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Franklin Anderson, Senior Director, Inclusive Philanthropy and Partnerships

Franklin Anderson

Franklin Anderson (he/him) is the Senior Director, Inclusive Philanthropy and Partnerships, at RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization 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.

At RespectAbility, his work is focused on foundation and donor relations, as well as leading the inclusive philanthropy program. Anderson helps enable major foundations, philanthropists and corporations ensure their philanthropic dollars go the furthest – by enabling investments in organizations and programs to be inclusive of people with disabilities. Hispanic himself, he also is heavily involved in the work of RespectAbility to serve the Latinos with disabilities community, and connecting the Latino community as a whole to inclusive philanthropy.

Prior to joining RespectAbility, Anderson earned his Master’s of Public Affairs in Nonprofit Management from Indiana University Bloomington. During his time in Indiana, he worked with a local environmental organization providing volunteer management and administrative support. He also held academic positions at Indiana University, worked as a grant writer at a local nonprofit, and career development office. Anderson also served as an advisor to new nonprofits to help develop their fundraising efforts. He also earned his Bachelor’s in Political Science from Eastern Michigan University, concentrating in public policy and political theory.

Contact Franklin Anderson

Reach Anderson at FranklinA@RespectAbility.org.

Meet our Staff

Learn about the whole 10th Anniversary Series

Read Transcript

Changing attitudes means that we challenge stigma and amplify authentic narratives on disability. We’re proud to be a “nothing about us, without us” organization, led by those with a diversity of disabilities and other intersectional identities. Disabled people are the best experts on their lived experience, and we work to promote this reality across our pillars. Watch this webinar to hear from members of our Board and Staff about our work in this area, and our vision for the coming years.

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Table of Contents

View each section of the report by following the links below, or download the text only Word document.

• Letter From Our Leadership
• Advancing Opportunities
• Changing Attitudes
• Developing Leaders
• Appendix A: RespectAbility In The News
• Appendix B: Our Funders
• Appendix C: Revenue and Expenses
• Meet Our Team
• RespectAbility Wishes To Thank

Dear Colleagues and Supporters,

We are extraordinarily pleased and proud to share this Annual Report with you! 2022 was an exciting year for us – a time of transition, transformation, and growth. Early in the year, we moved into the next phase of organizational development by bringing aboard Dr. Deborah Fisher as Interim President and CEO and then appointing Ariel Simms, Esq. as the organization’s next President and CEO in May.

We expanded our full-time staff from 18 employees at the end of 2021 to 24 employees as of December 2022. This growth occurred across departments including Entertainment and News Media, Policy and Workforce Development, Faith Inclusion and Belonging, Marketing and Communications, Inclusive Philanthropy and Development, and Operations. It also represented a whopping 33% staffing increase!

Our impact has only increased as our team’s capacity has strengthened. Each core ingredient to our “secret sauce” is integrally connected with all others, accelerating our momentum from the resulting synergy. This has included:

• Bolstering high-level subject matter expertise by bringing aboard three new department leaders, including Graciano Petersen, Wally Tablit, and Shelly Christensen.
• Advancing authentic narratives about disability that inherently embrace high expectations and a belief in the limitless potential of the disability community.
• Partnering with the disability community to advance public policy within the arenas of education, employment, transportation, and civic engagement.
• Expanding our leadership programs to nurture the growth of emerging leaders who come from every part of the disability community.
• Collaborating closely with communities of faith by building on our historic Jewish inclusion work.

Further strengthening our impact in 2022, we renewed and deepened our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). Elevating DEIA principles within every aspect of internal and external operations and at an intersectional level is a core tenet of our organizational identity and our advocacy. Internally, we have made important changes to our policies, practices, and procedures to center equity. In partnership with our staff and Board, we are actively building an organizational culture of inclusion and belonging and reintroducing RespectAbility as a convener and collaborator in all areas of our work.

Throughout this report, you’ll find highlights of our 2022 accomplishments across the three core components of our theory of change: Advancing Opportunities, Changing Attitudes, and Developing Leaders.

Our incredible team – integrally combining the steadfast work of our Board members, Advisors, staff, apprentices, and partners – makes strides every day in pursuit of our mission: To fight stigmas and advance opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.

NONE of our milestones – each of which is the result of proactively working across the full diversity of the disability community and all political perspectives – could have been possible without supporters and partners like you. That is why, as we celebrate all that we have done, we set our sights on the incredible future that we have ahead and the boundless possibilities that come with it.

Together, with all that is before us, the only limits are that of the imagination!

Sincerely and In Solidarity,

Olegario “Ollie” D. Cantos VII, Esq.
Chairman, Board of Directors

Ariel A. Simms, Esq.
President and Chief Executive Officer

This page has resources for professionals working in communications, marketing, and advertising about how to include people with disabilities. [continue reading…]

Molly McConville

Molly McConville (she/her) is a Development Associate at RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to fight stigmas and advance opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community. In her work, McConville is responsible for foundation relations, database management, support in development operations and event planning.

McConville graduated from Miami University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and a minor in Spanish. She participated in the RespectAbility National Leadership Program in Summer 2019 as a Public Policy and Employment Apprentice.

“The Apprenticeship prepared me for the role I am in now because it taught me the ins and outs of working for a nonprofit,” said McConville. “I am more confident writing, advocating, and fundraising because of what I learned during my time as a policy Apprentice.” McConville is still friends with some of the other Apprentices that she worked with during the Summer 2019 cohort. [continue reading…]

Cole & Charisma YouTube Influencers Shedding Light on Inter-Abled Relationships [Read More]	Andrea Dalzell RN Who Uses a Wheelchair Treating COVID-19 Patients in NYC [Read More]	Randall Duchesneau Founding Member of the United Spinal Association Greater Philadelphia Chapter [Read More]	Danny J. Gomez Speaking Out For A More Inclusive Entertainment Industry [Read More]
Tyler Hoog When Something is Lost, Something is Gained [Read More]	Rep. James Langevin Paves the Way for the Disability Community in Congress [Read More]	Lenny Larsen Globetrotting Entertainment Executive Refuses To Be Defined By His Disability [Read More]	Ian Malesiewski Working to Make Politics More Inclusive for People with Disabilities [Read More]
Vincenzo Piscopo Lifts Up People with Disabilities at Coca-Cola and Around the World [Read More]	Krista Ramirez-Villatoro Wants to Create a More Accessible Athletic World [Read More]	Andrew Reid Award-Winning Director Lifts Up Intersectional Identities Through Film [Read More]	From Doctor to TV Writer, David Renaud Finds Success in Authentic Storytelling [Read More]
Roque Renteria Uses Comedy and Storytelling to Fight Stigmas Hurting People with Disabilities [Read More]	Jim Sinocchi Lessons on Disability Inclusion for the Post-COVID World [Read More]

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RespectAbility organizes our program efforts into four core areas. Learn more about each of them below. [continue reading…]

Enabling diverse people with disabilities to participate fully in decision-making.

RespectAbility is on the front lines in creating access and strengthening a diverse talent pipeline of people with disabilities. Below, learn about our programs in this area. [continue reading…]

Read transcript
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Best practices in diversity and inclusion have been hot topics in discussion around corporate recruitment, hiring and retention. However, disability inclusion often gets lost in discussions about talent management strategies. Global Disability Inclusion and Mercer have recently published an in-depth report detailing critical insights about the employment experiences of people with disabilities and how to prioritize the needs of employees with disabilities.

Featuring over 12 million data sets, the Global Disability Inclusion & Mercer report on The State of Disability Employee Engagement is an unprecedented opportunity for C-Suite leaders, Diversity Leaders and HR Professionals to better understand what is likely 15-20% of your employee population. We gathered the report’s lead investigators for a critical discussion on what works, what does not, and how to improve efforts to empower talented employees with disabilities.

Also part of this conversation was RespectAbility’s own Director of Inclusive Philanthropy and Development, Franklin Anderson. Franklin helped facilitate the discussion of how the Mercer report reflects critical lessons learned in the field of non-profit management and how organizations can better operationalize disability inclusion best practices.

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