Mark your calendars – the 2026 PWSA | USA D.C. Fly-In will take place May 4-6, 2026, in Washington, D.C., at the Yours Truly DC Hotel! We’re excited to once again bring 150 members of the PWS community, parents, siblings, extended family members, supporters, and most importantly, individuals living with PWS, to Capitol Hill to share their voices directly with elected officials.
Applications will be released first to members of PWSA | USA’s Advocacy Committee, with public applications opening the first week of January. Be sure to check our website and social media so you don’t miss your chance – spots will fill fast!
This time around, we’re introducing travel and lodging scholarship opportunities to help make participation more accessible. Attendees will be responsible for arranging their own travel plans (flights and hotel/lodging accommodations).
We can’t wait to return to D.C. during PWS Awareness Month and continue advocating for the needs of our community! If you have any questions about the Fly-In, please contact our Advocacy team at advocacy@pwsausa.org.
Interested in sponsoring the 2026 Fly-In? Please contact development@pwsausa.org.
You can learn more about PWSA | USA’s biennial D.C. Fly-In by reading through our 2024 event recap at the button below.
We were also fortunate to have the 2024 D.C. Fly-In captured in a unique and authentic way. Please enjoy a mini-documentary of our time on Capitol Hill below. We are sincerely grateful to those who stepped in front of the camera lens to share their story. Thanks to Soleno Therapeutics for sponsoring the production of these videos. Produced by Believe Limited: The Patient People.
Perry A. Zirkel has written more than 1,500 publications on various aspects of school law, with an emphasis on legal issues in special education. He writes a regular column for NAESP’s Principal magazine and NASP’s Communiqué newsletter, and he did so previously for Phi Delta Kappan and Teaching Exceptional Children.
Jennifer Bolander has been serving as a Special Education Specialist for PWSA (USA) since October of 2015. She is a graduate of John Carroll University and lives in Ohio with her husband Brad and daughters Kate (17), and Sophia (13) who was born with PWS.
Dr. Amy McTighe is the PWS Program Manager and Inpatient Teacher at the Center for Prader-Willi Syndrome at the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh. She graduated from Duquesne University receiving her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education with a focus on elementary education, special education, and language arts.
Evan has worked with the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA) since 2007 primarily as a Crisis Intervention and Family Support Counselor. Evans works with parents and schools to foster strong collaborative relationships and appropriate educational environments for students with PWS.
Staci Zimmerman works for Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Colorado as an Individualized Education Program (IEP) consultant. Staci collaborates with the PWS multi-disciplinary clinic at the Children’s Hospital in Denver supporting families and school districts around the United States with their child’s Individual Educational Plan.
Founded in 2001, SDLC is a non-profit legal services organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the legal rights of people with disabilities throughout the South. It partners with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Protection and Advocacy (P&A) programs, Legal Services Corporations (LSC) and disability organizations on major, systemic disability rights issues involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the federal Medicaid Act. Recently in November 2014, Jim retired.