- Disability 101
- Disability History
- How to Ensure Accessible Events
- How to Recruit, Accommodate and Promote People with Disabilities for Volunteer Leadership, Board Positions and Paid Employment
- How to Ensure A Welcoming Lexicon and Inclusive Storytelling
- How to Ensure Accessible Websites and Social Media
- Premium Skills Workshop in Social Media Accessibility
- How to Ensure Legal Rights and Compliance Obligations: Exploring the Rights of Employees and Participants, and the Obligations of Nonprofit Organizations Under the Law
This series was led by RespectAbility in partnership with leading thinkers around equity in the philanthropic and nonprofit space: BoardSource; The California Wellness Foundation; Catalogue for Philanthropy, Greater Washington; Center for Disaster Philanthropy; Cerebral Palsy Foundation; The Chronicle of Philanthropy; The Communications Network; The Divas With Disabilities Project; Exponent Philanthropy; Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees; Grantmakers in the Arts; Media Impact Funders; National Center on Disability and Journalism; National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy; National Council of Nonprofits; The New York Women’s Foundation; The Unfunded List; and Weingart Foundation.
Disability 101
Get an overview of who makes up the more than 60 million people who live with some form of physical, cognitive, sensory, mental health or other disability in America. Gain a basic understanding of how disability intersects with multiple content areas, from employment and poverty to criminal justice reform and education. You also will receive 10 key tips on how you can welcome, respect and include people with disabilities in your important work.
Speakers: Hon. Steve Bartlett, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Tatiana Lee
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Disability History
How has disability been defined in different historical eras? What has it meant to be disabled in the 20th century? How and why did disability movements for social and political change develop? Who have been the major national and local leaders? What are the major acts of legislation that have defined the rights of disabled Americans? What are equal access and universal design? How do these concepts depart from previous American ideas about civil rights and equality?
Speakers: Candace Cable and Donna Meltzer, moderated by Anthony Brown
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How to Ensure Accessible Events
Organizational representatives will be given an accessibility checklist and be taught how to use it. Although 72 percent of nonprofit organizations say they have a policy of nondiscrimination against people with disabilities, too few take simple steps to make their programming truly accessible. For example, fewer than 60 percent of their events are always held in physically accessible spaces. Fewer than one-third (30 percent) offer opportunities for participants at public events to request accommodations like sign language interpreters, live captioning or food allergy alternatives. This session trained organizations to ensure that their practices match their principles so that their organizations can benefit from the talents and perspectives of people with disabilities, just like anyone else.
Speakers: Emily Harris and Victor Pineda, moderated by Franklin Anderson
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How to Recruit, Accommodate and Promote People with Disabilities for Volunteer Leadership, Board Positions and Paid Employment
More than 1 in 5 people in the US report having a disability. Yet, people with disabilities are underrepresented in key civic leadership positions. For example, only one percent of the Chicago region’s nonprofit board seats are filled by people with disabilities. A large percentage of nonprofits RespectAbility surveyed agree that the best way to ensure inclusion of all identities in programming, people with lived experiences must have a seat at the table. As a natural part of the human experience, disability is part of any diversity commitment. This session was for nonprofit professionals engaged with both board and volunteer relations and HR management to start the journey from recruiting to promoting people with disabilities starting with volunteer positions of leadership including board members.
Speakers: Emily Harris and Risa Rifkind, moderated by Randy Duchesneau
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How to Ensure A Welcoming Lexicon and Inclusive Storytelling
The use of certain words or phrases can express bias either intentionally or unintentionally. The National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ) provides the industry’s only disability language style guide. The guide is intended for journalists, communication professionals and members of the general public who are seeking the appropriate and accurate language to use when writing or talking about people living with disabilities. The guide covers general terms and words on physical disabilities, hearing and visual impairments, mental and cognitive disabilities and seizure disorders. Beyond specific language, learn from The Divas With Disabilities Project on how to ensure your storytelling is inclusive of people with disabilities, while avoiding inspiration porn.
Speakers: Kristin Gilger and Donna Walton, moderated by Lauren Appelbaum
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How to Ensure Accessible Websites and Social Media
Websites are now the front lobbies of our organizations, and social media is fast supplanting the more traditional ways that our organizations connect with the public. Our research shows that organizations are not yet meeting basic requirements for accessibility, like captioned videos, screen reader-friendly designs, and photo description / alt-text. This online workshop gives a nonprofit everything it needs to know to open its digital door.
Speakers: Sharon Rosenblatt and Dan Mouyard, moderated by Tatiana Lee
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Premium Skills Workshop in Social Media Accessibility
Social media platforms raise some access issues for individuals with disabilities. Although accessibility on social media sites is limited in a lot of ways, some features do exist in each platform. Enjoy a hands-on presentation in best practices for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. The webinar was extremely interactive. Prepare materials, including text and images, to post and follow-along with a content expert as you share your materials in the most accessible way for all.
Speakers: Tatiana Lee and Eric Ascher, moderated by Lauren Appelbaum
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How to Ensure Legal Rights and Compliance Obligations: Exploring the Rights of Employees and Participants, and the Obligations of Nonprofit Organizations Under the Law
At RespectAbility, we believe strongly that the greatest motivator and argument around inclusion is the value that it brings both to the organization and to the person. Even with this backdrop, however, we recognize that parties will occasionally find themselves at points of disagreement, and at that point, it becomes important for everyone to know the nature of their legal rights and obligations. This session covered those topics, including the special sensitivities and limitations applying to nonprofit organizations.
Speakers: Tracie DeFreitas, moderated by Matan Koch
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