Board Member Biography – Angela MW Thanyachareon

Angela MW Thanyachareon has been married for 14 years and had an 8 year old son who has been diagnosed with Down syndrome and is on the Autism spectrum.  They live in Fairfax County, VA.  Since 2003, Angela has been a disability rights advocate.  She started her earliest advocacy work in California as a member of the Down syndrome Association of San Diego; Member of California Association for Parent-Child Advocacy; Board Member of the Infant Development Association of San Diego, CA; Member of the Arc of San Diego; and Community Representative for California Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention.  For two years, Angela was a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Voices For Children, Inc. where she advocated for children with intellectual disabilities in the San Diego County Foster Care system.  In 2008, after moving back to Fairfax County, VA, she began volunteering at the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia and the Arc of Northern Virginia.  She became a member of the Arc of Northern Virginia (Advocacy Committee), Virginia Ability Alliance, Down syndrome Association of Northern Virginia (Government Affairs Committee), and Autism Society of Northern Virginia.  She was accepted in the 2009-2010 Class for Virginia Partners in Policymaking and graduated, June 2010.  Angela graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Law with a Juris Doctor.  Since 2000, she has been a member of The Florida Bar and American Bar Association and a member of The District of Columbia Bar since 2009.  Angela is a Sole Practitioner and a Volunteer Disability Rights Advocate.