Tonie Sadler

Tonie Sadler is a researcher in the Workforce Division at AIR and has over 10 years of research and practice experience in human services working with the disability community focused on disability equity and improving disability programs and policies. Her research focuses on understanding how disability policies and health services impact people with disabilities and their allies throughout the life course. She is particularly interested in research that can shape policy with the goal of improving accessibility, health equity, and community participation among people with disabilities from diverse and marginalized communities.

At AIR, Sadler supports the Center on Knowledge Translation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) by providing subject matter expertise on areas including disability equity, qualitative methods, disability policy implementation, community-integration, and home and community-based services. She is a project leader on the research activities for this award specializing in survey, qualitative interview, and focus group methods to better understand research and knowledge translation needs of people with disabilities from underserved communities. In addition, Sadler contributes to the growth of AIR’s Individuals with Disabilities Hub in the Workforce Development Division through business development pursuits including grant writing and contract development.

Previously, Sadler served as a research project lead for the Rehabilitation Research and Training Grant on Home and Community-Based Services at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab funded by NIDILRR. She conducted mixed methods research focused on person-centered service delivery and outcomes measurement to inform the design, implementation, and improvement of federal and state home and community-based service programs, policies, and interventions.