In year two of this grant from the Administration on Community Living (ACL), we could not be more proud of the work we are doing and the path we are paving forward. The National Center for Disability, Equity, and Intersectionality was founded as a coalition of five national partner organizations:
University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)
Georgetown University National Center for Cultural Competency
Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute
Morehouse School of Medicine
Together, we are identifying and reducing inequities in healthcare, community living, and justice for people with disabilities.
1. We’re Building Coalitions
We have brought together 38 organizations in our disabled-led, national Community of Practice. These organizations all serve different minority populations and we’re learning from each other on how disability intersects with each. We have done deep dives into how disability intersects with the juvenile justice system, foster care, and food justice to name a few.
We also have 9 different organizations represented in our Changemakers Coalition. All 9 organizations have efforts specifically focused on disabled young adults across the country. This coalition aims to build capacity among tomorrow’s leaders of the disability movement and share innovative resources about anti-ableism, antiracism, and intersectionality with youth with disabilities.
In 2024, we had 7 disabled young adults serve as Youth Equity Ambassadors. This group focused their efforts on Sexual and Reproductive Health and are aiming to have an article published on this topic soon!
We have also created issue specific groups that have addressed issues around cancer and intellectual disability, consent and healthcare for people with disabilities, organ transplants for people with disabilities, and crip tokenism.
“It helped me realize how strong of an advocate I truly AM and that I need to continue advocating for non disabled and disabled people on system change issues.” – Youth Equity Ambassador
2. Review disability frameworks that are culturally and linguistically inclusive to provide recommendations, training, and tools for healthcare, community leaders, and youth services.
We conducted an extensive review of literature, policy analysis, and internal documents from the past ten years to identify culturally and linguistically competent disability frameworks that address the intersectionality of disability and other marginalized identities. Our research focused on four key areas: Healthcare, Community Leadership, Youth Services, and Justice.
3. We expanded our media outreach to raise awareness about the marginalization of people with disabilities and other intersecting identities.
