Ollie Cantos, a civil rights attorney since June 1999, has long seen the value of collaboration with social workers and other allied professionals because of a deep shared sense of mission to make a real and lasting difference in the lives of children and adults nationwide. These have fallen within the arenas of crime victimization, employment, faith community participation, foster care, healthcare, housing, special education, youth mentoring, and more. Past roles include Vice President of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Staff Attorney and Director of Outreach and Education at the Disability Rights Legal Center, General Counsel of the then-70,000-member American Association of People with Disabilities, Chairman of the Board of the national advocacy organization Disability Belongs, Special Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, Associate Director for Domestic Policy at the White House, and in additional presidential appointee roles under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Among other things, he has focused on enforcement of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Ollie is presently concluding his time in federal service in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education where he has served for almost 12 years. The proud adoptive dad to three blind triplet sons who are now adults, he is also the elected City Councilman in West Covina, California, with a population of more than 110,000. He also happens to be blind.