ARIEL MERKEL holds both a M.A and M.Phil. (Ph.D. ABD) from the sociology department of the New School for Social Research and is a certified Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator. Ariel has dedicated her professional and academic life to promoting the rights of people with disabilities.
As a seasoned disability integration specialist, Ariel offers years of experience providing strategic advice to local and federal governmental agencies, as well as the United Nations, on a wide range of accessibility issues. When the Houston area was hit by the “Tax Day Flood” of 2016, Ariel was deployed as a Disability Integration Advisor for FEMA to provide technical guidance to the State of Texas and Harris County, to ensure people with disabilities had equal access to disaster relief programs and services. She currently leads the ADA Unit at the Board of Elections in the City of New York (BOE), where she oversees city-wide identification and resolution of all accessibility issues throughout the electoral process.
When Ariel joined the BOE, a majority of poll sites in NYC had multiple accessibility barriers. Many sites had permanent ramps that were too steep or doorways that were too narrow. Poll workers received little training on how to best support voters with disabilities. Under her leadership, the BOE has successfully implemented a plan to bring more than 1,200 Election Day and 100 early voting poll sites into compliance with Title II of the ADA for the duration of all election events. The BOE now deploys over 600 temporary ramp systems to ensure that every voter has access to this fundamental right. Tens of thousands of poll workers – one of the largest temporary workforces in the United States – are trained on a range of accessibility topics, including disability etiquette, through instructional videos. Poll workers with disabilities receive accommodations including sign language interpretation.
Ariel's commitment to disability rights extends beyond the United States: she has been rewarded multiple contracts with the United Nations, including
conducting interviews and providing editorial support for the publication "Toward an Inclusive and Accessible Future for All: Voices of Persons with Disabilities on the Post-2015 Development Framework." This publication documents the perspectives of people with disabilities from the Global South on a range of economic development issues.
Ariel is fascinated by how disability, a malleable identity that shifts spatially and temporarily and yet is so deeply rooted to the body and literally embedded in bone, intersects with other identities that are typically conceptualized as socially constructed performances. She is firmly committed to designing and advocating for an inclusive world that is accessible to all.
Ariel lives in Brooklyn NY with her husband Erick and their two children.