Ardena Bartlett

Ardena Bartlett, MPA. Parent Advocate, Founder, Executive Director Access Nonprofit Center Ms. Bartlett is the founder and director of her initiative Parenting Black Children the mission is to decrease disparities and increase access for parents/caregivers of children with Autism and Developmental Disabilities. She is a proud parent of a Beautiful Black Boy on the Autism Spectrum served by the Regional Center and is well aware of the needs of raising a child with Autism and developmental differences. She soon realized, that other Black parents experience the struggle of gaining equitable access for their children to receive services from community and public education. She began attending Special Education, Autism, and Developmental Disability trainings so that she would be equipped to empower her community of parents to gain access to this hidden information. As a result the PBC initiative was awarded the State of California DDS Service Access and Equity grant to focus on decreasin