Los Angeles, CA, December 3 – RespectAbility, in partnership with the Fox Family Foundation, is offering 5 paid apprenticeships for dedicated leaders with blindness or low vision. This “earn while you learn” program is for people who are planning to work in careers in public policy, nonprofit management, civic engagement, or other areas that will create a better future for people with blindness, low vision and/or other disabilities. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, December 2 – RespectAbility, a diverse disability-led nonprofit organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so all people with disabilities can fully participate in every aspect of community, is thrilled to announce a $1 million dollar donation from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The funds will be leveraged through an existing 1-1 matching campaign to enable RespectAbility to achieve the paradigm-shifting goals of its new strategic plan. The plan is a bold, forward-looking, and visionary five-year roadmap to shatter old paradigms by engaging in a multifaceted approach to remove physical, programmatic, and attitudinal barriers to full societal participation by people with all types of disabilities.
“As we look to the future to envision the full scope of what is truly possible for people with disabilities, we are deeply grateful to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for its $1 million dollar investment, which will enable us to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” said Ollie Cantos, the recently-elected Chairman of RespectAbility’s Board of Directors. Cantos, who is blind himself, is a civil rights attorney who shared recognition as ABC News Persons of the Week with his adopted triplets who also are blind when they broke barriers by becoming Eagle Scouts. “When philanthropy, individuals, organizations, private sector companies, and government agencies at all levels come together to achieve concrete and measurable outcomes that truly matter, everyone benefits.” [continue reading…]
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
Washington, D.C., December 2 – RespectAbility Founder and CEO Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, a serial social-impact entrepreneur who is a pioneer in the area of disability advocacy and impactful leadership, announced publicly today she will transition from the organization she co-founded. The hope is to identify her successor by early 2022, with Mizrahi staying up until June 2022 to support a successful transition.
Mizrahi officially informed RespectAbility’s Board of Directors in July, and the board convened a search committee co-chaired by RespectAbility’s Vice-Chair Randall Duchesneau and Treasurer Linda Burger. On the committee’s recommendation, the Board hired David Hinsley Cheng of DHC Search to launch a nationwide search for Mizrahi’s successor.
RespectAbility is a diverse, disability-led nonprofit that works to create systemic change in how society views and values people with disabilities, and advances policies and practices that empower people with disabilities to have a better future. RespectAbility shifts narratives and creates progress by centering people with lived disability experience in leadership roles, ensuring authentic representation in entertainment and news media, advancing successful public policy, and pushing for faith-based and other inclusion. [continue reading…]
Sacremento, CA, December 1 – This week, the California Workforce Development Board met to discuss the status of workforce practices in the Golden State. In response to this meeting, RespectAbility, a national, non-partisan nonprofit organization, submitted testimony on how to implement best practices, advocate for greater inclusion and improve the standing of people with disabilities in the workforce.
“When it was passed with broad, bipartisan support in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) invested unprecedented resources into efforts to get people with barriers to employment into the labor force,” said Olegario “Ollie” Cantos VII, RespectAbility’s Chairman. “Now, after the pandemic that has reshaped our economy, it is time to devote significant attention to supporting the economic advancement of students, job-seekers, and entrepreneurs with disabilities.”
There are more than 1.9 million working age (18-64) Californians living with some form of disability. Before the pandemic, 38.2 percent of the working age population of people with disabilities were employed. It is critical that California’s state workforce board listen to the individuals with disabilities and advocates impacted by these unemployment rates. In order to make the workforce more inclusive, and to find practical ways to make the workforce more accessible for the entire population, RespectAbility collects, summarizes, and publicizes ideas on key workforce solutions. To learn more about RespectAbility’s advocacy work, please visit our Policy website. [continue reading…]
Juneau, AK, December 1 – This week, the Alaska Workforce Investment Board’s Executive Committee will meet to discuss the status of workforce practices in the Last Frontier state. In response to this meeting, RespectAbility, a national, nonpartisan nonprofit organization, submitted testimony on how to implement best practices, advocate for greater inclusion and improve the standing of people with disabilities in the workforce.
“When it was passed with broad, bipartisan support in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) invested unprecedented resources into efforts to get people with barriers to employment into the labor force,” said Olegario “Ollie” Cantos VII, RespectAbility’s Chairman. “Now, after the pandemic that has reshaped our economy, it is time to devote significant attention to supporting the economic advancement of students, job-seekers, and entrepreneurs with disabilities.”
There are more than 44,762 working age (18-64) Alaskans living with some form of disability. Before the pandemic, 38.8 percent of the working age population of people with disabilities were employed. It is critical that Alaska’s Workforce Investment Board listen to the individuals with disabilities and advocates impacted by these unemployment rates. In order to make the workforce more inclusive, and to find practical ways to make the workforce more accessible for the entire population, RespectAbility collects, summarizes, and publicizes ideas on key workforce solutions. To learn more about RespectAbility’s advocacy work, please visit our Policy website. [continue reading…]
Birmingham, AL, December 1 – This week, the Alabama Workforce Development Board met to discuss the status of workforce practices in the Yellowhammer State. In response to this meeting, RespectAbility, a national, non-partisan nonprofit organization, submitted testimony on how to implement best practices, advocate for greater inclusion and improve the standing of people with disabilities in the workforce.
“When it was passed with broad, bipartisan support in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) invested unprecedented resources into efforts to get people with barriers to employment into the labor force,” said Olegario “Ollie” Cantos VII, RespectAbility’s Chairman. “Now, after the pandemic that has reshaped our economy, it is time to devote significant attention to supporting the economic advancement of students, job-seekers, and entrepreneurs with disabilities.”
There are more than 414,279 working age (18-64) Alabamians living with some form of disability. Before the pandemic, 33.1 percent of the working age population of people with disabilities were employed. It is critical that Alabama’s Workforce Development Board listen to the individuals with disabilities and advocates impacted by these unemployment rates. In order to make the workforce more inclusive, and to find practical ways to make the workforce more accessible for the entire population, RespectAbility collects, summarizes, and publicizes ideas on key workforce solutions. To learn more about RespectAbility’s advocacy work, please visit our Policy website. [continue reading…]
Lauren Appelbaum
Los Angeles, Nov. 24 – In March 2018 I was diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), now classified as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), which is a form of chronic pain that usually affects an arm or a leg. With just 200,000 people in the U.S. diagnosed with CRPS in the U.S., most people have not heard of CRPS, which is classified as a “rare disease” with no cure. Therefore, the month of November is CRPS Awareness month.
Since acquiring this disability, I have had the privilege of creating pipeline programming for nearly 100 other disabled individuals. During the 2021 RespectAbility Entertainment Lab for Disabled Entertainment Professionals, we were pleased to have award-winning independent film director and editor Jennifer Valdes as one of 30 Lab Fellows. Like me, Valdes is living with CRPS.
“I used to feel that living life with complex regional pain syndrome wasn’t a life worth living,” she said. “I devalued myself as a human. I felt ashamed of my disability. Disclosing it felt like I was revealing a big secret. I felt isolated and alone. Living with a disability is not the life I planned for, but It’s the only one that I have.” [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, Nov. 24 – November is Native American Heritage Month, or as it is commonly referred to, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. It is important to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people, including those who also are members of the disability community.
Alaqua Cox
Actress Alaqua Cox exemplifies this intersection. Marvel Studios’ latest episodic series Hawkeye premiered November 24 on Disney+, featuring Cox as Maya Lopez, who is the second deaf character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to being deaf and an amputee, Cox is Native American (Menominee and Mohican Nation).
“I believe kids deserve to see inclusivity and accurate representation,” Cox said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “It will make kids with all types of cultures and disabilities feel like our dreams can break free from limitations.”
RespectAbility’s Senior Entertainment Media Associate Tatiana Lee, who is a disabled woman of color with Native American heritage who also is an actress, international model and activist, pursued a career in the entertainment industry because she did not see herself reflected on screen. At RespectAbility, Lee is the lead consultant on various TV and film projects and conducts training for studios and production companies including NBCUniversal, Netflix, and The Walt Disney Company, and assists with RespectAbility’s Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities.
“I went through many struggles of sense of self and identity because I didn’t see myself represented,” Lee said. “You feel like an outcast, a unicorn, but sometimes not always in a good way. I try to embrace the unicorn thing, but other times it feels isolating.” [continue reading…]
Charleston, WV, November 24 – This week, the West Virginia Workforce Development Board met to discuss the status of workforce practices in the Mountain State. In response to this meeting, RespectAbility, a national, nonpartisan nonprofit organization, submitted testimony on how to implement best practices, advocate for greater inclusion and improve the standing of people with disabilities in the workforce.
“When it was passed with broad, bipartisan support in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) invested unprecedented resources into efforts to get people with barriers to employment into the labor force,” said Olegario “Ollie” Cantos VII, RespectAbility’s Chairman. “Now, after the pandemic that has reshaped our economy, it is time to devote significant attention to supporting the economic advancement of students, job-seekers, and entrepreneurs with disabilities.”
There are more than 178,000 working age (18-64) West Virginians living with some form of disability. Before the pandemic, 31.1 percent of the working age population of people with disabilities were employed. It is critical that West Virginia’s Workforce Development Board listen to the individuals with disabilities and advocates impacted by these unemployment rates. In order to make the workforce more inclusive, and to find practical ways to make the workforce more accessible for the entire population, RespectAbility collects, summarizes, and publicizes ideas on key workforce solutions. To learn more about RespectAbility’s advocacy work, please visit our Policy website. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 21 – Stacie de Armas, Senior Vice President of Diverse Consumer Insights & Initiatives, DEI Practice at Nielsen has joined the Board of Advisors at RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community. Since joining Nielsen in 1998, de Armas has held a variety of senior roles at the company and began her current role in July 2020. Nielsen is a global measurement and data analytics company that provides the most complete and trusted view available of consumers and markets worldwide. Together with RespectAbility, de Armas and Nielsen will soon unveil groundbreaking research regarding disability representation in film and more.
“We’re so thankful for both Stacie and Nielsen’s dedication to the disability community and inclusion overall,” says Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, President of RespectAbility. “For so long, the disability market has been historically overlooked in terms of consumer insights and research. But with experts like Stacie leading the charge, we’re excited to have even more concrete data to support our work in fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for people with disabilities around the world.” [continue reading…]
