Skip Navigation
Skip to Footer

Image of two people smiling and looking at a computer.

News

Eric Ascher smiles taking a selfie at Apple Park's visitor center

Eric Ascher at Apple Park’s Visitor Center

Eric Ascher is one of the most interesting young leaders in America. He’s a fountain of knowledge around two key passions – live television talent contests and innovations in technology. It’s like he’s always looking for the best in man and in machines.

Eric Ascher is the Communications Associate for RespectAbility, where he is on the front lines of fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for and with people with disabilities. As the Communications Associate, he is responsible for supporting RespectAbility’s Vice President of Communications in developing and implementing advocacy efforts and communications of various types. Ascher manages RespectAbility’s social media channels, website and emails; organizes and develops webinars; and supervises Communications Fellows. [continue reading…]

Ben Rosloff wearing a jacket and a headset standing behind a large video camera

Benjamin Rosloff

In this week’s Shabbat Smile, Matan Koch, Director of Jewish Leadership at RespectAbility, and Benjamin Rosloff, a Jewish Inclusion Fellow in our National Leadership Program, talked about Ben’s new idea for a multimedia series, “What Do You Pray For?!”

The idea builds off of Ben’s work filming a young boy’s bar mitzvah a few years ago. He did not have speech, and was using an augmentative communication device, and Ben found himself thinking, was he hearing the bar mitzvah boy’s voice or the filtered thoughts that he had programmed in with his parents? He questioned himself: what did the boy really pray for?

Later, Ben went to Israel and saw people putting notes and prayers in the Western Wall, and went to the Ohel, where people pray and leave notes of prayers on the Rebbe’s tombstone.  There were so many notes and stories. Ben wondered what messages and requests people were asking from G-d. He began to realize that whether it is an augmentative communication device, a prewritten speech or the natural filters that we put in place when talking to others, it isn’t always easy to determine what people really pray for. He felt it is even less likely for people with disabilities, whose voices are so often counted out. [continue reading…]


Los Angeles, California, Oct. 15 – As a new California law again leaves out people with disabilities, a new PSA featuring Californians with disabilities shows the value of inclusion.

On September 30, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a first-in-the-country mandate that will require boards of publicly traded companies headquartered in California to have at least one director of diverse background by 2021. The bill identifies race, ethnicity, and 11 other categories of diversity, but does not include disability.

“While we in the disability community applaud every facet of diversity, we believe that disability is a critical ‘underrepresented community’ missed by the law,” said Matan Koch, the California Director of the disability nonprofit RespectAbility. “Moreover, we are concerned that companies will potentially opt for tokenism instead of building truly inclusive organizations that value all aspects of intersectional identity equally. Successful diversity and inclusion work is not a ‘one and done’ hire or appointment. It requires a hard look at the sins of the past, while committing to the culture and systems change that create a better future for all of us. Indeed, communities, companies and nonprofit organizations are at their best when they welcome, respect and include people of all backgrounds. This includes people of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations and identities as well as people with disabilities, who might also have any of these other identities as well.” [continue reading…]

Roque Renteria with his dog on his lap. Roque is a wheelchair user.Washington, D.C., October 9 – A grant from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation supporting RespectAbility’s virtual National Leadership Fellowship will provide four exceptionally talented adults with spinal cord injuries (SCI) with intensive training to foster advance opportunities for the SCI community in public policy, civic engagement and the film and television industry.

Even before the pandemic, only 27 percent of people with spinal cord injuries were employed 10 years after injury. With more than 358,000 people living with spinal cord injuries in the United States, RespectAbility works to create opportunities so people with spinal cord injury can succeed in their chosen career.

This project was awarded through the Neilsen Foundation’s Creating Opportunity & Independence (CO&I) portfolio’s one-year Community Support Grants. This portfolio supports organizations that provide programs and services that enhance the quality of life for individuals with SCI. [continue reading…]

A sukkah in the middle of a desertThough tonight begins Shmini Atzeret, this week RespectAbility joyously celebrated Sukkot with a gathering in our virtual sukkah. HUC student and Jewish advisory committee member Rachel Rothstein taught us about the holiday. She opened with upbeat Israeli music, reminding us that the rabbis called Sukkot “the time of our joy”. After performing the ritual of the lulav (fun Sunday school fact: though we colloquially refer to the lulav and the aromatic etrog, the etrog is actually one of the four parts, or species, that make up the lulav). All five senses were virtually ignited!

Rachel then shared with us the rabbinic teaching that the four species of the lulav represented four different types of Jews, but just as the lulav was a union of those four species, so too is the Jewish people a union of all different types of Jews. [continue reading…]

Franklin Anderson smiling, standing in front of a waterfallRockville, Maryland, Oct. 9 – Franklin Anderson is quiet and unassuming. Yet, when it comes to advancing equity, access and inclusion, he’s a lion. As RespectAbility’s Manager of Development and Inclusive Philanthropy, he is on the front lines of fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.

Anderson is a passionate professional who fights for equal rights and opportunities for all marginalized communities. His passion in the disability space is ensuring the disability community has access to education, economic opportunity and fair representation in society broadly. “No effort to benefit a community is complete until it is accessible for all members of that community,” Anderson said. [continue reading…]

Shireen Alihaji smiling in front of a fenceLos Angeles, CA, Oct. 8 – Shireen Alihaji is a poet/filmmaker from Los Angeles covering stories on labor rights, environmental justice, hate crimes, human trafficking, gender discrimination, sexual violence, capital punishment, health care equity, immigration/refugee reform, restorative justice, and accessibility for people with disabilities. As a woman with Epilepsy, a child of duel cultural (Iran/Ecuador), and duel faith heritage (Muslim/Catholic), she seeks to create environments for historically neglected identities to share their stories.

“I believe living between intersections creates an awareness for how nuanced the human experience can be,” she said in an interview with RespectAbility. “Because there are so many layers to my experience, I’m reminded that there are so many layers to everyone’s experience. Everyone carries so much history when they enter a room and there is value in that.” [continue reading…]

Voters with disabilities can learn candidate plans on disability, education, jobs, immigration, climate crisis, criminal justice and more 

Three RespectAbility team members holding up signs that say "Earn My Vote". Red and blue borders. Text: 2020 Disability Voter GuideWashington, D.C., Oct. 7 – As Americans are voting in record numbers and just before the Vice Presidential debate tonight, the nonpartisan disability group RespectAbility has released 50 state voters guides containing key information on where candidates stand on issues impacting Americans with disabilities.

Voters with disabilities are a massive pool of potential voters who have often been ignored in past elections. However, those voters are now more engaged and active than ever. According to a recent study by Rutgers University, up to 38.3 million eligible voters are people with disabilities. This represents a massive increase in participation by voters with disabilities compared to past elections. Further, millions more Americans have friends or loved ones with disabilities. [continue reading…]

Giselle Legere headshotLos Angeles, CA, Oct. 7 – Gisselle Legere is a drama writer. Her earliest memories are of being woken up at the crack of dawn by the radio, her grandfather listening to Radio Marti, the anti-communist propaganda that the U.S. broadcasts toward Havana. Her family fled from Cuba as political refugees and landed in Miami. Her childhood was shaped by the intense narratives of survivors of oppression and persecution. Although she lost most of her hearing to a childhood vaccine, the memory of that early wake-up call and her family’s history led to an interest in politics and human rights, which eventually led to a career as writer.

Legere is an alumna of the Sundance Screenwriters Intensive lab as well as the Disney-ABC Writer’s program. She was recently staffed on QUANTICO, where her episode “No Place is Home” was nominated for a Women’s Image Award. Yet, she has faced discrimination along the way.

“One of the biggest hurdles I face in the writing industry is not my deafness but people’s assumptions,” she said in an interview with RespectAbility. “Even before I land an interview, future employers make assumptions…that I’ll need a translator, that accommodations will be expensive and difficult, that it’s just not worth the trouble.” [continue reading…]

Washington, D.C., Oct. 1 – 2020 is a year unlike any other. This year will be long remembered for the confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting economic crisis and the hotly contested presidential election. Not only that, 2020 is a year of key anniversaries for the disability community. Over the summer, in socially distanced and virtual events nationwide, millions of people with disabilities celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

2020 also marks the 75th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). Since the aftermath of the Second World War, the U.S. Department of Labor has challenged employers to fully embrace the incredible talents of workers with disabilities and make workplaces more accessible.

For 2020’s celebration of NDEAM, the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) chose the theme of “Increasing Access and Opportunity.” This focus is absolutely critical given how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the nation’s economy. Before the pandemic, the national employment rate for working-age people with disabilities in America was 37.6 percent compared to 77.8 percent of people without disabilities. Further, there continues to be significant disparities in employment outcomes within the disability community, which varies from state to state. [continue reading…]

1 2 73 74 75 76 77 155 156
Respect Ability - Fighting Stigmas. Advancing Opportunities.

Contact Us

Mailing Address:
RespectAbility
43 Town & Country Drive
Suite 119-181
Fredericksburg, VA 22405

Office Number: 202-517-6272

Email: info@respectability.org

Operational Excellence

RespectAbility is recognized by GuideStar at the Platinum level, and has earned a Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator.
© 2023 RespectAbility. All Rights Reserved. Site Design by Cool Gray Seven   |   Site Development by Web Symphonies   |      Sitemap

Back to Top

Translate »