Debbie Carlisle-Shadrix

Board Advisor

Debbie Shadrix serves as Board Advisor for Down Syndrome Love Society, bringing more than 30 years of disability advocacy, professional experience, and community leadership to the organization.

Debbie has dedicated much of her career to supporting individuals with disabilities and their families throughout Georgia. With more than 28 years of experience working across metro Atlanta school systems, including DeKalb County, Newton County, and the City of Decatur, she currently works with Henry County Schools.

Her professional background also includes serving as a Parent Support Specialist with Parent to Parent of Georgia and Assistant Director of the DeKalb Developmental Disabilities Council. She currently serves as Administrative Assistant for the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta, an organization she has been actively involved with for more than three decades.

Beyond her professional career, Debbie has served on Georgia's State Special Education Advisory Panel and the Georgia Participant Direction Advisory Committee, contributing her knowledge and experience to conversations surrounding disability services, education, and individual choice.

But Debbie's connection to Down Syndrome Love Society is also deeply personal.

As the mother of Bradley Carlisle, an adult with Down syndrome who lives independently, works, performs, and advocates within his community, Debbie has spent decades witnessing what becomes possible when individuals are given the opportunity to pursue lives of their own choosing.

Her friendship with DSLS founder Elizabeth Carroll, and Elizabeth's relationship with Bradley, helped inspire the creation of Down Syndrome Love Society. Their experiences brought attention to a part of adulthood that is too often overlooked for people with Down syndrome: dating, romance, companionship, and the freedom to pursue meaningful relationships.

As Board Advisor, Debbie brings an invaluable combination of professional expertise, institutional knowledge, and lived experience. Her perspective helps ensure DSLS remains grounded in the needs, voices, and aspirations of the adults it was created to serve.