Meet Leslie
Leslie K. Lipson
JD Educational, Legal and Strategy Specialist
Leslie (she/her/hers) has dedicated her career to working on behalf of people with disabilities. She has an active national consulting practice where she conducts strategic planning for specific advocacy and special education issues. She also leads parents and advocacy group training on topics relating to special education law and advocacy. In her almost 20 years at the Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO), she has provided assistance with the Department of Justice in its investigation of a parallel, segregated system in Georgia for educating students with disabilities, has led the Safe Schools Initiative, a multi-agency advocacy effort aimed at ending restraint and seclusion in Georgia public schools, and she has coordinated the Parent Leadership Support Project, which assisted approximately 10,000 families.
Leslie was part of the legal team that brought GAO v. State of Georgia, the class action lawsuit filed in federal court on October 11, 2017, alleging that the state of Georgia, by denying students with disabilities the opportunity to be educated with their non-disabled peers in neighborhood schools through a system called GNETS violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This lawsuit is pushing the boundaries of how federal civil rights law is applied to the continued segregation and dismal educational opportunities offered to students with disabilities. Leslie is also the Director for the Georgia Coalition for Equity in Education (GCEE), a coalition of professionals, activists, and parents advocating for inclusive, quality, educational equity for all students in Georgia.
She studies Social Role Valorization and teaches and uses these principles to enhance her work of supporting people with disabilities to acquire and maintain valued social roles to access the good things in life. Leslie is frequently asked to present on implementation of advocacy strategies based on IDEA/504, supporting non-attorney advocates in their careers, creating and sustaining volunteer projects, Social Role Valorization, and inclusive schooling. She has presented at Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates National Conference (COPAA), National Disabilities Rights Network Annual Conference (NDRN), Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), TASH National Conference, Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, Learning Disability Association National Conference, North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC), Georgia CASA Conference, International Social Role Valorization Conference, and numerous community events. Leslie earned her undergraduate and J.D. degrees from The University of Georgia.
About Lipson Advocacy
Lipson Advocacy was founded in 2016 by Leslie Lipson, an attorney who has dedicated her career to working on behalf of people with disabilities. Lipson Advocacy offers advocacy solutions using general educational and special education law, from a values-based foundation and mindset of presuming competency. The practice supports both attorneys and non-attorney advocates to succeed in school-based advocacy and teaches family members, professionals and allies to stand beside students with disabilities in the advocacy world.
Lipson Advocacy was created using the principles of Social Role Valorization, which is offered by the organization in any teachings, workshops, communication, briefs, and advocacy planning as a means of supporting people with disabilities to acquire and maintain valued social roles to access the “good things in life.” Additionally, Lipson Advocacy has deep networks across the state, both in the legal and advocacy fields. Leslie has built contacts with students, family members, professionals, and advocates and has the demonstrated skills to connect and mobilize for change.
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"I thank Leslie for her words of wisdom, which were of great value to my son and I planning for his post secondary transition. In the world of advocacy, we can never know the impact that one action can have on the life of another."
Diane Tebbel