Whit Downing

Whit Downing is the Vice President of Policy and Programming at the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities (KCDD), where she leads statewide initiatives focused on disability policy, behavioral health partnerships, systems change, and self-advocacy. Whit first joined KCDD as a contract worker in February 2024, quickly became a part-time Program Coordinator in March 2024, and then was promoted to a full-time leadership role in November 2024.

As an autistic self-advocate with lived experience navigating both intellectual/developmental disability and mental health systems, Whit brings a unique and informed perspective to her work. Her professional advocacy is shaped in part by her own experiences, including spending eight years on the Kansas IDD waiver waitlist.