DPS is owned and operated by Ilene Zeitzer, an internationally recognized expert on comparative disability policy. In 2002, Ms. Zeitzer retired from the U.S. government after 29 years of service. Prior to her retirement, she was the Social Security Administration's Special Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner for Disability & Income Security Programs and the Agency's expert on international disability programs and rehabilitation issues.
Ms. Zeitzer has studied the disability policies of countries around the world, and is the author of numerous articles on comparative disability policies and practices. She is also a frequent speaker in both domestic and international forums concerning U.S. and foreign public policy.
Ms. Zeitzer has worked in 86 countries on various disability-related issues including: eligibility criteria for benefits; problems of pension adequacy, efficacy and program integrity; human rights and social inclusion; poverty reduction strategies; employment promotion and workforce integration; and the specific problems related to women and children with disabilities. She has also consulted on related topics such as sickness benefit and work injury benefit programs. Ms. Zeitzer was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Social Insurance in 2004 and served on the Board of Directors for two leading international non-profit organizations: GLADNET (the Global Applied Disability Research & Information Network on Employment & Training) and GAATES (the Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies & Environments).
Ms. Zeitzer received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French with a Journalism minor from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Arts in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame of Maryland.
DPS Associates
Karen Andrae Specialist in Disability and Gender, Training Expert
Karen Andrae is a German national and UK-based independent consultant with over 20 years of experience in disability and international development. Originally a physiotherapist specialising on neuro-pediatrics, she has completed a MSc in Community Disability studies in at UCL London and worked internationally and in the UK with international and national NGOs including Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), governments and service providers promoting the rights and opportunities of persons with disabilities underpinned by a human rights approach and social model to disability.
More recently as a consultant, she has focused on the intersectionality of gender and disability. She has developed a Training of Trainer manual and curriculum for gender mainstreaming training with DPOs as the target audience. It is currently being rolled out in seven countries in East Africa, South East Asia, Latin America and Bosnia-Herzegowina. She feels strongly about multiple identities and social norm changes with an especially keen interest in gender-based violence and how different forms of violence against women and girls with and without disabilities cut across education, economic empowerment, health and social and political representation and participation of women, youth and children.
Karen has led peer-led research on gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities in Tanzania, which has led to the development of further research proposals and programme interventions in Cambodia, and Tanzania in regard to school-related GBV. She has extensive experience in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL); qualitative research, project and programme design and management, participatory capacity building and organisational development. She is advising mainstream organisations how to better include persons with disabilities through, for example, participatory mapping and barrier analysis, and works with disability-focused organisations on how to better include women and girls with disabilities through intersectionality, gender and power analysis. She favours an equity-focused and gender-responsive approach to programming, and evaluation and learning across thematic areas that enables meaningful participation of women, youth and children in making decisions for their lives.
Jinseul Jun Disability Inclusion/Assessment Consultant
Jinseul Jun
Jinseul Jun is a researcher with three years of experience in working in inclusion, human rights, assessment and social policy in the Arab world and beyond. Jun also has a record of building partnerships with a diverse portfolio of stakeholders to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities and advocating for systemic and structural changes.
Jun has a Master of Arts (MA) in Arab Studies from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. During her time at Georgetown, Jun worked as a Disability Inclusion consultant at the World Bank, as a researcher for the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, and as an intern for both the Disability Rights and Middle East North Africa Divisions at Human Rights Watch, which included a winter working in Amman, Jordan for the organization.
João Lobato Quantitative & Qualitative Research Expert
Joao Lobato
João Lobato is a researcher with 12 years of experience and strong quantitative and qualitative skills. A Brazilian national, he has lived and worked in South America, Europe and Asia, leading projects and working as consultant for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Marie Stopes International, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Greenpeace, and other organisations. João has a Masters of Research (MPhil) in Latin American Studies from the University Cambridge, which awarded him a scholarship, and was a Postgraduate Research Student at Bristol University following his undergraduate degree in Geography at the University of São Paulo, where he was awarded two national research scholarships (CNPq/PIBIC).
João is also a successful writer having published eight books and several articles, including reviews for Foreign Affairs, and academic papers.