Janine Bertram Kemp

Janine Bertram Kemp

Janine is president of the Disability Rights Center (disabilityrightscenter.wordpress.com/about/). The Center works to preserve and disseminate the Olin Collection of historic photographs. We also facilitate the ADA Road to Freedom Tour that is currently touring the country to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The tour is designed to allow local groups to draw the public’s attention to their top issues and to highlight youth grassroots leadership.

She has been an activist in the disability rights movement since 1985. She is the former Communications Director for the AAPD and NSCIA. Janine, who has a non-traumatic SCI, entered the disability movement through her late husband; Evan J. Kemp, Jr. Evan introduced President George HW Bush on July 26, 1990, when the ADA was signed into law.

Her relationship with Evan gave Janine a front row seat on a little seen or discussed part of the American disability movement. She saw the halls of power and the importance of grassroots influencers. Her articles have appeared in numerous disability publications and she has written reports for various federal and state agencies. Janine and documentarian, Tom Olin, have done oral/photo histories of people with disabilities in New Mexico and Pennsylvania.