Governor Greg Abbott recently reappointed Boerne’s Emma Faye Rudkin as well as Kori Allen, Evelyn Cano, Richard Martinez and Joseph Muñiz to the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities for terms set to expire on February 1, 2024. Additionally, the governor appointed Benjamin Willis to the committee and named Martinez as chair.
The committee recommends changes in disability policies and programs, supports a network of committees on people with disabilities, issues awards to promote greater awareness and promotes compliance with disability related laws.
Rudkin is executive director and founder of Aid the Silent, a nonprofit that advocates for deaf and hard of hearing children. Aid the Silent has given away more than $1 million in hearing aids since its inception in 2015.
Through Aid the Silent, she organizes the annual Good Vibrations Music and Arts Festival, the largest all-day, deaf accessible festival in the United States. She is also a musician and speaker, and was a finalist in the Miss Texas Pageant in 2017.
In 2020, she created “Hank and Emma Faye” signing time segments with her hearing service dog on KLRN PBS, which won an Emmy. Recently, Emma won the Outstanding Young Rotarian award in San Antonio.
Rudkin received a bachelor of science degree in communications and nonprofit management from The University of Texas at San Antonio Honors College. Allen, of Plano, is ADA
Allen, of Plano, is ADA & Capital Programs coordinator for the city of Coppell. She is committee chair of the city of Coppell ADA Liaison and is certified as a change practitioner through Prosci working to gain the buy-in and support of patrons in Coppell for the advancement of accessibility changes.
Additionally, she is vice president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of Little People of America and a volunteer for Metrocrest Services.
Cano, of Pharr, is co-owner of Grande Produce LTD and Cano & Sons Trucking. She is the parent of a self-advocate with autism and the co-founder and president of the Disability Chamber of Commerce-RGV, which is the fourth cross-disability chamber of commerce in the nation, and works on integrative employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Additionally, she serves on the board of Disability Rights Texas. Previously, she served on the board of AWARE RGV (Advocates Working to Provide Autism Resources and Education) as interim executive director of the Capable Kids Foundation in the Rio Grande Valley and as a certified bilingual educator for McAllen ISD.
Martinez, of San Antonio, works in the Office of Diversity and Federal Compliance for VIA Metropolitan Transit, helping to ensure that all Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Small Business Enterprise certified firms have the maximum opportunity to bid on architectural, engineering, construction, professional services, goods, and other contracts. He served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush in the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Executive Office of the President.
Muñiz, of Harlingen, is a retired assistant library director for the city of Harlingen. He previously served as a board member of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Governing Board. He is a past member of the Texas Commission for the Blind and past vice presiding officer of the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services Council.
Willis, of Lumberton, is a student at Veritas Classical Academy. He will graduate in 2024.
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