Cokley, Rebecca, 1978-

Rebecca Hare Cokley (born December 4, 1978) is an American disability rights activist and public speaker who is currently the director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress working on disability policy. Rebecca Cokley previously served as the Executive Director of the National Council on Disability (NCD). She joined the NCD in 2013 after working in the Obama administration for four years. From 2009 to 2013, Cokley served as an appointee in the administration of President Barack Obama after being recruited by her friend and mentor Paul Steven Miller. She first served as Confidential Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Cokley then served as Director of Priority Placement for Public Engagement in the Presidential Personnel Office at the White House. Her final appointment in the Obama administration was as Special Assistant to the Principal Deputy at the Administration for Community Living at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Cokley earned a bachelor's degree in political science at the University of California, Santa Cruz.