She was also a UCLA-educated lawyer (1997), who was the first to legally fight the Law School Admission Council in order to make them use a Braille examination format of the LSAT.
[citation needed] Born and raised in the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, Dunne-Yates was diagnosed at 15 months with retinoblastoma (RB), a retinal cancer.
[5] Class of 1997 – Dunne-Yates graduated from UCLA School of Law, after a one-year medical deferral, and while training for the 1996 U.S. Paralympic Cycling Team.
Eventually, Dunne-Yates and her soon-to-be stepfather, Richard Zabelski, trained with ABSF at local ski areas as part of inter-club races.
After numerous inter-club races with blind skiers from groups from Wisconsin and Michigan, Dunne-Yates' technique and confidence as a ski racer improved.
At age 11, she competed in the adult women's category, demonstrating for the first time the front guiding technique.
She competed with the U.S. Paralympic Alpine Ski Team from 1982 to 1989, and medalled in world championship events in Switzerland, Canada, Austria, and Sweden.
In 1996, they entered their first U.S. National Cycling Championships in Houston, Texas, participating in categories for visually impaired cyclists.
1981 – Winner of gold medal for women's giant slalom at the 1st U.S. National Alpine Skiing Championships for the Blind, U.S. Alpine National Championships (Upper Peninsula, Michigan); race sanctioned by the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA).
Summer Paralympic Games 1996 – Silver medal for mixed tandem 1 km cycling (Atlanta, Georgia).
She was a journalist for several community newspapers in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Colorado, including the 1998–2001 U.S. Olympic Committee's Website.
1992 – Graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Languages and a minor in Economics.
1996 – Received the Reynolds Award from Massachusetts General Hospital for her advocacy efforts on behalf of families with blind children, including those with additional disabilities.
The award is presented annually to an alumna in the 10th reunion class for outstanding contribution to the advancement of women, to her profession, or to the institute.
2010 – A life-size statue in the likeness of Cara Dunne-Yates and her guide-dog, Haley, was erected near the base of the Elk Camp Gondola in Snowmass Village, Colorado.