Past Events

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BRIC Foundation and RespectAbility presented: “Disability Inclusion in Entertainment: Beyond the Pipeline,” a conversation about breaking into the entertainment industry and building community as creative professionals with disabilities. The event was moderated by Lesley Hennen (Writer, Entertainment & News Media Associate at RespectAbility), and featured panelists Jeremy Hsing (Writer, RespectAbility Entertainment Apprentice and Lab Alumnus), Samuel Krauss (Writer, RespectAbility Entertainment Apprentice and Lab Alumnus), and Myles Hunt (Visual Artist, Writer, and RespectAbility Lab Alumnus). They discussed navigating the Entertainment industry, why their voices are important, and details of the Entertainment Labs and other leadership programs that RespectAbility has to offer. [continue reading…]

This was the inaugural event in the National Health Equity Grand Rounds series, History of Racism in U.S. Healthcare: Root Causes of Today’s Hierarchy and Systems of Power. This event highlighted the root causes of present-day health inequities by tracing the social, economic, political, geographic, and environmental forces that shape opportunity for health in the United States. Keynote speaker Harriet A. Washington, MA, author of Medical Apartheid, explored the history of structural inequities in health care and unethical medical experimentation followed by a panel conversation moderated by American Medical Association (AMA) Chief Health Equity Officer Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, and featuring Rupa Marya, MD; David Ansell, MD, MPH; and Jack Resneck, Jr., MD.

Attendees of this event hosted by The Branch heard from webinar speaker Asha Chai-Chang who talked about the growing community of Jews who identify as Jews of Color. Born in Long Island as the Jamaican/Cuban/Chinese/Jewish daughter to immigrant parents, Asha is an Actuary by Trade turned Award-Winning Director/Writer with invisible disabilities. Asha created an open dialogue about being a person of color with multiple disabilities and spoke about the intersectionality of being a Jew of Color with disabilities. She also explored ways Jewish communities can increase visibility and create safe spaces for Jews of Color. Attendees learned informative statistics and factual findings, had an opportunity to connect within the webinar, and walked away with new tools and best practices.

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To conclude our Disability History series, RespectAbility Apprentice Emily Tironi sat down for an interview with Tom Olin, the photographer who took many of the images used in the series. They had a conversation about the history of the disability rights movement and what Tom thinks other activists should focus on going forward.

Here at RespectAbility, we hope to destigmatize disability in all realms of life. In the Faith Inclusion and Belonging department particularly, our work is in making all houses of worship across all faiths places where disabled people belong and thrive. RespectAbility, in partnership with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Long Beach, California, hosted a 5-session, weekly online study on disability in Jewish and Christian scripture. [continue reading…]

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As we celebrate October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), RespectAbility is excited to share our Employer Spotlight Series, to take a closer look at how various employers are prioritizing disability inclusion. We were proud to celebrate Alaska Airlines with Steve Nelson, Senior Diversity and Inclusion Specialist. Nelson shared how Alaska Airlines is advancing equitable employment for people with disabilities in their organization. [continue reading…]

With Pittsburgh increasingly known as the Hollywood of Appalachia, what does an entertainment industry boom mean for disability inclusion? At the JRS Annual meeting, both local and national advocates provided perspectives on this topic.

Keynote speaker Lauren Appelbaum, Senior Vice President, Communications and Entertainment & News Media, RespectAbility, looked at the topic from a national perspective. Lauren partners with studios, production companies, writers’ rooms, and news organizations to create equitable and accessible opportunities for people with lived disability experience throughout the story-telling process.
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