About the ELA Foundation

ELA Foundation

Ethel Louise Armstrong

Margaret A. Staton

Deborah B. Lewis

About Margaret A. Staton Founder and President   Having been disabled by a spinal cord tumor when she was two, Margaret has a first hand knowledge of the needs and opportunities (or the lack thereof) offered to a woman with a disability.   Margaret Staton grew up in Atlanta Georgia, the youngest of four children. Having the same values of independence, self-reliance, perseverance (stubbornness!) found in her Grandmother, Margaret used a wheelchair as well as walked with braces and crutches. An avid sports fan, she was a swimmer and wheelchair athlete and she followed ice- skating championships and football teams. These are activities she does to this day. From an early age, Margaret became an advocate for accessibility for people with disabilities.   After attaining her undergraduate degree in psychology from Georgia State, she planned an advanced degree in occupational therapy. She ended up with a M.Ed. in counseling because of lack of accessible facilities at the Medical College of Georgia. In the 70's, she became the Executive Secretary for the White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals. She got wheelchair sports on the agenda and worked to enlarge the positive public perception of people with disabilities. She became active on several local and national boards as she continued to train people about accessibility and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  In 1994, she founded the ELA Foundation and continued her work to improve policies and promote full inclusion of people with disabilities.   The first grant made by the Foundation sent a woman with a disability to the Beijing Women's Conference in 1995. (For more information about the programs we have funded please refer to the “Grants” portion of this website.)   Today, at the age of 56, Margaret continues to be an advocate, believing that this is the time to “Change the Face of Disability on the Planet”. She is actively associated with and supports national organizations such as the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and the Disability Funders Network (DFN).    Her dedication to this ideal is reflected in her life, and in the belief that no one living in this century should have to live through the prejudicial discrimination and exclusion that she and her peers had to endure in the past. It is just not acceptable anymore … and that is why the ELA Foundation exists!