Last week, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee appointed Brent Wiles, senior vice president at Bridge Public Affairs, to an at-large, three-year term on the Council on Developmental Disabilities, which works to bring positive change to the disability services system in the Volunteer State.
“I am excited to be joining the Council,” Wiles said. “People with disabilities have so much to offer but face challenges finding the right supports. The Council is doing great work to help our state provide more opportunities for individuals with disabilities, and I look forward to supporting that work across Tennessee.”
Wiles, who lives in Nashville with his wife and three young sons, the youngest of whom has Down Syndrome, worked for 16 years in the United States Senate before joining the team at Bridge. He will meet with the CDD quarterly and will serve as a representative in the local community, connecting the needs of people with disabilities and their families to the council’s statewide work.
“Our agency is unique in state government, because we’re here specifically to improve the system, and because we are directly connected to the needs of local disability communities through our Council members,” said Wanda Willis, executive director of the Council on Developmental Disabilities. “Brent Wiles brings both extensive public policy expertise and personal experience with disability to his role. His perspective on how we can most effectively improve the lives of families touched by disability will be invaluable.”
CDD is a state agency established to improve disability policies and practice, educate policymakers and the public, and build collaboration to create lasting, positive change for Tennesseans with disabilities and their families. The Council is the only state agency tasked with looking at how all the pieces of our disability system work together, identifying areas of need, and bringing different parts of government and outside groups together to tackle challenges and improve state services.
For more information, visit www.tn.gov/cdd or follow the council on Twitter and Facebook.