Sandy Root-Elledge, the Interim Executive Director of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, announced this week that Lillie Heigl, Esq., MPA, has been hired as AUCD's Senior Policy Advisor. Lillie will serve in this key leadership role to coordinate and conduct activities that educate the AUCD Network and our diverse stakeholders on our work, mission, and key priorities. She will also provide analysis of the impact of federal and state legislation and regulatory changes for our members as well as persons with disabilities and their families.
Sandy Root-Elledge, the Interim Executive Director of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, announced this week that Lillie Heigl, Esq., MPA, has been hired as AUCD's Senior Policy Advisor. Lillie will serve in this key leadership role to coordinate and conduct activities that educate the AUCD Network and our diverse stakeholders on our work, mission, and key priorities. She will also provide analysis of the impact of federal and state legislation and regulatory changes for our members as well as persons with disabilities and their families.
Lillie was most recently the 2024-2025 Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation Public Policy Fellow during which she worked for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on a broad range of issues affecting disabled people and their families. Prior to that, Lillie was a Disability Policy Analyst at New America, a non-partisan Think Tank, where the focus of her work included the subminimum wage, IDEA part C, accessible EdTech, and more. Lillie is a former New York State Excelsior Public Service fellow, placed at the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities in Albany, New York. She worked in program implementation for the agency’s Employment & Meaningful Community Activities unit.
Lillie earned a Bachelor’s of Journalism and a Bachelor’s of Arts in International Studies from the University of Missouri, and she is a very proud member of the Mizzou Mafia. She holds a Juris Doctorate and a Masters of Public Administration from Syracuse University College of Law and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, also having completed the Disability Law and Policy Program.
In collaboration with senior leadership, staff, and members, Lillie will advance AUCD’s public policy efforts, fulfilling the mission and vision of AUCD.
Read Lillie’s full bio.
