Search: inclusive philanthropy

Rockville, MD, August 3 – While CDC data shows that one in four adults have a disability, a report from the Council on Foundations showed that less than one percent of full-time staff at foundations are people with disabilities. Sadly, foundations are missing the lived experience of people who know the challenges and talents of people with disabilities. Thus, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is supporting RespectAbility’s efforts to enable philanthropy to benefit from the energy, skills, and insights of talented people with disabilities.

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 (Fellows) in this “earn while you learn” 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). [continue reading…]

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Los Angeles, California, July 22 – Across America people are doing vital work – protesting and working to fight structural racism. At the same time, Black and other people with disabilities are being excluded even in nonprofit groups that are working to fight inequity.

RespectAbility conducted a major study and published Disability in Philanthropy & Nonprofits, which looked at the levels of disability inclusion in the social sector across the country. The largescale study found significant data showing that nationwide, organizations overall want to be inclusive, but are unintentionally excluding the one-in-five people with disabilities. [continue reading…]

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Speakers:
Kristin Gilger, Director, National Center on Disability and Journalism
Dr. Donna R. Walton, Ed.D., Founder and President, Divas with Disabilities, Inc.
Moderated by Lauren Appelbaum, Vice President, Communications, RespectAbility

The use of certain words or phrases can express bias either intentionally or unintentionally. The National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ) provides the industry’s only disability language style guide. The guide is intended for journalists, communication professionals and members of the general public who are seeking the appropriate and accurate language to use when writing or talking about people living with disabilities. The guide covers general terms and words on physical disabilities, hearing and visual impairments, mental and cognitive disabilities and seizure disorders. Beyond specific language, learn from The Divas With Disabilities Project on how to ensure your storytelling is inclusive of people with disabilities, while avoiding inspiration porn.

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Rockville, MD, Oct. 17 – In an unprecedented new partnership, 19 philanthropic and nonprofit organizations have joined together to present a series of free online training sessions on the nuts and bolts of how to include people with disabilities. The series and partnership comes following the recent release of “Disability in Philanthropy & Nonprofits: A Study on the Inclusion and Exclusion of the 1-in-5 People Who Live with a Disability and What You Can Do to Make Things Better,” which shows that while 75% of the sector wants to include people with disabilities, they don’t know how to do it.

Indeed, despite great intentions, the push for diversity, equity, access and inclusion in the field has not yet led to better outcomes for people with disabilities in our sector. Time and time again, organizations unintentionally discriminate against people with disabilities in their grant applications, programming, events, resources, websites and hiring practices.

“It’s all about getting the skills needed to ensure access, opportunity and equity for people with disabilities,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of RespectAbility, the nonprofit which convened the partnership and sessions. “Hence, the series was designed by people with disabilities themselves to specifically complement what people told us in the study that they want to learn, and where there are gaps in equity practices.” All eight sessions will be free and online, with live captioning. There will be absolutely no fundraising solicitation. [continue reading…]

Featuring Special Guests James Emmett, Lead Strategist, Workplace Initiative, Poses Family Foundation and Meg O’Connell, PHR, CEO & Founder, Global Disability Inclusion

Our speakers are two innovators, thought leaders and subject matter experts when it comes to jobs for people with disabilities. Their topic was expanding careers in philanthropy for professionals with disabilities.

Philanthropists have a tremendous opportunity to fight implicit bias and failed systems, as well as to enable millions of people with disabilities to have a better future. However, the professionals working in the field often lack the lived experience necessary to be fully inclusive and empower marginalized people.

This webinar reflected on key practices needed to empower people with disabilities to revolutionize the field of philanthropy.

As a “Nothing About Us, Without Us” organization, RespectAbility is deeply committed to seeing the disability lens added to all philanthropic work. That is why we have created a toolkit with practical resources to help philanthropists, non-profits and non-profit boards to embrace people with disabilities.

That process must begin with getting more professionals with disabilities working in philanthropy. [continue reading…]

Calling our RespectAbility4All Extended Family to attention!

RespectAbility staff and Fellows celebrating Rosh Hashanah with cookies from Sunflower Bakery sent over by Vivian Bass

RespectAbility4All’s inaugural Shabbat Smile leading into 5779 is . . . new, vibrant — and all-inclusive . . .

As with the New Year shofar’s four different calls, each blast echoing divergent rhythms and patterns in our daily life, four of RespectAbility’s new initiatives are `echoed’ at this time. Each solo shofar blast is unique. Yet the sequence of its blasts together magnify the impact, strength, and integrity of inclusion. This symbolizes RespectAbility’s unique and inclusive work. [continue reading…]

Watch #BornThisWay on A&E, Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. ET. 

View Education Resources on Disability Issues

Rockville, Md., June 27 — In the U.S., schools were not required to provide special education until 1975. Today, the fight for inclusive education remains a constant battle for parents and students. Born This Way, a reality television show that stars seven diverse young adults with Down syndrome, shines the spotlight on the importance of inclusive education and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process.

Ensuring children with disabilities receive the education and training they need to succeed is vitally important. Nationally, only 65 percent of students with disabilities graduate high school each year compared to 86 percent of student without disabilities. That means there is 21-point gap in outcomes. Furthermore, only seven percent of students with disabilities graduate college. As such, educators have a critical role to play in empowering more students with disabilities to succeed.

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The National Leadership Program: Fellowship in Philanthropy/Development

RespectAbility Fellow Emma Adelman learning from Patrick McCarthy of The Annie E. Casey Foundation

RespectAbility is on the front lines of inclusive philanthropy. We are passionate about bringing intersectionality into not only our work, but into the philanthropy sector at-large. Many philanthropists do not explicitly include the disability community in their portfolio, even though disability cuts across every demographic – race/ethnicity, sex/gender, sexual orientation, religion, class, and more. Indeed, the disability community is the largest minority group in the country. If a philanthropist supports any underserved population, they already are supporting people with disabilities. However, they may not do so with an understanding of what works, or they might not realize that some of their constituents have disabilities in the first place. [continue reading…]