10/31/2026
NJCDD recently hosted our 2026 Community Building Awards. Our Community Building Awards encourage more inclusive communities while showing appreciation for exceptional commitment and advocacy.
Margaret Gilbride was named the Lifetime Achievement Advocacy Awardee. Margaret Gilbride, JD, CT, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, is the Director of Transition,
Employment, and Aging & Disability at The Boggs Center on Disability and Human Development.
Prior to joining The Boggs Center, Margaret worked as an Administrator, Research Associate, and Project Coordinator at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community (IIDC), where she provided direct technical assistance on topics such as program evaluation, strategic planning, staff development, and issue-specific workshops and group facilitation to schools, provider organizations, governmental agencies, businesses, family groups, and advocacy organizations.
Margaret is dedicated to increasing access to competitive employment for transitioning youth and adults with the most significant disabilities. Throughout her career, she has provided, managed, and directed supported employment and transition services. Notably, she coordinated the establishment of 14 Project SEARCH Indiana sites. Project SEARCH Indiana is a business-led, one-year internship program that provides total workplace immersion and skill training for young adults and students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their final year of high school.
Over the last decade, she has conducted ongoing research and training related to the impact of aging, grief, and loss on people with developmental disabilities, with a concentration on bioethical issues they encounter in healthcare provision and end-of-life treatment.
Margaret serves on the board of directors for both National APSE, the Association of Persons Supporting Employment First, and its New Jersey State Chapter. She is a member of Overlook Medical Center’s Bioethics Committee, the National Alliance on Educating Hospital and Hospice Providers on Healthcare Decision-making for People with Disabilities, the NJ Advisory Council on End of Life Issues, and the New Jersey Rehabilitation Council.
The Lifetime Achievement Advocacy Award is NJCDD’s highest honor. It recognizes someone who has spent many years making communities more inclusive. In her professional life and beyond, Margaret has spent more than two decades modeling what it means to center dignity, inclusion, and authentic community for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
