Robbie Kopp

Director of Advocacy & Community Access, Able South Carolina

Robbie is Able South Carolina’s Director of Advocacy & Community Access. Robbie is truly passionate about giving professional organizations the tools they need to better welcome and engage the disability community. Through expertise in accessibility of the built environment and the impacts of policy on real people, he finds creative solutions to problems many fear are just too complicated. With Robbie’s support, municipalities, business, emergency support organizations, and nonprofits have removed barriers that unintentionally provided barriers to folks with disabilities and have found a wider market for customers and employees.

Robbie’s approach embodies how Able South Carolina engages with all. We work with organizations where they are. Robbie helps organizations look toward increased accessibility without judgement on where the organization may be currently. This collaborative spirit drives our work and forges lasting partnerships.

Robbie also furthers South Carolina disability rights through educating lawmakers, connecting them with real constituents with disabilities, and by dispelling myths around the Americans with Disabilities Act and other key disability rights laws and policies. On Robbie’s biggest day of the year, he connects the disability community directly with elected leadership at the SC State House for Advocacy Day for Access & Independence.

Other key initiatives that Robbie drives include South Carolina Emergency Preparedness and the Community Leadership Academy. In Robbie’s policy work, he has helped businesses update employment policies to better engage talent with disabilities, has helped the Richland County Sheriff’s office develop policy for decreasing unnecessary incarceration of students with disabilities, has contributed to the passage of the Persons with Disabilities Right to Parent Act, and is broadening access to varied types of accessible transportation.

When Robbie is not hard at work to strengthen communities and drive inclusion, he loves being handy at home both inside and out. His amazing wife Mary Alex and his dogs Maggie and Ziggy cheer him on every day.

Episode 85: Emergency Preparedness and the ADA During the COVID-19 Pandemic