Mariette J. Bates joined the JFK, Jr. Institute in April of 2008 as the Academic Director of Disability Studies Programs. Dr. Bates began her career as an advocate for the institutionalized mentally ill, and then became the Program Director at One to One, a foundation started by Geraldo Rivera in the wake of his exposé of Willowbrook State School on Staten Island.  At One to One, Dr. Bates was responsible for grantmaking, technical assistance to grantees, and for convening and training court-appointed monitors overseeing consent decrees and other institutional reforms.  In 1983, she co-founded the Maidstone Foundation, providing technical assistance to new and emerging groups and direct services to Russian speaking immigrants with disabilities.  Dr. Bates began teaching at City College’s Center for Worker Education in 1993, developing concentrations in Disability Studies and Nonprofit Studies, and in the CUNY Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Disability Studies in 2005.  Dr. Bates holds a bachelor’s degree from Empire State College, a Certificate from Columbia University’s Institute for Not-For-Profit Management and a Ph.D. in Philanthropy and Developmental Disabilities from the Union Institute. She has received numerous advocacy and leadership awards, including the Marvin B. Sussman Dissertation Prize, Outstanding Alumna awards from Empire State College and the Union Institute, Leadership Awards from parent’s groups and the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State, and the 2007 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award from City College’s Center for Worker Education.