National Leadership Program, Fall 2023
Grace Ogden-Parker
Grace Ogden-Parker (she/her) was a Policy and Civic Engagement Fellow in RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program for Fall 2023. RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so that people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.
Ogden-Parker holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Point Loma Nazarene University. She is a lifetime learner that continuously takes supplementary courses on topics like Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; Project Management; Data Analytics; and Leadership. Ogden-Parker is a prolific writer about her advocacy efforts and freelances as a lived experience blogger for a D.E.I.B. blog called Awesomely Authentic. She is also in the process of writing a book which she hopes to self-publish within the next year or two.
Ogden-Parker is a dedicated Autistic and Disability Advocate, proudly identifying as a member of both communities. She is a late-diagnosed Autistic adult who did not receive a formal diagnosis until age 37. However, she self-identified as an Autistic person since the age of 29 after conducting extensive research and interacting with the Autistic community online. She affirms that self-identifying Autistics are as valid as those who have been formerly diagnosed and points out that that there are barriers to formal diagnosis that makes it inaccessible to many people. Ogden-Parker personally subscribes to the social model of disability and prefers identity-first language, as in Autistic and Disabled person, but respects those with other preferences.
In 2022, Ogden-Parker briefly held a position on the working board of directors at Autistic Women’s Alliance. In her role as a board member, she utilized research and communication strategies to present topics in virtual coffee chats for members on topics such as the concept of “Empathy vs. Double Empathy” in relation to Autistic people and co-coordinated/facilitated a virtual panel of intersectional Autistic speakers who identify with additional intersectional identities such as co-existing disabilities, LGBTQIA2S+, and BIPOC. Outside of her work on the board, Ogden-Parker has collaborated with other Autistics and Disabled people on webinars and was a guest on several podcasts. She is available as a public speaker for organizations looking to learn from an Autistic and Disabled person’s lived experience.
Ogden-Parker fights to destigmatize autism and disability, combat ableism in its many forms, and challenge herself to learn and share as much information to forward social justice. In her spare time, Ogden-Parker loves to spend time with her husband and children and enjoys hiking and going on beach trips with her family.
