Disability Victory announces Neal Carter as President, welcomes Board Member Jess Moore Matthews of Backbone Digital Leaders
Disability Victory is pleased to announce that Neal Carter will transition from Vice President to begin his new role as President of Disability Victory on January 1, 2026.
“I want to thank Sarah and the board for trusting my leadership and vision for Disability Victory. Our north star is ensuring that progressive disabled leaders are given the electoral tools to succeed in their campaign dreams. Sarah has been a tremendous and enigmatic leader that I am so grateful for starting Disability Victory with in 2023.” - Neal Carter, incoming President.
In addition, we are thrilled to welcome Jess Moore Matthews, Founder and Chief Good Troublemaker of Backbone Digital Leaders, to the Disability Victory Board. As announced in October, Sarah Blahovec will be stepping down as President and Co-Director of Disability Victory to support the organization in an advisory capacity.
“As Co-Founder of Disability Victory, I’m thrilled to support Neal’s continued leadership as Disability Victory’s Director and next President. Neal is fiercely committed to building disabled progressive leadership that makes a difference for our communities, and he has a clear vision for the future of Disability Victory’s programming and goals that are grounded in advancing disabled leadership at all levels of government. I’m equally thrilled to welcome Jess Moore Matthews to the Disability Victory board. Her passion for making democracy more accessible and inclusive to disabled organizers will be a major asset for our organization, and she brings deep experience as a disabled organizer who has worked on numerous political campaigns.” - Sarah Blahovec, outgoing President and Co-Director of Disability Victory.
While Disability Victory has been preparing for this transition internally, we paused external programming through the end of 2025 so that we could start on a firm foundation in 2026. Our organization’s leaders are currently planning programming for the first quarter of 2026, dedicated to empowering disabled progressives to lead as candidates, campaign staff, and organizers. Our work remains rooted in prioritizing accessibility and ensuring our programming is inclusive of disabled people of different lived experiences. As a grassroots organization led by and for disabled progressives, we are so grateful to our generous supporters who believe in our mission. Please consider supporting our work in 2026 and beyond!