About
Debbi Simmons Harris, a Systems Specialist with Family Voices of Minnesota, is committed to helping shape civic, community, and health systems to seamlessly include people with disabilities and chronic medical conditions, and their families.
Having navigated those systems for over 25 years on behalf of her son, Josh, who has intellectual and developmental disabilities and complex medical needs, Harris recognized a need to ensure that the civil and human rights—and the essential dignity of persons with I/DD—is upheld in every aspect of life. To that end, she became a graduate of Partners in Policymaking, which led to over 20 years of civic engagement—publications, hosting home visits with legislators, and speaking on local, state, and national platforms. Harris serves on the Board of Directors for The Arc of the United States and chaired its Anti-Racism Position Statement Workgroup. She is a member of the National Alliance for Caregiving Advocacy Collaborative and the Work Advisory Group (WAG) for Paid Leave for All, a national collaborative.
In 2021, Debbi was honored to be selected as the guest lecturer for the Volck Lecture in Medical Humanities, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, speaking on the positive impact of Narrative Medicine.
An undergraduate of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, Harris went on to obtain an M.S. in Health Care Administration and an M.A. in English and Creative Writing, with a concentration in Nonfiction, Narrative Medicine. She has contributed to various publications, including Existere: Journal of Literature & Arts, Kaleidescope, a literary journal about disability, Today’s Caregiver, Salon.com, and JAMA Pediatrics and Complex Care Journal. Harris is a also co-author to an article for The Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, and published a poem about the uniqueness of disability in the AAIDD’s Community Living and Participation for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. She served on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Council on Children With Disabilities (COCWD) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion workgroup, and is a co-chair for the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) Complex Care and Disability Strategic Partnerships Special Interest Group (SIG).
Harris contributes to the Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) Research Network and has been an expert panelist for pediatric research studies through Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Harris was featured in 100 Years of Volunteers: Be the Change, a photo book commemorating the 100th anniversary of HandsOn Twin Cities, a leading volunteer nonprofit organization. She was also a guest panelist on New America’s podcast Crisis Conversations: Live from Better Life Lab, hosted by New York Times best-selling journalist, Brigid Schulte. The discussion centered on the impact of caregiving, before and after Covid-19.
Harris resides in Minnesota, where she and her husband, Victor, a retired US Marine Corps Officer, care for their son Josh.