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Get Great Talent and Help Apprentices Gain Experience

Foundations and Philanthropy Serving Organizations are invited to apply to “host” a talented emerging professional with a disability. This “earn while you learn” virtual apprenticeship program is free for host organizations.

The MacArthur Foundation is granting funds for RespectAbility to expand their National Leadership Program to include a diverse talent-pipeline of people with disabilities that will work directly in philanthropy. Participants (Apprentices) in this program will gain skills and experience while working alongside RespectAbility for the first part of the grant period. They will then transition into a role with a host philanthropic partner in a foundation or philanthropy serving organization (PSO).

Sign Up To Host an Apprentice

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Ollie Cantos

Today we celebrate workers. As a long-time working professional with a disability, I am intimately familiar with the barriers that keep talented people with disabilities out of the labor force. Beyond public policy issues around the benefits systems and work disincentives, popular culture itself and media depictions of disability are a crucial barrier that harm the aspirations of millions of people with disabilities. For decades, people with disabilities like me have been seen as “less than” – as incapable of doing any job or becoming a leader in any career field.

How have many people with disabilities responded to being told what they cannot do? They have paved their own way into a rewarding career by becoming entrepreneurs.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people with disabilities are self-employed at a rate nearly twice that of their non-disabled peers. As of the 2019 American Community Survey, over 700,000 workers with disabilities were self-employed, enjoying the flexibility and opportunities that entrepreneurship provides. [continue reading…]

Harrisburg, PA, August 31 – Pennsylvanians with disabilities who want to earn an income and become independent have new options for doing so, thanks to a new program signed into law on July 1 by Governor Tom Wolf. Pennsylvania Act 69 means more workers with disabilities in Pennsylvania will be able to pursue employment and earn money without risking the loss of potentially life-saving benefits.

This is important news for the nearly 1 million working-age people living with disabilities in the Keystone State. In the economic expansion prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania had a 38.8 percent disability employment rate. However, hundreds of thousands of workers with disabilities lost their jobs due to the pandemic and they are now navigating a radically different labor force.

“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,” said Olegario “Ollie” Cantos VII, Chairman of the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility. “Pennsylvania has just expanded the type of program that directly helps people with disabilities enter the workforce without fear of losing the benefits that help them manage their disability. This is a win-win-win for Pennsylvania itself, Pennsylvania-based employers, and people with disabilities.” [continue reading…]

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Los Angeles, August 31 – RespectAbility, a diverse disability-led nonprofit organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community, officially announced the release of its new strategic plan. The plan is the culmination of a year-long process that brought together a cadre of key influencers from across the country, building upon evidence-based research, refinement, and results from the past eight years. The result 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.

Ollie Cantos

“As we look to the future to envision the full scope of what is truly possible, the challenges of today warrant nothing less than decisive and organized action,” said Ollie Cantos, the recently-elected Chairman of RespectAbility’s Board of Directors and the first member of the AAPI community to lead a national cross-disability group. “When 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…]

Los Angeles, August 26 – For the low vision and blind communities, audio description (AD) is the equivalent to captions for the Hard of Hearing and Deaf communities. It is often the most misunderstood and underutilized accessibility asset in the broadcast TV, cable, digital media, gaming and film industries. Professionals and advocates within the audio description industry are far from scarce, however, and participants of RespectAbility’s Summer Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities were lucky enough to speak to some of the best: Michele Spitz and Alex Howard.

Michele Spitz of Woman of Her Word is a voiceover artist, audio description (AD) consultant and educator, public speaker, and philanthropist dedicated to selectively funding AD and post-production accessibility grants to ensure that media content is equally accessible to low vision and blind audiences. With more than 8 years of experience across multiple cities, film festivals, and industry platforms, Spitz’s AD work can be heard in Emmy and the Academy Award nominated films to museums and award-winning independent films like Best Summer Ever. Spitz encouraged all Lab participants to have a common base knowledge of media accessibility overall. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, August 26 – During a recent session of the RespectAbility Entertainment Lab, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Joel Camarena made his second appearance of the summer to share important insight on what it is like to work for an established studio like Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). Joel also shared his journey on how he arrived at this current position as a Senior Manager of Global Talent Acquisition after starting out as a Campus Recruitment Intern. Joel was joined by a panel of SPE executives including Frank Ochoa, Executive Director Comedy Development; Amanda Richards, Director of Talent and Casting (Television); and Keleigh Slaight, Manager of Physical Production (Television). [continue reading…]

Free Resources for People Who Want to Make Their Dreams Come True

View the Toolkit

Los Angeles, August 24 – The disability advocacy nonprofit RespectAbility has released its free Disability Entrepreneurship Toolkit. The new toolkit provides an inventory of existing materials, advice and guides for jobseekers with disabilities who want to start their own enterprise, or develop their entrepreneurial skills.

Many highly successful entrepreneurs have disabilities, including Richard Branson and most of the Sharks on Shark Tank.

RespectAbility’s Disability Entrepreneurship Toolkit launch was timed to meet the heightened interest of people with disabilities and others who are watching the groundbreaking new docuseries Born For Business, which ison Peacock (USA) and CRAVE (Canada). Born For Business focuses on the talents, innovations and impact of entrepreneurs with varying disabilities. Born For Business shines the spotlight on four emerging entrepreneurs: Chris Triebes, Qiana Allen, Collette Divitto and Lexi Zanghi. [continue reading…]

Starts streaming for free today on Peacock and CRAVE

Los Angeles, August 23 – A powerful docuseries that spotlights the untold stories of four entrepreneurs with disabilities, Born For Business gives viewers an insider’s look at what it takes to launch and run a thriving small business. Just as each entrepreneur is on the brink of success, they must navigate the complications that the COVID-19 pandemic presents.

The series features four talented entrepreneurs with disabilities:

• Qiana Allen is a fashionista with lupus who creates clothing for women with curves.
• Collette Divitto is a baker with Down syndrome who owns a cookie brand on a mission to create change.
• Chris Triebes is a driven single dad with spinal muscular atrophy (type III) making waves in the music industry.
• Lexi Zanghi is a millennial entrepreneur with anxiety who runs a fashion-forward brand.

“For too long, people with disabilities have been shut out of the workplace,” said Jonathan Murray, Bunim/Murray Productions. “With Born For Business, we are showing how people with disabilities have long been using entrepreneurship to create an economic livelihood for themselves.”

Watch On Peacock

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Photo credit: Arthur Marroquin

New York, August 19 – Deaf actress Sandra Mae Frank has joined NBC’s “New Amsterdam” as Dr. Elizabeth Wilder.

It is important to note that Frank is being added as a doctor, as many medical shows feature disabled actors as patients, but not as people who are helping others. Actors Rachel Handler, who is an amputee, and Matthew Jeffers, who is a little person, previously have been cast in roles as medical professionals. New Amsterdam overwhelmingly has been an example of best practices since Season 1, through casting authentically, including Lauren Ridloff and Eileen Grubba; working with consultants to ensure accurate storylines; and including conversations about diverse topics within the disability community.

Frank is a trained stage and film actor. Ever since she made her mark in Deaf West’s “Spring Awakening” on Broadway, she has been doing various projects from music videos, theater productions, films, and TV. She is also the production manager of Deaf Austin Theatre, a nonprofit theater company in Austin, Texas. Most recently Frank was featured on NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, performing a song in ASL. [continue reading…]