Chair Person

Israel Bocanegra

Israel Bocanegra was introduced to ADA through a short-term volunteer project to set up the IT lab. Shortly afterward, Israel joined the board of directors to give back to the community. Israel attended the Duke University Non-profit organization classes to learn more about the industry.

Through continuous learning and leveraging relationships across the community, Israel is passionate about helping all peoples experience a better quality of life through intentionality and community inclusiveness for consumers of disabilities.

Vice-Chair

Cody Davis

Cody Davis is a member of the NC Commission for the Blind and a recent graduate of Campbell Law School. He serves as the chair of the Wake County bar association task force that aims to help attorneys better serve clients with disabilities and improve the profession for attorneys with disabilities.

Cody is a current member of Reentry, Inc.’s Board of Directors, a non-profit providing Teen Court programs and pretrial release services in Wake County, and volunteers as a judge for Capital Area Teen Court. Cody joins ADANC’s board as an advocate for people with disabilities and will learn about varying types of disabilities.

Secretary

Ali Ingersoll 

Ali Ingersoll is a day trader, consultant, disability advocate, writer, blogger, editor, and public speaker. She started her advocacy mission after being repeatedly denied medically necessary equipment by insurance companies over the last 10 years since becoming a C6 quadriplegic and full-time wheelchair user after a shallow water diving accident.

Ali’s passion lies in coaching people with disabilities on how to improve their quality of life by teaching them to self-advocate in order to live a life of independence, dignity, and grace.

Ali has a firm philosophy of paying it forward by giving back to the community through outreach, working together, and building each other up. She believes it’s important to band together as one in order to affect the greatest change on the national stage and in local communities.

Board Member

Marion Quirici, Ph.D.

Marion Quirici, PhD, is a scholar of disability studies who co-directs the Health Humanities Lab and teaches for the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University. Her courses train students to critique and revise cultural assumptions about disability by analyzing language, the media, popular representations, the law, institutional spaces and practices, and the built environment.

Dr. Quirici is also the director of a cross-disciplinary faculty working group in disability studies and faculty advisor of Duke Disability Alliance. With these groups, and in her role at ADA, she strives to build stronger relationships between the university and the disability community.

Board Member

Brittny Zenere

Brittny Zenere is the Chair of ADANC’s Resource Development Committee and a dedicated and self-motivated social worker with experience in grief and bereavement settings. Brittny has always been driven to be an active member of the community and is a positive voice representing those who experience living with a disability.

She believes in ADA’s vision and desires to grow the organization so it can better serve those with disabilities living in a community that has no barriers.

Board Member

Ali Zahid Malik

Ali Zahid Malik is passionate about helping others especially people with disabilities. He created and hosts Deaf Coffee and American Sign Language Chat so people who are either deaf or hard of hearing have a place to meet up. In addition to ASL, Ali is also fluent in Urdu and English.

Ali knows first-hand about the work Alliance of Disability Advocates does for people with disabilities. He is on the Board of Directors to make sure Alliance of Disabilities Advocates (ADANC) continues to grow and help more people be independent in the community.

Board Member

Vanessa S. O’Neal, Ph.D.

Vanessa S. O’Neal, Ph.D. is the founder of By Vanessa S. LLC. Dr. O’Neal has over twenty-five years of experience working with Non-profit organizations and over 17 years of Entrepreneurship experience and she is a Veteran. 

Dr. O’Neal’s professional background as a law enforcement officer, her educational background in public policy and administration, and her work with non-profit organizations in capacity building, program management, board development, fundraising, grant writing, and as a board member and committee chairperson have rendered her skillsets in which she feels can be of benefit to the ADA.  

Her focus as a board member is to identify ways the interaction between law enforcement and the disabled community in times of crisis can have more positive and successful outcomes. 

Board Member

Shefaali Keegan

Shefaali is a Managing Director at the Kara Group where she has worked extensively with executives on strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, operations improvement, and reorganizations. Prior to the Kara Group, Shefaali was Vice President at Inova Health System, a $2.5B nonprofit healthcare system in Northern Virginia, helping the system to improve employee and patient experience.

She is passionate about a number of community issues including alleviating poverty, providing access to education, and enabling those who are underserved to achieve their full potential. In addition to working with ADANC, she is also on the Board of Directors for InStepp Inc., where she served as Chairman for 2 years.

Chief Financial Officer (non-voting)

Kayli Miller

Executive Director (Non-Voting)

Vicki Smith