Rachel Arfa

Rachel Arfa was appointed Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD ) in July 2020.  Commissioner Arfa is a visionary and transformative leader, and the first deaf person to serve as a member of a Mayor’s Cabinet nationwide, making her the highest ranking deaf leader at the municipal level at the time of her appointment. Under her leadership, Commissioner Arfa modernized MOPD to increase services to Chicago’s disability community and leads robust inter-agency collaboration with fellow City departments and sister agencies to advance accessibility. 

Committed to the need to advance disability employment and with support of the Mayor and City Council, Commissioner Arfa launched the MOPD Career Center, which serves job seekers with disabilities and partners with the region’s business community on increasing inclusive hiring practices. MOPD continues to provide stellar services through the Home Modification program, which makes homes for people with disabilities of any age accessible, Personal Assistance services which provide up to six hours of help in the home for people with disabilities, and also added four exemplary American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters on staff at MOPD who provide communication access for city services, Mayoral events and press conferences. Under her leadership, the MOPD Accessibility Compliance Team significantly expanded capacity and resources, which allows for increased ability to survey accessibility of city-wide buildings, conduct pre-permit and permit reviews and provide technical assistance to stakeholders.

Commissioner Arfa is a graduate of the University of Michigan (B.A. American Culture) and the University of Wisconsin School of Law (Juris Doctorate). Prior to her current role, she worked as a civil and disability rights attorney for over fifteen years. She is a 2016 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, a Disability Lead Member, a 2013 New Leaders Council Fellow. She was also a founding Steering Committee member of the Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium. Her awards include the 2024 Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association (DHHBA) Claudia L. Gordon Women in Law Inaugural Award, Devices for the Disabled’s 2024 Person of the Year Award.