Mary Kay Rizzolo

Dr. Rizzolo has served as President and CEO of the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) since 2016 and holds an appointment as an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) since 2011. Other experience includes Associate Director of the IL UCEDD (Institute on Disability and Human Development), Policy Director of the IL LEND Program, Director of Evaluation for the Family Support Research and Training Center, researcher at the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities (University of Colorado), and a Qualified Intellectual Disability Professional in NC.

Dr. Rizzolo contributed significantly for two decades to State of the States, a project of national significance that has collected and analyzed data on over 40 years of revenue, spending, and programmatic trends in the United States. She co-authored ten editions of State of the States and has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, reports, monographs, white papers, and issue briefs on her analyses of the project’s data as well as on voting, emerging technologies, family support, transportation, employment supports, quality of life, and personal outcomes.

Dr. Rizzolo has served on numerous national advisory committees, task forces, commissions, and boards of directors. A Fellow of AAIDD, Dr. Rizzolo has earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in psychology from North Carolina Central University, and a doctorate in public health from UIC.

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