Marcie Roth is Executive Director and CEO of the World Institute on Disability, one of the first global disability-led organizations, advancing the rights of 1.3 billion people with disabilities worldwide. She was recently named by Forbes Magazine to their inaugural Fifty Over 50 Impact List, and by Womens eNews as one of their 21 Leaders for the 21st Century. Marcie he has served in executive leadership roles for advocacy and public policy organizations since 1995, leading coalitions committed to operationalizing accessibility and inclusion as intersectional imperatives for equity, diversity and global social justice.
In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Marcie turned her advocacy towards improving emergency preparedness and disaster outcomes for people with disabilities, building accessible disaster-resilient communities and disability inclusive climate justice initiatives.
Appointed by President Obama to the U.S Department of Homeland Security - Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from 2009 to 2017, she served as Senior Advisor to the FEMA Administrator, establishing and directing the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination. Marcie represented the U.S. government internationally as an expert on whole community inclusive global disaster risk reduction from 2012- 2017 and has served as a leader throughout the development and implementation of the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
Marcie provides expert consultation to governments, corporations, health systems, and the United Nations. She launched the Global Alliance for Disaster Resource Acceleration (GADRA) in 2020, bringing corporate and foundation funders together with local disability-led organizations to accelerate humanitarian relief directly to disaster-impacted communities where and when it’s needed most. Under her leadership, GADRA is currently assisting Ukrainian disability-led organizations in an urgent effort to be sure at least 2.7 million Ukrainian children and adults with disabilities are not left behind.
Recently appointed as a public member of the United States Delegation to the 66th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Marcie is a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Fellow with a BS in Public Safety Administration.
