SILC Staff
Tony DiRienzi, Executive Director

I am Tony DiRienzi, the executive director of AZ SILC. For most of my life I ambulated with crutches and leg braces. But about twelve years ago I was diagnosed with post polio syndrome. Currently, I use a wheelchair for mobility. My wife and I relocated from Philadelphia, PA to Phoenix about eight years ago to reinvent ourselves. My professional activity back on the east coast for twenty-five years was in the fine arts, as a studio artist and college instructor. But, shortly after moving to Arizona my transformation began. I started to work for Arizona Bridge to Independent Living - ABIL and quickly expanded the ways I address Independent Living issues. Prior to settling in Arizona my focus was on how people thought abstractly, particularly on the perception of people with disabilities. Now I am also directing energies on effecting positive and constructive systems change to promote fully integrated communities.

 

Linda Jane Austen, Executive Assistant

I am Linda Jane Austen, Director of Administration at AZ SILC. I moved to Arizona in 1984 where I worked in the arts community for over 20 years. As 504 Coordinator for the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, I was responsible for programmatic accessibility at an 800 seat theater, a three-day arts festival with 30,000 attendees and amphitheater events with a capacity of 2200. In 1998, along with Tony DiRienzi, I became one of four founding members of ArtAbility, a statewide coalition of disability and arts organizations dedicated to accessibility and in 2009 under our continued leadership ArtAbility assumed the VSA Arts of Arizona affiliate. In addition to Artability, I have been involved in accessibility at cultural institutions on a national level working with the Kennedy Center on planning for their annual conference and was awarded the Kennedy Center's lifetime achievement award in 2008. I look forward to a long and fulfilling career at AZ SILC and trust that my background and experience will bring useful resources for positive change and promotion of fully integrated communities.