Carol Lipari

Carol Lipari (경서미 - Gyeong Seo Mi) joined Access Living in 2023 as the Director of Equity & Strategy. Carol is responsible for ensuring the implementation of Access Living’s disability justice strategy across the organization. Before joining Access Living, Carol worked at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the Office of Minority Student Affairs at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. She currently serves on the Red Cross Diversity Equity & Inclusion Board Committee, the UI Health Hospital & Clinics Community Advisory Board, and Vanderbilt University’s Race Research & Justice Graduate Student Board. 

Carol has a master’s degree in Diversity and Equity in Education, Policy, Organization & Leadership from UIUC. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Learning in Organizations at Vanderbilt University. She expects to graduate in July of 2025. 

Additionally, Carol leads all of her work with lived experience as a disabled, Asian American woman who is part of the LGBTQ+ community. She was born with Infantile Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy. As a result, Carol has facial paralysis and uses a power wheelchair full time. When not at work or school, Carol enjoys art, live music, and writing. In 2017, Carol was selected as a semi-finalist for screenwriting for Universal Studios Inc.’s competitive Global Talent, Development, and Inclusion program.