Santa Perez

Board Member

Santa Perez is from Southern California where she was very active in the self-advocacy field. She earned her Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology from Cal State Northridge.

When Santa moved to Las Vegas in the mid 90`s she discovered that there were no advocacy groups for people with disabilities. This was unacceptable for Santa and she started her quest to bring a self-advocacy group to Nevada. Santa co-founded People First of Nevada and her dream is now a reality with 7 chapters all around the state. Santa is a very proud and active former Statewide President of the People First of Nevada. She has testified before the state legislation and was instrumental in getting the Signature Stamp Law and the People First Respectful Language Law passed.

Santa has sat on many disability committees, both state and federal. Santa was appointed by Secretary Tom Perez, Department of Labor, to be on the Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities (ACICIEID). Santa is also a proud Council member serving on the Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.

In her personal life Santa has accomplished many things. She has her own home and is a part of her community, but in her eyes, her greatest accomplishment is her son Noah.

Santa is a well-known writer and blogger and she is the author of Siting At Eye Level: My Life as an Advocate, a Professional, a Woman, a Mom and a Person with a Significant Disability. She is also hoping to start her own consulting firm in the future.