McCartney Hagar is a Graduate Assistant at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) Institute of Human Rights (IHR), pursuing a master's in clinical social work. She recently graduated magna cum laude from UAB, earning a Bachelor of Science in Medical Sociology and a minor in Human Rights; she is also an alumni of the Leadership Excellence in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) training program and the Institute of Human Rights’ Birmingham Immersive Community Empowerment Program (BICEP), where she was placed with the Lakeshore Foundation.
Outside of academics, McCartney juggles various roles in the disability rights field, serving as a consultant for Alabama’s Accessing Potential Through Assistive Technology (APTAT) program and sitting on advisory boards for the Arc of the United States’ Transforming Healthcare Initiative, the Association of University Centers on Disability’s (AUCD) Project PECAN, and UAB’s Sparks Clinic. She is passionate about disability rights, social justice, decarceration and deinstitutionalization, and health equity; and feels the IHR is the perfect place to pursue those passions.