Elver Ariza-Silva and Michael Brennan Elected as Chair and Vice-Chair to U.S. Access Board

At its April meeting, the U.S. Access Board elected Elver Ariza-Silva as its new Chair and Dr. Michael Brennan as its new Vice-Chair. Ariza-Silva is a disability community advocate based out of the District of Columbia. Dr. Brennan is Executive Director for the Office of Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Every year, the Board elects officers, including a new Chair and Vice-Chair, which alternate between a Public Member and a Federal Member. As Chair, Ariza-Silva assumes the office previously held by former Deputy Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) Katy Kale, and Dr. Brennan succeeds Ariza-Silva as Vice-Chair.

“It is not about the disability, but the ABILITY, remarked Ariza-Silva. “It is not about nah, you cannot, but HOW you can. It is not about the opportunities, but the ACCESSIBILITY to get them.”

Ariza-Silva is active in advocacy efforts for all people with disabilities in the District of Columbia. Originally from the Republic of Colombia, Ariza-Silva is a polio survivor and a professional with more than 20 years combined experience in human and social services and in the food industry. He has served as a research assistant for a Johns Hopkins University study that focused on preventing child trafficking from Latin America and has held leadership roles in the food industry.

Ariza-Silva was appointed by District of Columbia Mayors Vincent C. Gray and Muriel Bowser to serve as Chairman on the Statewide Independent Living Council. He also served as Vice-Chair of the Accessibility Advisory Committee Board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, advising Metro on ways to improve Metro Rail, Metro Bus, and Metro Access.

Ariza-Silva’s position as Vice-Chair over the last year will be filled by CFM’s Executive Director Dr. Michael Brennan. “It is an honor to have been elected Vice-Chair of the U.S. Access Board, and I look forward to working alongside Chair Elver Ariza-Silva, our Board colleagues, and the dedicated staff at the agency,” remarked Dr. Brennan. “I am proud to represent the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in removing barriers to the care, benefits and services our nation’s veterans have earned, and now to work with the Board to help ensure that the government is accessible to the millions of Americans with disabilities – including our nation’s disabled veterans.”

CFM plans, designs, constructs, and leases facilities for the Veterans Health Administration, the nation’s largest integrated health care system, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration. In his role as Executive Director, Dr. Brennan is responsible for planning, design, and construction of major construction projects greater than $20 million, and acquires real property for VA elements through the purchase of land and buildings, as well as long-term lease acquisitions.

CFM executes construction and real property programs to provide Veterans with high quality buildings, additions, large scale renovations, and structural enhancements. Dr. Brennan also manages the crucial areas of facility sustainability, seismic corrections, physical security, and historic preservation of VA’s facilities. Replacement plant value of VA facilities exceeds $87 billion, with new construction and major improvements approaching $2 billion per year.

Dr. Brennan is a retired Colonel, U.S. Army Medical Service Corps serving in multiple senior health facility planning, design and construction positions over his 27-year active duty career. He is a Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom with awards and decorations including the Legion of Merit (3 awards), Bronze Star, Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge, Expert Field Medical Badge, Army Staff Badge, and Order of Military Medical Merit among numerous others. Dr. Brennan is a native of Kirkland, Illinois.

The Access Board has a twenty-five member Governing Board. Twelve of its Governing Board members are representatives from most of the federal departments. Thirteen others, who are appointed by the President, are members of the public, and most of them must have a disability. The Access Board also employs approximately thirty staff across five units: Office of Executive Director, Office of Administration, Office of General Counsel, Office of Technical and Information Services, and Office of Information Technology.