Throughout the month of October 2022, join RespectAbility for a virtual celebration including panel conversations and networking opportunities as we celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Please note that some sessions are open only to entertainment industry creatives who identify as deaf or disabled, as we seek to continue to build community. ASL Interpretation and Live Captioning will be available for this event.
NBCU LAUNCH and RespectAbility presented LAUNCH TALKS: THE MAKING OF QUEER AS FOLK (Peacock), a conversation with Stephen Dunn (Showrunner), Ryan O’Connell (Actor & Writer), and Andrew Gurza (Actor & Consultant). They discussed the reimagining of the groundbreaking queer drama series and the importance of authentic and intersectional representation in front of and behind the camera. [continue reading…]
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Target Audience: individuals with disabilities and their family members, benefits navigators, direct service providers, provider agencies, self-advocates, advocacy agency staff, workforce development board members, and state agencies leaders
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More often than not, accommodating accessibility is often an afterthought in our ERG events (or not even a thought at all). As ERG Leaders, it’s on us to make sure every component of the our events is accessible to every single participant — no matter ability.
In anticipation of Disability Pride Month, Chezie teamed up with RespectAbility to share best practices on how we can make our events – in-person and virtual – accessible to all who want to participate!
This event was hosted by Nick Sophinos (Head of Data & Analytics at Strategus and Event Speaker at RespectAbility) and Ila Eckhoff (Managing Director at BlackRock).
Chezie is an all-in-one solution designed to help you build impactful employee resource groups. We help you easily and seamlessly track membership, events, budgets, and engagement, so you can focus on what matters – building inclusive communities so you can retain your talent.
RespectAbility was thrilled to present this conversation in partnership with Women In Film to celebrate the second annual Mental Health Action Day. As the global conversation around mental health continues, finding effective resources and knowing how to get help remains a challenge. Convened by MTV Entertainment Group, Mental Health Action Day was created with an open-source model that has effectively united and galvanized brands, organizational leaders, and cultural leaders to seamlessly integrate the message and spirit into their existing branding and voice. In this panel conversation, we spoke with a variety of Film & TV professionals to discuss ways to accurately and authentically represent mental health on-screen, while also prioritizing your own mental health in an industry that hasn’t traditionally given folks the space to do so. [continue reading…]
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In the 8 years since the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was passed into law, the American economy has profoundly changed. Major structural changes among industries, companies, and contractors have accelerated thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and new economic policies from the Biden Administration. Throughout these tumultuous years, American Job Centers (AJCs) / America’s Job Centers of California (AJCCs) have been crucial for the delivery of workforce services to thousands of workers. As the labor force participation rate for workers with disabilities rapidly increases to historical highs, jobseekers with disabilities need supports and services that will meet their needs and help them earn an income. However, the working professionals at AJCs/AJCCs may not have received any formal training on disability etiquette, accessibility, assistive technology, or best practices.
This webinar offered a high-level overview of proven practices and lessons learned for serving jobseekers with disabilities through the workforce development system. Attendees learned from a subject matter expert who has collected simple, practical, and cost-effective solutions to help advance opportunities for jobseekers with disabilities. [continue reading…]
Two organizers, one local and one national, share their experiences with coalition building and advocacy for disability justice.
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More than 80 million people living in America depend on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for essential services. Looking at the challenge facing these Americans, leaders at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have recently released a Request for Information (RFI) to the public. This RFI is a tremendous opportunity for people with disabilities to directly weigh in and share their lived experiences accessing care or overcoming barriers to work.
RespectAbility and United Spinal, two national disability organizations, joined forces to host a special listening session to solicit feedback, input, and ideas from the people most directly impacted by the work disincentives in Medicaid. Led by a panel of subject matter experts and self-advocates, this session guided the development and submission of public comments to CMS to help Medicaid better serve the disability community and improve opportunities for employment and success. [continue reading…]
This panel aimed to discuss in more depth some of the issues facing Deaf/disabled people in the criminal justice system as experienced by the protagonist in the feature length documentary film, Being Michelle. The panel brought together Deaf leaders and advocates as well as individuals who have experienced human rights abuses in the criminal justice system. [continue reading…]
