Staff
Janice Benton, SFO
Executive Director
Janice Benton assumed the position of NCPD Executive Director in May 2004 after twenty-five years of experience in the field of ministry and advocacy with persons with disabilities. She assisted in setting up NCPD in 1982, after serving two years on the precursor U.S. Bishops Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities, and continued on as staff, working in a variety of capacities. Throughout her tenure with NCPD she has guided numerous projects and initiatives. She is a frequent speaker at national and diocesan conferences, as well as a guest on various national radio programs. Janice is a professed member of the Secular Franciscan Order and recently celebrated her silver anniversary as a Secular Franciscan.
Nancy Thompson, OCDS
Director of Programs and Diocesan Relations
Dr. Nancy Thompson joined the staff of NCPD in July 2007 after looking for its support in seeking services for her own son with Opitz G/BBB Syndrome, as a diocesan volunteer in disability ministry, as diocesan director of religious education, as a Board member and Board Chair, finally as a theology teacher in an inclusive Catholic High School. She completed her doctorate in applied ministries in 2000 with an emphasis that included ministry with people having disability.
Bob Quinlan
Project Manager
Bob is a Project Manager for NCPD who handles items such as the Large Print Liturgical Books, Website development and database management. He has an M.A. in Religious Studies from St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia and is an S.T.L. candidate at the John Paul II Institute in Washington DC. Bob has worked with the American Physical Therapy Association and the National Catholic Educational Association and is currently an RCIA coordinator at a parish in downtown Washington DC.
Yan Orellana
Administrative Assistant
Yan Orellana brings numerous gifts to NCPD. Yan’s backgrounds in graphic design and translation are being used for brochures and in the production of materials, as well as in making our materials more accessible to Spanish speaking people.
Peg Kolm
Director of Development
Peg Kolm comes to NCPD from the Archdiocese of Washington, where she worked as the Coordinator of Ministry for Persons with Disabilities. Among her other projects at the Archdiocese, she handled accommodations for the Papal Mass in April 2008. She was also a presenter in NCPD’s "Pastoral Statement at 30" webinar on August 13.
Peg is a former editor at NPR News and worked for a number years for an educational nonprofit, KIDSNET.
She and her husband are the parents of two children, Richard and Kate, who is deafblind and attends the Maryland School for the Blind. Peg works as a volunteer at her parish’s Disabilities Ministry.
