Regina Snowden, M.S.W., is the founder of Partners for Youth with Disabilities. Since founding PYD in 1985, she has played a major role in the creation of successful programs and securing funding which has enabled the organization to help Massachusetts youth with disabilities overcome barriers by providing mentoring, education, entrepreneurship, health, recreational and cultural opportunities.
Ms. Snowden designed the Mentor Match program which has received the Award of Excellence in Children’s Health from the Harvard School of Public Health as well as an award from the National Organization on Disability. She has secured the financial growth of the organization through proposals and presentations to foundations, corporations, trusts, United Way, federal, state and local government sources and through special events. Ms. Snowden and the story of PYD have been featured by local and national media, including CBS This Morning, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald and the Chicago Tribune. Ms. Snowden was selected by the Governor’s Commission on the Employment of People with Disabilities and the President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities to assist in developing leadership skills building forums for youth with disabilities on a state and national basis. In addition to those already mentioned, she was selected by the Boston Public Schools to chair a committee for the School-to-Career Initiative.
Ms. Snowden and PYD programs have received awards and recognition from organizations and entities including the American Red Cross (Clara Barton Award), Citizens Bank (Champion in Action Award), United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the Harvard School of Public Health, Children’s Hospital, the City of Boston, and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. In 2003, the Rehabilitation Services Administration published an article written by Ms. Snowden entitled “Mentoring Youth with Disabilities” in the American Rehabilitation Journal. In the Fall of 2005, Ms. Snowden was selected to attend Laura Bush’s “White House Conference on Helping America’s Youth” with a reception at the White House. In 2008, Ms. Snowden was recognized by the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, Inc. for excellence in nonprofit administration. Ms. Snowden was honored by BOSTnet with their Disability Inclusion STAR award in 2010 for her extraordinary commitment to serving youth of ALL abilities. Ms. Snowden was selected as one of the “100 Women We Admire” by the Ad’s Club’s Women’s Leadership Forum in 2013 and was also selected as a 2013 nominee for the “Women Who Live United Award” from the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley.
Ms. Snowden received a B.A. in Social Work from Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana and an M.S.W. in Social Work from Boston University.