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. She previously served as the Executive Director of the National Council on Disability (NCD).

Rebecca Hare was born in California. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2001.

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. She then served as Director of Priority Placement for Public Engagement in the Presidential Personnel Office at the White House where she was responsible for outreach to diversity and minority organizations to recruit professionals to the administration. 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.

On April 16, 2013, she became the Executive Director of the National Council on Disability by appointment of NCD Chairperson Jeff Rosen. Under her tenure, NCD focused on major civil rights issues including police violence, mental health services for students in post-secondary education, and disproportionate discipline as well as over- and under-identification of students of color with disabilities in education.

Cokley joined the Center for American Progress in July 2018, becoming the first director of the organization's Disability Justice Initiative. Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is also disabled, was a featured speaker at the inaugural event.