Please join the Disability Law and Policy Program (DLPP) on March 17, 2026, from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, for a webinar featuring Mary J. Goodwin-Oquendo L’09 focused on “Accommodations in Higher Ed & Professional Licensing.” Her remarks will address her experience as a civil rights lawyer who represents people with disabilities. The webinar will be co-moderated by DLPP Director Professor Katherine Macfarlane, and Disabled Law Students Association leaders Kaitlin Sommer and Emely Recinos.
Goodwin-Oquendo advocates for individuals with cognitive, physical, and psychiatric disabilities who have experienced discrimination in school and/or require accommodations on high stakes admissions and licensing examinations. Prior to starting her own practice, she worked closely with activist, attorney, and NYS Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon of Jo Anne Simon P.C. During her time at Jo Anne Simon P.C., Ms. Goodwin-Oquendo collaborated with various affinity groups to provide vital feedback to the United States Department of Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was incorporated into the agencies’ final rules enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008.
Goodwin-Oquendo is a member of the New York State Bar Association, and an appointed member of the association’s Committee on Disability Rights. She has developed continuing legal education coursework and currently serves as one of the editors of the New York State Bar Association’s disability treatise. She is also a member of the Disability Rights Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association/New York, the New York City Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and previously served on the executive board of the New York Urban League Young Professionals and the National Urban League Young Professionals Programs Committee. She also serves as a Fordham University School of Law adjunct professor. She earned her BA in History and Political Science from St. Joseph’s College, where she was class valedictorian, and her J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law. Goodwin-Oquendo was recently featured in a Syracuse University Today profile, available here.
If you require accommodations for the webinar, please contact Anna Dallam, atdallam@syr.edu.