On March 25, 2006, DREDF and parents of children with disabilities lost one of their fiercest advocates, Doreen Pam Steneberg. In the 1970s, Pam discovered that there were few education opportunities for her daughter, Susan, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, mental retardation and cystic fibrosis. Those opportunities that did exist were all segregated. Pam felt the sting of injustice and quickly understood that her daughter's segregation was a byproduct of discrimination and she joined forces with another passionate parent Diane Lipton and they became deeply involved in the burgeoning disability civil rights movement. Pam became friends with Diane Lipton, another parent of a daughter with a disability and an effective, powerful parent advocacy team was born.

Pam and Diane sought information about their children's rights from the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF). The executive director of the Center for Independent Living at the time, Judith Heumann, who later became the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education under President Clinton, embraced the movement to codify the rights of children with disabilities and encouraged Pam and Diane to join DREDF as parent advocates.

As Susan approached elementary school and Pam saw the limited options for children with disabilities, she began devoting most of her time to advocating for education policy reform in order to open the doors of the public education system. Pam and Diane dismantled the segregated education system in West Contra Costa Unified School District, setting a model for parent advocacy and integration throughout the nation.

After President Ford signed the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act, Pam and the other parent advocates at DREDF started training parents throughout California on the law. She joined a national network of parents and became a voice in Washington for children with disabilities. Pam worked at DREDF until her retirement in 1997, but continued to work as a volunteer and serve on its board until her death. She also served as a trustee for Area Board V in Contra Costa County. Pam continued to be a resource for many parents each year, never hesitating to take their calls.

Recognizing her contribution to the nation in 1996, Representative George Miller paid tribute to Pam in the House of Representatives: "Pam is as driven by the disability movement as the movement is driven by her. Whether in her professional capacity as the parent advocate with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc., or in her numerous volunteer roles--president of the National Parent Network on Disabilities, chair of the California Developmental Disabilities Area Board V, to name just two--Pam's enthusiasm is ever present. I know that I am not the lone Member of this Chamber to have been overwhelmed and captivated by the fiery person passion which lies just beneath her diminutive stature and refined British accent."

In 2000, Pam was awarded the first Ilse Heumann Lifetime Achievement award by the National Parent Network on Disabilities. The award was named for Judith Heumann's mother. In 2003, DREDF awarded Pam the first Diane J. Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy and that same year she received Cal-TASH's Diane J. Lipton Award for Advocacy.

Pam is survived by her husband of 42 years, George and her daughters Jennifer and Susan.