The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is led by a Commissioner who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Commissioner advises the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services on programs and issues affecting individuals with disabilities.
On December 6, 2023, the Senate confirmed Danté Allen as RSA Commissioner.
Prior to his confirmation, Mr. Allen served as the Executive Director for CalABLE, California’s qualified federal ABLE Act savings and investment program for people with disabilities. Mr. Allen led CalABLE since its launch in 2018 and grew the program’s reach with more than 8,000 active accounts with nearly $80 million in assets under management. During its three years in operation, CalABLE became the fastest-growing ABLE program in the United States. Prior to joining CalABLE, Mr. Allen served as a communications leader in the public and private sectors. Mr. Allen served in the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity as a senior communications officer, and at Kaiser Permanente, where he served as the communications director for the organization’s senior operations executive.
Born with spina bifida, Mr. Allen is a fulltime wheelchair user. Mr. Allen is a staunch proponent of disability rights and equity. He has been a champion in advocating for the awareness of the reduction of healthcare and financial disparities especially among people of color and people with disabilities. He serves as a board member for Resources for Independent Living, Sacramento, a nonprofit that supports the needs of people with disabilities to live as independently as possible. He has also contributed in leadership roles in employee resource groups for people with disabilities throughout his career. Mr. Allen received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Davis and a master’s degree at The University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism and Communication.