Larysa Kautz serves as President & CEO of Melwood, bringing over 20 years of experience in law, business, advocacy, nonprofit management, and disability rights to this position. She is a fierce advocate for inclusion and innovation that expands opportunities for people with disabilities in the community.

Ms. Kautz earned law degrees from Yale Law School (JD) and the Georgetown University Law Center (LLM), and has deep experience in affordable housing development, venture philanthropy, and advising national and international nonprofits. Prior to joining Melwood, Ms. Kautz was a partner at the Schaner & Lubitz law firm. Before that, she served as counsel at Bingham McCutchen (now Morgan Lewis).

As a first-generation American with disabilities, a daughter of parents with disabilities, and a mother of a child with disabilities, Ms. Kautz is passionate about Melwood’s mission of inclusion and has been a fierce advocate for individuals with disabilities throughout her life. She founded Melwood’s Advocacy Department, which has significantly increased the organization’s effectiveness at influencing polices and legislation that benefit the communities that Melwood serves. Ms. Kautz has also been instrumental in advocating for the abolition of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which allows employers to pay workers with disabilities below minimum wage.

Larysa serves on the Boards of NVC, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, the DMV Regional Congress, the Alliance for Expanding America’s Workforce, and the CEO Commission for Disability Employment. She previously served as a consultant to President Obama’s Office of White House Counsel, Virginia Governor Northam’s Transition Team, and the National Archives Foundation, and on the Boards of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI) State Rehabilitation Council and the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board.

Ms. Kautz has been honored with the 2017 Leading Women Award by The Maryland Daily Record, the 2019 In-House Innovator Award by the Association of Corporate Counsel, and the 2023 Women Who Mean Business Award by the Washington Business Journal. She is an alumna of the Arlington Leadership Center for Excellence (2019) and Leadership Greater Washington (2023).