Newly elected DLC Board President Michael Muehe, has advocated for the civil rights of individuals with disabilities for nearly 30 years.  Michael has also been a leading advocate promoting independent living in the Commonwealth.  Michael began his professional career pushing for access to public transit with the MBTA Access Advisory Committee, and founded the fixed-route accessibility subcommittee to the MBTA’s access advisory committee.  He also worked at Boston Center for Independent Living from 1981-1984 as an independent living specialist, and served on the BCIL Board of Directors from 1985-1991.  Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, Michael has actively participated in the nationwide ADA Training and Implementation Network.  He has trained thousands of businesses and people with disabilities on various aspects of the ADA including employment, transportation, public accommodations, and state and local government services. 

Michael has worked as Executive Director of the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities since 1994, and also serves as the ADA Director for the City of Cambridge.  For over 17 years, Michael has worked tirelessly to make Cambridge a more welcoming and accessible city for all people with disabilities.  Among Michael’s many accomplishments, through his leadership with the Cambridge Commission; he has helped implement a five-year plan for accessible sidewalks, an inclusion initiative in afterschool programming for children and youth, a barrier removal amendment to the City’s human rights ordinance, accessibility requirements for Façade Improvement Program participants, “Disability Reframed” (a community film series), and a robust accessible taxicab program. 

When asked why he chose to serve on the DLC board, Muehe replied, "I believe in equal rights and equal opportunities for all people with disabilities, and I have devoted my career -- over the past 30 years -- to achieving this goal. People with disabilities should have the same opportunities as nondisabled people -- this means access to commerce, education, employment, housing, public programs, services, and transportation. We must continue to fight, until equal opportunity has been achieved in all of these areas.”

Michael considers himself very lucky to have been among a group of several thousand advocates for disability rights, all gathered on a hot summer day on the South Lawn of the White House – on July 26, 1990 -- when President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act. “President Bush compared his signing of the ADA into law with the tearing down of the Berlin wall which had happened the previous year, and how each of these acts symbolized a new era of freedom and opportunity," said Michael.

“After the signing ceremony," continued Michael, "Senator Ted Kennedy welcomed a group of Massachusetts advocates to his office on Capitol Hill. He congratulated all of us for our hard work in achieving this legislative victory. But then Senator Kennedy urged us to start, on the very next day, working to realize the full potential of the ADA, working to make it a reality." Michael concluded: "Many of us in the room that day, myself included, took Senator Kennedy's message to heart, and have been working ever since to make the ADA a reality. I sincerely hope we can achieve that goal."

While it is hard to imagine Michael has any spare time, he does enjoy kayaking, photography, science fiction books, independent films and trying out new restaurants.

Michael looks forward to working with the DLC board and staff to further the organization's mission.