We’re excited to announce Elyse Pegler as the IEC Champion of Change for 2024! Elyse brings both professional expertise and personal dedication to advancing person-centered care for people with IDD. Her journey started with her deep connection to IEC’s mission, inspired by her own family experience navigating the healthcare system with two neurodiverse children.

Elyse has seen firsthand the demeaning treatment that people with IDD often experience. When her 15-year-old daughter was hospitalized, two nurses handled her roughly during an IV insertion, dismissed her concerns when the procedure was done improperly, and later, it was confirmed her daughter was right.

This experience led Elyse to reach out not with complaints, but with solutions—offering administrators information and resources to implement training that could prevent similar experiences for others. Her resilience and advocacy transformed a difficult experience into a catalyst for positive change.

At IEC, Elyse co-leads the IDD Advocate Corps, a group dedicated to uniting self-advocates and healthcare professionals. “We are building a community of like-minded people who are committed to driving change in the healthcare system,” Elyse said, “Every person has a story and every story has the potential to effect change. Bringing people together to share best practices and work on common goals is beyond exciting.”

“Elyse truly embodies IEC’s mission of uniting lived experience with healthcare expertise,” said Mai Pham, CEO of IEC, “As both a parent and a health insurance executive, her leadership on the Advocate Corps is invaluable, and her dedication makes her an integral part of our team. Elyse is an inspiration and I’m proud to recognize her hard work with this award.”

She sees her work at IEC as a bridge between self-advocates and healthcare professionals. Her vision for the Advocate Corps is to unite advocates and practitioners in their shared mission of equitable healthcare. Elyse is eager to see the Advocate Corps take its next steps in 2025, turning the solid foundation they’ve built into a powerful movement.

Please join us in congratulating Elyse, our IEC Champion of Change 2024, for her invaluable contributions to healthcare and her unwavering dedication to ensuring everyone has the respectful, person-centered care they deserve.

The IEC Champion of Change award honors individuals who embody IEC’s mission and have made outstanding contributions toward improving healthcare for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). Recipients of this award demonstrate exceptional leadership, compassion, and dedication to advancing person-centered, equitable care and inspiring meaningful change in the healthcare system.