Whit Downing

Whit Downing is the Vice President of Policy and Programming at the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities (KCDD), where she leads statewide initiatives focused on disability policy, behavioral health partnerships, systems change, and self-advocacy. Whit first joined KCDD as a contract worker in February 2024, quickly became a part-time Program Coordinator in March 2024, and then was promoted to a full-time leadership role in November 2024.

As an autistic self-advocate with lived experience navigating both intellectual/developmental disability and mental health systems, Whit brings a unique and informed perspective to her work. Her professional advocacy is shaped in part by her own experiences, including spending eight years on the Kansas IDD waiver waitlist.

Whit serves as the lead for KCDD’s Behavioral Health Workgroup under the Statewide Health Equity & Outcomes Coalition and acts as a liaison between KCDD and state behavioral health partners, including KDADS and KDHE. She regularly represents KCDD before federal and state partners, provides testimony before the Kansas Legislature, and participates in stakeholder meetings to help ensure self-advocates are included in decisions impacting people with disabilities.

Whit is passionate about advocacy, policy development, systems change, and expanding opportunities for meaningful employment and community inclusion for people with disabilities. She is also the founder of “We All Matter,” a mental health support group for teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that connects participants with peer support and a licensed mental health professional.

Whit believes that meaningful systems change happens when people with lived experience are not only included in conversations, but trusted as leaders in shaping policy, services, and community solutions. Through her work, she remains committed to advancing equity, accessibility, and belonging for people with disabilities while helping build systems that recognize the value, dignity, and potential of every person.