Community of Practice- About Us

The National Center for Disability, Equity, and Intersectionality. An Administration for Community Living Project of National Significance. Text included below image

The National Center for Disability, Equity, and Intersectionality

Who We Are
We are a group of people with disabilities, family members of people with disabilities, professionals, and collaborators committed to learning and teaching about the interests, needs, and wants of people with marginalized identities and lived experiences of disabilities. Five partner organizations founded our Center.

What We Do
The National Center for Disability, Equity, and Intersectionality identifies and works together to reduce inequities in healthcare, community living, and justice for people with disabilities. The Center: (1) amplifies the voices of people with disabilities, (2) creates materials to impact positive change, and (2) shares information with people with disabilities, their families, their communities, and policymakers.

How We Work
We convene a Community of Practice (CoP), which is a group of people collaborating to dismantle systems of ableism, racism, cisgenderism, and other forms of oppression. The Community of Practice will meet monthly and may work between some meetings to develop resources and tools. The Center is also home to the Changemakers Coalition, which supports the diversity of youth with disabilities working for a more equitable future.

How Can You Join
If you are interested in joining the CoP, e-mail Leah Smith at leah.smith@cchmc.org. To find out more about the Center, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

"Nothing was said if I wanted to have more kids. The blessing to give life was bestowed upon me by The Creator and this man stole it from me. I'll never get it back. Everything I have ever done has been illegal. This is the most money I've ever had legally. But look at what it took to get it." - Survivor of California's Forced and Involuntary Sterilization Program

An Attempt at Reparations: California’s Forced or Involuntary Sterilization Program

On January 1, 2022, the State of California launched a reparations program in an attempt to respond to its history of operating the largest eugenics/sterilization program in the country. From 1909 – 1979, 20,000 people were forcibly or involuntarily sterilized in the state of California.[1] However, providing reparations in the form of monetary compensation (approximately $25,000) to survivors has been complicated as the state tries to reconcile its past. 

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