Who we are

Karthik Balasubramian

Dr. Karthik Balasubramanian is broadly interested in real-world optimization, especially as it is applied to base-of-the-pyramid business strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa and voter turnout among traditionally marginalized urban communities in the United States. Karthik earned a Doctorate of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where his dissertation focused on the optimization of inventory management for mobile money agents in Tanzania, Kenya, and Zambia. Over the past 15 years, Karthik has conducted high-impact strategic analytics for the World Food Programme, the American Red Cross, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, corporate clients as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, and many political campaigns.

Elizabeth (Lizzy) Ragan

Lizzy is a public health professional with expertise in global and domestic program implementation and translational and epidemiologic research. Most recently, she served as a White House Fellow from 2022-2023, for which she was placed at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Lizzy now works at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She is a peer mentor with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and a former appointee to the Oregon Health Authority’s Health Equity Committee. Elizabeth lives with a spinal cord injury and is a wheelchair user. She is passionate about the intersection of disability with other social determinants of health and supporting individuals with disabilities in the workforce. Ms. Ragan enjoys being a D.C. resident with her husband and their canine companion. In her “free time”, she is a watercolor artist and a cyclist.

Naomi Hess

Naomi Hess works in the field of disability rights, which she is passionate about because she was born with muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair to get around. Naomi graduated from Princeton University in 2022, where she majored in Public and International Affairs with minors in Journalism and Gender and Sexuality Studies. She moved to Washington, DC after graduation and has enjoyed making the city her new home. In her free time, she likes to read, write, and explore the many activities and attractions in DC. She is excited about serving on the MAAC and advocating for better transportation for DC residents and visitors with disabilities.

Kelly Mack

Kelly Mack is a communications professional, specializing in health issues. She has lived with juvenile onset rheumatoid arthritis since age two, resulting in significant physical disabilities and use of a motorized wheelchair. In her spare time she writes about disability issues in her newsletter Rolling With It. Kelly is very interested in mobility and how accessible pathways and transportation enable community inclusion for disabled people. You can find Kelly on Instagram @mskellym36, X @MsKellyM, and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/mskellym/.

Interested in Joining MAAC?

The purpose of the MAAC shall be to serve as the advisory body to the Mayor, the Council, and District agencies on making local transit and public space in the District more accessible to persons with disabilities.

DDOT shall provide the MAAC with reasonable and accessible accommodations for holding meetings and an annual operating budget, which shall include funds to maintain a website where the MAAC shall provide a public listing of members, meeting notices, and meeting minutes.

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Citizen Members

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Karthik Balasubramian

Elizabeth (Lizzy) Ragan

Naomi Hess

Kelly Mack

Interested in Joining MAAC?

Government Members

Susie McFadden

Stephanie Franklin

Zachary Smith