Disability Service Facilitators (DSF)

Who We Are

Disability Service Facilitators, or "DSFs", are agency representatives who are committed to making our agencies more inclusive. We are liaisons to New Yorkers with disabilities, connecting them to City government and services.

What We Do

As DSFs, we coordinate our agencies' efforts to comply with and carry out our agencies' responsibilities under the ADA and other federal, state, and local laws and regulations concerning access to agency programs and services by persons with disabilities.

Under Local Law 27 of 2016, each City agency must appoint a DSF.

Go to List of DSFs

Meet a DSF

Mandi with long, curly brown hair and glasses smiling at the camera. She is wearing a black open-arm top and a silver necklace with a rectangular pendant. Her background is a gradient of light pink to soft purple. She is seated in a wheelchair, which is slightly visible behind her.

Amanda "Mandi" Alvarado,
Director of Accessibility and Disability Services Facilitator

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)

Who I Am

As a disability justice advocate and leader, I draw from my lived experience as a disabled woman within the LGBTQ+ community to offer a rich understanding of intersectionality. I am certified in Nonprofit Leadership and Management by the Institute of Nonprofit Practice and have 18 years experience serving in leadership roles for inclusion-based organizations. In an effort to expand my advocacy influence, I transitioned to my current role as the Director of Accessibility and Disability Services Facilitator at the NYC Health Department. I look forward to ensuring the needs of all disabled New Yorkers are considered in our public health programs and services.

What I Do

While my position allows me to wear many hats, my main responsibilities include:

Lead the development, implementation, and progress of the agency's Five-Year Accessibility Plan
Provide disability justice trainings to agency divisions and bureaus to help shift workplace culture
Develop agency policies and procedures to ensure full programmatic and communication accessibility for persons with disabilities

Fun Fact

I love going to karaoke with my friends and my go-to karaoke song is "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys.

Visit the Meet a DSF Archive