Maria Pinkelton is the public relations director for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) and has 27 years of experience in inclusion, communications, and public relations. In her role at GCDD, she manages the organization’s digital media and public relations, its statewide storytelling project, and organizational inclusion initiatives. In addition, she manages the organization’s Get Out the Vote/Civic Engagement project that strives to increase the number of registered and informed Georgia voters with disabilities.

Before joining GCDD she worked as the communications manager for the information technology division of the Cox Media Group where she translated complex technical concepts into easy-to-understand language for their internal audiences.

Maria is a member of the 2018 Georgetown Leadership Institute for Cultural Diversity and Cultural and Linguistic Competence cohort, the 2021 Association of University Centers on Disabilities Leadership Academy cohort, and holds a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace certificate from the University of South Florida’s Muma School of Business. She has served on the board of the Georgia Microboard Association, the Decatur Education Foundation and has been appointed to several city and county-based committees addressing the need for racial, age, and socioeconomic diversity in both communities and housing.

She is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health from Georgia State University.

Find her on LinkedIn or Contact Maria with questions, comments, or work here.