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Meet our Staff
Rocky Nichols M.P.A.
Executive Director
Rocky brings 13 years of experience in non-profit management
consulting. Rocky also has 13 years of experience in the Kansas
Legislature (11 as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives
and two as legislative staff), and he is a veteran advocate for
disability rights issues. Rocky is also a former member of the Next
Generation Leadership Committee of the President's Committee on
Mental Retardation PCMR. Rocky received his undergraduate degree
from Washburn University and a Masters in Public Administration from
the University of Kansas. Rocky was the recipient of more than 20
awards for legislative leadership and advocacy, including many
significant awards on behalf of persons with disabilities,
including:
Elizabeth M. Boggs Award for Outstanding Leadership in the area of
Mental Retardation, Presidents Committee on Mental Retardation, 1998
Outstanding Public Official of the Year Award, Kansas Association of
Community Mental Health Centers, 1996 and 2002
Kansas NAMI Advocacy Award, 1996 and 2000
Kirk Lowry, J.D.
Litigation Director
Kirk is a licensed attorney and a 1987 graduate of Washburn
University School of Law. He was in private practice from 1987 to
2000 and is a past president of the Kansas Trial Lawyers
Association. Mr. Lowry was an adjunct professor of law at Washburn
Law School and has tried many significant cases for persons with
disabilities in state and federal court. In 1999, Kirk represented a
plaintiff with a disability in Murphy v. UPS, an ADA case, in the
United States Supreme Court. He has argued and won both sovereign
immunity and Ex parte Young cases in the Tenth Circuit Court of
Appeals. From 2000 to 2003, Kirk was the attorney for the Topeka
Independent Living Resource Center, where he represented numerous
persons with disabilities in legal cases.
Timothy Voth, J.D.
Advocacy Director
Tim graduated from Bethel College and Washburn University School of
Law. He was the former House Manager at the Ronald McDonald House in
Topeka. Tim has been employed at DRC since 1988, first as a mental
health attorney, then as Intake Coordinator and Interim Executive
Director. As Interim Director, Tim worked closely with the new Board
of Directors to institute many of the initial reforms prior to Rocky
Nichols' arrival as Executive Director. Tim serves on the Intake and
Referral Advisory Committee for the National Association of
Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS) and the Steering Committee
for the Topeka Victim Offender Reconciliation Program.
Debbie White, C.P.A.
Fiscal Officer
Debbie has worked in public accounting, state government and the
nonprofit sector. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. For
the past three years, Debbie was the Chief Financial Officer of
Kansas Legal Services. As CFO of Kansas Legal Services, she managed
a budget that is nearly eight times the size of DRC, with 27 cost
centers and dozens of grant financial reporting requirements. Debbie
is a native Kansan and received her undergraduate degree in
accounting from Kansas State University.
Summer Duke, J.D.
Disability Rights Attorney
Summer Duke received her law degree from the University of
Missouri-Kansas City Law School and received her Bachelor of Arts
degree in history from Missouri Western State College. Summer was a
member of the UMKC Law Review and graduated with distinction in the
top 10% of her law class at UMKC. During law school she clerked for
a civil litigation firm and for the Office of General Counsel for
Region VII of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Karen Eager, J.D.
Disability Rights Attorney
Karen received her law degree from Washburn University School of Law
where she graduated with Dean’s Honors, was a member of the Law
Review and served as Comments Editor on the Law Review Editorial
Board. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History and
Humanities/Philosophy from Northwest Missouri State University.
Karen’s legal career began as a staff attorney with Legal Services
for Prisoners where she represented inmates at the Hutchinson
Correctional Facility and Larned State Hospital. She has also been a
staff attorney for the State Board of Indigent Defense Service’ s
Appellate Defender Office where she wrote numerous appellate briefs
and presented oral arguments before the Kansas Appellate Courts.
After a stint in private practice in Lawrence, Kansas, Karen joined
the firm of Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman in Kansas City, Missouri
where she was involved in complex product liability and medical
malpractice litigation. She is a faculty member in Washburn
University School of Law’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Program.
Lane Williams, J.D.
Disability Rights Attorney
Lane received his law degree from the University of Kansas and his
Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Baker University. For two
years during law school, Lane advised and represented inmates of
Lansing State and Leavenworth Federal prisons as a member of the
Defender Project. Lane is licensed to practice law in Kansas and
Washington. He was a staff attorney for Kansas Legal Services in
Pittsburg and Topeka for 11.5 years and was in private practice in
Aberdeen, Washington, for 9 years before joining DRC. At Kansas
Legal Services, Lane specialized in public and private housing law
and Social Security and SSI disability law. His areas of emphasis in
private practice were land use, consumer and construction law.
Catherine Johnson, J.D., M.A
Attorney / Special Projects Coordinator
Catherine received her law degree from the University of Iowa,
College of Law. Catherine is licensed to practice law in Iowa,
Missouri, and Kansas. She received her undergraduate degree in
Business Administration and English from the University of Iowa, as
well as a Masters Degree in Higher Education, specializing in
students’ civil rights. Catherine started her legal career as a
staff attorney for Muscatine Legal Services, advocating for
individuals in civil, criminal and juvenile actions. Catherine’s
long standing interest in civil rights in education, led to her
unique professional opportunities, as Director of Student Legal
Services, University of Iowa, Assistant Dean of Students for Saint
Louis University, School of Law for Managing Attorney Civil Justice
Clinic, Washington University School of Law. In those capacities she
represented, advocated and counseled students in legal, academic and
life issues. Catherine has also been a civil commitment and defense
staff attorney for the Iowa and Missouri Public Defender Offices,
where she represented individuals the state sought to commit under
newly enacted civil commitment statutes. Catherine has written
numerous appellate briefs and presented oral arguments before the
Iowa Appellate Courts.
Kathleen Wilson, M.S.
Disability Rights Advocate
Kathleen graduated from Washburn University with a Bachelors Degree
in Education and received a Master of Science Degree from the
University of Kansas, majoring in Special Education. She taught
Special Education classes in Kansas elementary schools for 11 years
and was a Supervisor of Special Education for the Allentown,
Pennsylvania School District in the mid 1980's. While living in
Pennsylvania, she worked as a mental health advocate and as a
Training Associate for Matrix Research Institute, a National
Rehabilitation Research and Training Center. In addition, Kathleen
has taught workshops and published materials on the utilization of
the Social Security Work Incentives. Most recently, Kathleen was
employed as Program Director for a Kansas community residential
program for persons with developmental disabilities. Kathleen brings
over 30 years of disability service and advocacy experience to her
position at DRC.
Nick Cobos
Office Assistant
Nick is a lifelong Topekan and has received office experience with
companies such as Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds and Palmer. He is
chairman of the Shawnee County Council of Community Members and had
served in the past on the Board of Directors for DRC. Nick is a
volunteer at TARC, where he once received services, and has
volunteered at the Topeka Civic Theatre and Academy. Nick enjoys
playing golf, watching sports, listening to music and working on the
computer. He has also written his autobiography about being a self
advocate and a person with a developmental disability, “Dreamer’s
Don’t Quit.”
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