Olivia Richard
The Bryan Noble Award was created in the memory of Paul Bryan Noble, who died way too young, but who lived a full life despite his medical problems and other challenges. This award is presented yearly to a person who has strived to show that disabilities do not define or limit a person.
This year, we honored Olivia Richard for her strong advocacy on behalf of the disabled community of Massachusetts and indeed the country.
Olivia Richard is a disability rights advocate and activist, focusing on advancing the cause of community integration for all people with disabilities. She was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2000 when a senior in high school, then sustained a Spinal cord injury in 2009. Olivia graduated with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Psychology from UMass Lowell in 2006. She works with the Boston Center for Independent Living on various campaigns and initiatives around housing and healthcare, often engaging with state and federal government to work on making policies, programs like the One Care demo, and laws better for all. Olivia is a co-founder of Mass ADAPT, the Massachusetts chapter of National ADAPT, who is a grassroots disability rights organization that fights for people to be fully integrated into the community and out of institutions. In her spare time, she loves to explore everything about the MBTA trains and public transit rolling stock, solve mechanical logic puzzles, play games, build with LEGO, and swing in her hammock on nice days.
The Point After Club of Lawrence
The Community Service Award is given each year to a local organization that provides unwavering support for people with disabilities, including those on the Autism Spectrum.
This year we honor the Point After Club of Lawrence. The focus of Point After Club is on self-help, peer support, and empowerment of its membership, with staff and members working side-by-side to manage all of the Clubhouse operations and governance. The Clubhouse focuses on the strengths of each individual, providing members the opportunity to live, learn, and engage in meaningful work while contributing their talents to the Point After Club community. Point After Club services include supports geared toward employment, education, social activities and relationships, life-skills development, housing, connecting to community resources, health and wellness, arts-based rehabilitation, and advocacy.
Point After Club was awarded a three-year accreditation from Clubhouse International in 2017, the maximum level offered by Clubhouse International, an independent, multi-national nonprofit organization whose mission is to help communities around the world create sustainable solutions for mental illness by developing and nurturing new and existing Clubhouses.
Lysbeth Noyes
The Asperger Works Award is given to a person in recognition for his/her commitment to individuals and/or organizations, like Asperger Works, that try to make life better for all in their communities.
This year, we honor Lysbeth Noyes of Community inRoads, where she is the Program Director and the leader of the Healthy Board Development Program that galvanizes nonprofit Boards to optimize their mission.
Lysbeth is an advocate and change agent for social justice. She has administered nonprofit programs at the Federal, State, and community level in Maine, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. For fourteen years she was the Executive Director of New Hampshire’s Region IV Development Services that served people with disabilities and their families. This consumer-driven organization became the cornerstone of a nationally recognized service system. Lysbeth was honored for her leadership by the establishment of the annual Noyes Management Award.
She served as the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Task Force for Women and Recovery where, using a peer recovery support model designed for women, she provided leadership training within the justice system.
Lysbeth received her doctorate in Law, Policy, and Society from Northeastern University, where she teaches Advocacy and Community Organizing in the Graduate School of Urban Public Health.
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