NCIL’s Oral History Project is a video series preserving the stories, lessons learned, and institutional memory of the National Council on Independent Living and its central, catalyzing role in the Independent Living movement.
Each episode captures firsthand accounts from leaders and advocates so future generations can learn what worked, what changed, and what still needs defending.
The series is made up of stories about how the Independent Living movement built power through grassroots organizing, coalition work, and persistent policy advocacy.
If you’d like to support this work, please make a donation. If you have ideas about additional guests to include, email us at ncil@ncil.org.
Kelly Buckland
Kelly Buckland traces his path in the Independent Living movement from Idaho’s first Center for Independent Living to national leadership. Beginning with his first NCIL conference in 1989 when he and others pressed the White House to support disability rights, he recounts a rain-soaked march into Washington and the meeting with the Attorney General.
He then connects that experience to National Council on Independent Living’s longer arc: growing into a stronger national operation while staying grounded in the priorities of Centers for Independent Living, Statewide Independent Living Councils, and grassroots advocates. He also reflects on how these gatherings refueled people for the work back home, why leadership renewal matters, and how coalition pressure shaped major national fights.
Charlie Carr
Charlie Carr recounts how NCIL moved from an idea to an organized national force, starting with a 1982 meeting. The states representing the ten Title VII-funded states made the decision to build a lasting national presence. He describes early Washington meetings with no funding, the leadership structure that emerged, and the long work of expanding Title VII nationwide.
Charlie explains why advocacy, not just services, defined Centers for Independent Living. He also recalls how standards protected disability-led governance, and how coalition-building and direct action helped carry the ADA across the finish line. He ends by sharing how teaching disability history and mentoring emerging leaders is how the movement keeps its momentum.
Colleen Starkloff
Colleen Starkloff shares how her husband Max Starkloff drew her into the disability rights movement while he was living in a nursing home. She reflects on how their work helped build community-based alternatives, like housing and attendant services, allowing people with disabilities to live outside institutions.
She then tells the origin story of NCIL through the early Title VII-funded Centers and the Washington meetings that helped set the organization’s structure in motion.
She also describes what life before the ADA looked like and why grassroots organizing made landmark policy wins possible. She closes with a call to protect what’s been won and keep pushing for a real attendant services system that makes community life achievable.
