizes community members against accessible parking abuse.

Named for a stem cell research and medical ethics trailblazer whose passing last year shook the community, the Brooke Ellison Community Visionary Award honors an individual who has changed the face of the fields of technology or business. The Community Visionary Award will be presented to Jennifer French of St. Petersburg, Fla., Executive Director of Neurotech Network and one of the most recent recipients of the Craig H. Neilsen Visionary Prize.

The StrongWheeled Together Awards arose from a multi-issue campaign created by United Spinal in 2022 to raise the profile of people with disabilities in American life, invigorate the cause of disability justice for a new generation, and broaden the historic coalition that has fought for disability rights. It is part of a companion events series and conference that is taking place virtually in 2024.