National Leadership Program, Fall / Winter 2016
Dionne Joseph
Dionne Joseph was a Stigma and Communications Fellow with RespectAbility where she worked on the #RespectTheAbility stigma campaign that spotlights model employers demonstrating how hiring workers with disabilities benefits the employer, the employee and society. Joseph was passionate about working at RespectAbility because she wants to break the stigma that society has regarding individuals with disabilities. Joseph also kept RespectAbility’s Facebook and Instagram accounts updated and assisted with the #PwDsVote Senate and Gubernatorial Campaign Questionnaire.
She has a great passion for working with individuals with disabilities because she knows from personal experience how difficult it can be getting by on an everyday basis. She was born with a visible hip condition – Hip Dysplasia, which gives her a lot of mobility issues during the cold winter, as well as a heart condition that had her in and out the hospitals since she was young. In addition, she was diagnosed with some learning disabilities as well.
Before joining RespectAbility, Joseph worked with the Arc of Opportunity, a nonprofit organization empowering individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She wants to go to graduate school to become a Medical Social Worker to empower others who have disabilities to keep pushing forward. She wants to provide them with resources to be successful.
As of 2018, Joseph was a senior at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts studying Human Services and minoring in Psychology.
