Former White House liaison visits campus

A graduate from the Class of 2005 at LSMSA returned to the campus Jan. 24-26 to discuss public policy, government work and disability with students.

Maria Town, of Hammond, visited with students enrolled in Foundations of Public Administration, Topics in Women’s History and Radicalism in America classes. She also participated in an arm chair discussion.

Her visit was sponsored through the LSMSA Foundation's Praecellemus Fund.

Town served as an associate director in the White House’s Office of Public Engagement. President Barack Obama publicly acknowledged Town as the “fantastic new disability community liaison” during an address in July 2015 at the 25th anniversary event for the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Town, who has cerebral palsy, focused on incorporating the needs of people with disabilities in Obama administration activities. Prior to joining the president’s staff, Town worked as an adviser in the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, where she focused on improving employment among youth and young adults with disabilities.

Before moving to Washington to work in public service, she graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., with a degree in anthropology. At Emory, Town was a Community and Diversity Fellow in the Office of the Provost where she aided in oversight, policy formulation, program development and management of the Center for Women, the Office of Disability Services, the Office of University-Community Partnerships and the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs. She also served as the university-wide Student Government Association president.