Congratulations: Georgia Trend's Most Influential and Power Players

Eric E. Jacobson
Executive Director
Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities

Jacobson gives credit to a group of mothers at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta for his career with the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.

He worked with the federation “when the Jewish Community was beginning to think about services for people with disabilities,” he says. Following his successful tenure there, some of the women encouraged him to apply for a job with the council. He’s been with GCDD since 1992 and has served as executive director since 1997.

The council works within the governmental framework and with the community of disabled people, advocates and service providers to help promote the things people with disabilities need in order to be contributing members of society, Jacobson says – needs such as accessible housing and opportunities for education and real careers.

A current focus of the council is on the Asset Alliance Coalition, Jacobson says. "We recognize that people with disabilities predominantly live in poverty," often because policies create barriers to work or to save.

For example, in order to keep Medicaid or Social Security, people are only allowed to save a small amount of money before losing their benefits. The coalition of bankers, micro-enterprise specialists, housing specialists and people from the disability community are working together to develop policies that will allow people to hold jobs, save money and participate in the American dream, without losing their benefits before they can afford to replace them.

"That is, long term, going to have a great impact on how people’s lives are supported," Jacobson says.

-Georgia Trend: 2008 Most Influential Georgians



Annette Bowling
Executive Director
Albany Advocacy Resource Center

For more than 30 years Bowling has carried a passionate message to elected officials and anyone else who would listen: The disabled can be productive members of society. Thanks to her tireless efforts, thousands of lives have been changed as housing and healthcare programs have brought disabled people from the fringes of society into the mainstream.

-Georgia Trend: 100 Most Influential Georgians