Meet the Panelists for the ADAPTIVE SAILING PANEL LIVE ON TUESDAY, NOV. 24 Panel
Becky Keukla (Plymouth, Mass.) – Moderator
- Motivational speaker and disability inclusion advocate
- Disability Equality Index (DEI) Director at Disability:IN
- Member of the Board of Advisors for the National Center for Disability Journalism (NCDJ) at Arizona State University
- Former Marketing Director and Co-Founding Board Member of the Catalina Film Festival
- Previously worked in the Equity & Inclusion Department at Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)
Cristina Rubke (San Francisco, Calif.)
- Staff Commodore and Co-Director of Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors Keelboat program
- Former Member of San Francisco America’s Cup Organizing Committee (America’s Cup 34)
- Board Chair, Disability Rights Advocates
- 2013 Access Class European Championship (1st Place, Liberty Servo Division)
- 2013 Access Class North American Championship (2nd Place, Liberty Servo Division)
- 2015 U.S. Disabled Sailing Championship (2nd Place, Doublehanded Division, Martin 16)
- 2018 U.S. Para Sailing Championship/Clagett Regatta (2nd Place, Doublehanded Division, RS Venture)
Matt Chao (Newton, Mass.)
- Six-time U.S. Blind Sailing National Champion
- Participated in eight World Blind Sailing Championships (Silver medal – 1997; Bronze medals – 2006, 2013)
- Winner of the Gay S. Lynn Memorial Trophy in 2011 for his outstanding contributions to sailors with disabilities and to adaptive sailing.
Sarah Everhart Skeels (Little Compton, R.I.)
- Master’s Degree in Public Health from George Washington University School of Public Health.
- Teaches courses in Disability Studies, Bioethics, Community-Based programming and Health Promotion at Brown and Tufts.
- Informs and directs research on interdisciplinary research teams at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital who are focused on promoting health for those living with spinal cord Injury
- Vice President of the Board of Directors of New England Disabled Sports, a non-profit adaptive sports organization in New Hampshire
- Vice President of the Board of Directors of the C. Thomas Clagett Memorial Clinic and Regatta, a non-profit adaptive sailing organization in Newport, R.I.
- Commissioner on the Rhode Island Governor’s Commission for People with Disabilities; Chair of the Employment Committee
- Former athlete on the U.S. Para Sailing Team