DALE APPOINTED

Obama Creates High Level Disability Post

At the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho, are Special Olympics Board Chairman Tim Shriver, left, and newly appointed Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy Kareem Dale with Vice President Joseph Biden.

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Vice President Joseph Biden chose the setting of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho to announce the appointment of Kareem Dale as Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. President Barack Obama is the first president to appoint a special assistant focused exclusively on disability policy.

The vice president, who was leading a presidential delegation at the games, made the announcement during a stop at the Special Olympics’ Healthy Athletes Event, a worldwide program in which athletes receive a variety of health screenings and services.

“The commitment that the President and I have to Special Olympics and people with disabilities is deep and abiding. And we are backing up those words with real action at the White House,” said Biden. “This is our first step to ensure that we have a strong advocate for people with disabilities at the highest levels of our Administration.”

Dale will have direct access to the president in this role and he will coordinate the Admini-stration’s efforts to see that people with disabilities are on a level playing field with all Americans.

Originally from Chicago, Ill., Dale previously served as the National Disability Director for the Obama for America campaign. 

He also served on the Arts Policy Committee and the Disability Policy Committee for then-Senator Obama. 

Dale graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor degree in advertising in 1995. 

He received his JD/MBA in 1999 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, graduating Cum Laude. While attending law school, Dale was also active in community service, including serving as president of two organizations, the Black Law Students’ Association and Open Forum.