RespectAbility
Fighting Stigmas, Advancing Opportunities
Labor Day has passed, summer is over and it’s time to get to work, so let’s hear from our friends at RespectAbility…
Who We Are
RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with employers, entertainment leaders, governors, policy makers, educators, self-advocates, non-profits, faith-based organizations, philanthropists and the media to fight stigmas and advance opportunities. Led by diverse people with disabilities and allies, RespectAbility knows that people with disabilities and their families have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else.
RespectAbility accomplishes our mission with a three-part strategy:
Fighting stigmas by promoting diverse, authentic and accurate portrayals of people with disabilities
Advancing opportunities by identifying and promoting best practices in education, employment, civic engagement and access
Leadership development to strengthen a talent pipeline of people with disabilities
Our free tools and factual resources inform stakeholders so people with disabilities can achieve the education, training, jobs, security and wellness that everyone needs and deserves.
Fighting Stigmas
RespectAbility engages decision makers and creative executives in the entertainment industry and news media. We improve the number and quality of authentic and diverse representations of people with disabilities on TV and film. The audience’s attention is focused on the vital contributions that people with disabilities make. RespectAbility increases hiring initiatives of people with disabilities behind the camera and enriches the pool of disabled talent in Hollywood. We have consulted on projects with A&E, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Walt Disney Television, The Walt Disney Studios and others.
RespectAbility also works to ensure more accurate representation of people with disabilities by promoting facts and studies. Our groundbreaking work has been featured in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, NPR, The New York Times and PBS NewsHour. We are on the front lines of fighting prejudice and creating opportunities for the future.
Advancing Opportunities
Our promotion of best practices in education, jobs and accessibility creates opportunities for people with disabilities to be recruited, hired and promoted across the workforce. Companies including Bank of America, Coca-Cola, EY, JPMorgan Chase and others have shown that employees with disabilities are loyal, successful and profitable. People with disabilities bring unique characteristics and talents to the workplace that benefit employers and customers.
Out of more than 20 million working-age people with disabilities, only 7.5 million have jobs. That total includes people with physical, cognitive, mental health, sensory and other disabilities, both visible and non-visible. Just 37 percent of working-age people with disabilities have a job, compared to 77 percent of people without disabilities.
RespectAbility is creating systems-change and breakthrough results with a multitiered approach: co-chairing a task force of more than 120 disability organizations; participating in a federal task force with 11 government agencies on employment; and partnering with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability to foster innovative new systems, which can become a model for collaboration throughout the country. We are committed to breaking down silos to ensure successful outcomes.
Leadership
RespectAbility is on the front lines in creating access and strengthening a diverse talent pipeline of people with disabilities:
Our National Leadership Program enables diverse and talented young leaders to gain critical skills, contacts and experiences necessary for successful careers.
Our Inclusive Philanthropy and Nonprofit Initiative enables the nonprofit sector to learn how to ensure their work is accessible and equitable for all.
Our Women’s Disability Leadership program is training and creating a speakers bureau of women with disabilities.
Our Los Angeles Hollywood Lab trains entertainment professionals with disabilities working behind the camera and connects them to major studios, networks and production companies.
Our newest program, Project Moses, is a training and placement program for talented Jews with disabilities to serve the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles and beyond.
There are more than 22 million working-age people with disabilities in America, and today fewer than 1 in 3 has a job. Learn from top experts who are enabling employers to thrive by bringing in the talents of people with disabilities.
Click here to play video: https://www.respectability.org/2020/07/ada30-work/
Click here to learn more about RespectAbility: https://www.respectability.org/
As always, please share this newsletter with your friends and family. Also, visit our main website https://www.dwellability.com/ to learn more about Home Sharing for People with Disabilities…by People with Disabilities.
Cheers!
Jeff