El Chueco

Miguel Lugo is Outreach Specialist for Disability Voices United and Program Manager for the Integrated Community Collaborative. Miguel’s passion for disability rights began at a young age, advocating for himself as a person with a disability living with Cerebral Palsy. From a young age Miguel was placed in a segregated school setting. At the age of 14 he self-advocated to be placed into an inclusive school setting with his peers. Over his life and career, his advocacy for disabled rights has expanded beyond the educational system and into city and state level platforms.

Prior to his current roles, Miguel has worked as a Job Developer, assisting disabled adults in finding gainful employment and speaking to parents about providing their child self-determination skills at an early age.

When he is not working in his current roles, Miguel raises disability awareness by performing “sit down comedy” and is a motivational speaker. He wrote a film on disability awareness My Reality which is based on a poem that he wrote. In the poem, Miguel talks about his perspective of how he believes society views all disabilities. In addition to his accomplishments, Miguel recently finished filming a short documentary named Mi Vida Chueca which is based on his life. It will be released in 2024.
Miguel’s goal is to empower the disability community with the knowledge, experience, and encouragement of their given rights.