Employment

Disabled in Development Project Storyteller #10: Catherine Hyde Townsend

/ Ingrid Tischer / Leave a comment

“Linking ableism to other forms of oppression is also critical.”

Color headshot of Catherine Hyde Townsend, a white woman who is smiling

Photo courtesy of Catherine Hyde Townsend

Multi-colored hexagons“Developing relationships between community leaders and philanthropic staff is essential. These social networks not only inform grant-making decisions, but also help reinforce learning and understanding of the disability community. It’s also one of the hardest things to do.”

Name or Anonymous:
Catherine Hyde Townsend
Please share how you prefer to introduce yourself:
I’ve worked in philanthropy on human rights issues since 2002 and became disabled 16 years ago.
Like lots of people, I was pretty clueless about disability before I experienced it myself.  But I quickly realized what internalized ableism looked like as well as the social model of disability. I had/have access to incredible support from my family, work and friends, as well as significant privilege within the healthcare system. I haven’t always self-identified for a variety of reasons, but do so now for both political and personal reasons, finding significant community with others in the disability community.
For most of my time within philanthropy, I’ve been trying to educate and advocate to colleagues about how they can better include people with disabilities. One of the things I’m most proud of is helping to launch the Disability Rights Fund, a global donor that uses a participatory decision-making structure.
Most of my past work was at Wellspring Advisors, which works anonymously and takes a very low profile. For obvious reasons that was challenging, but I was able to launch and expand a grant-making portfolio focused on the [UN] Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with a very intersectional lens. That grant-making was/is really important, but it was also important for donors of women’s rights, HIV, AIDS, immigration, etc., to understand the ways different forms of oppression link and reinforce one another, but also how our advocacy can do the same.
My current work seeks to advance the inclusion of people with disabilities within philanthropy – mostly focusing on the grant-making, but a lot on learning and culture change, as you cannot have one without the other. 

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Disabled in Development Project Storyteller #9: Alex Tabony

/ Ingrid Tischer / Leave a comment

“Good introductions should be considered part of universal design.“

Color photo of Alex Tabony, a white man, looking relaxed and happy

Photo courtesy of Alex Tabony

Multi-colored hexagons“Employers are often focused on obtaining the ‘best and the brightest’ and have defined that, in part, as having a profile that typically PWD (people with disabilities) do not have because of missed developmental opportunities and/or non-traditional backgrounds for the position.“

Name or Anonymous:
Alex Tabony
Please share how you prefer to introduce yourself:
Call me Alex.
Here’s a little more about me. Since 1999, I’ve dedicated my life to help break the cycle of poverty for people disabilities and the economically disadvantaged. Employment is the key to a life of independence. I develop and maintain programs that go right to the heart of the issues and produce remarkable successes. My hat is off to those who take the challenge and I am so proud to be part of the process of transforming.
As Computer Technologies Program‘s Executive Director, I’m responsible for overseeing the administration, programs and strategic plan of the organization. Other key duties include fundraising and community outreach.

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Disabled in Development Project Storyteller #8: Emily Ladau

/ Ingrid Tischer / Leave a comment

“The biggest gap in organizational commitments to disability inclusion continues to be a lack of inclusive hiring.“

Color photo of Ladau, a youthful white woman, sitting and smiling

Photo courtesy of Emily Ladau

Multi-colored hexagons“Currently, it seems a lot of organizations are beginning to recognize disability as an area for funding, but it’s time to move beyond a charity perspective. “

Name or Anonymous:
Emily Ladau
Please share how you prefer to introduce yourself:
I’m a disability rights activist, writer, speaker, and digital communications consultant whose career began at the age of 10, when I appeared on several episodes of Sesame Street to educate children about life with a physical disability.
My writing has been published in outlets including The New York Times, SELF, Salon, Vice, and HuffPost and I have served as a source for outlets including NPR, Vox, and Washington Post. I have spoken before numerous audiences across the United States, ranging from lectures at universities to conference keynote presentations.
At the core of my work is a focus on disability identity, sharing our stories, and harnessing the powers of communication and social media as tools for people to become engaged in disability and social justice issues. More about my work can be found on my website, Words I Wheel By.

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A Crip in Philanthropy: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

/ Ingrid Tischer / Leave a comment

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: This Moment in Disability, Dignity, and Human Rights

A Crip in PhilanthropyAn earlier version of these remarks was shared at Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City, California on March 3, 2018. I deeply appreciated their welcome when I was invited to address their community by Anne Cohen, an activist, disabled parent, and board member at the organization where I am Director of Development, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) or, as Anne has dubbed it, “the ACLU of disability rights.” CBJ’s cross-disability access allowed me to take the first step in organizing community support: communicate.
I grew up with a disability, one that is genetic. I have been a plaintiff in an ADA access case here in California. It involved a bathroom. That required a lot of talking publicly about my using the bathroom. For disabled people like me – physically disabled — being disabled means never knowing where your next accessible public bathroom is. Today. Nearly thirty years after the ADA was passed. And keep in mind those 30 years coincide with my fundraising career in social justice non-profits and their philanthropic allies. Those are whole decades of trying my best to use empathy and imagination to shift that stubborn disability narrative that says I receive but can’t give. That disability is a health thing. That I need a cure when a toilet would be preferable. That I am charity, personified, not justice, denied.

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