More than ever, workplaces are incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives into the operations framework of their organization. DEI becomes a guideline for employing a workforce comprised of individuals with a range of differences, most commonly identified as gender, religion, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, and others. The statistics on the positive impact…
Ableism is more than a definition. More insidious. More careless. More divisive. _________ Ableism is being told directly: You are not “disabled enough.” I don’t see you “that way.” People with disabilities are “deformed”, “defective”, “crippled”, “handicapped”. “Even as a white woman with a disability, you have no place in the diversity conversation.” “Disability doesn’t…
I had the incredible opportunity to do a TEDx talk this month. The theme for TEDxDupreePark was “Seeds of Greatness”; I shared my Idea Worth Spreading: When I Stopped Hiding, I Found Freedom. But, even more, significant than my speaking opportunity, was what I gained personally from my experience that day. My 3 Lessons: 1)…
On Saturday, I found myself outside of City Hall in NYC with hundreds of others rallying for Reproductive Rights. We were there to protest Texas’ very polarizing abortion law, which severely limits a woman’s access to own her healthcare. The law makes it nearly impossible to terminate a pregnancy after six weeks no matter the…
Is there room in our conversations about diversity for disability? When I have asked whether people see me as diverse, the answer I usually get is related to my gender, not my limb difference. During a presentation I gave a couple of years ago, an audience member questioned whether disability really belongs in conversations of…
As a longtime non-profit leader in NYC, a city at the forefront of the initial pandemic and still very much suffering from health, economic, and safety aftereffects, I answer that question quite differently. First, I thank the frontline workers who early on put their lives in jeopardy and worked tirelessly day after day for our…
