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Seven Months of Success
Happy August! Our members have been busy advancing their leadership and we are delighted to share some highlights. The Disability Lead community continues to thrive, make impactful connections and advance disability leadership across various fields throughout the Chicagoland area.
In the past six months, Disability Lead has facilitated over 100 opportunities for our members, resulting in more than 40 successful connections!
Member Accomplishments
- To kick us off, we are excited to announce that Lincoln Edwards has been appointed to the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) ADA Advisory Committee, a testament to his commitment to advocating for accessibility.
“I am grateful to Disability Lead and continue to be impressed with how diverse disabled leaders are growing within Disability Lead.” – Lincoln Edwards
- Maureen Burns reached an exciting milestone and is now serving as an Adjunct Faculty member at Malcolm X College and as the Director of Community Health at The HAP Foundation.
“My experience in the Disability Lead Fellowship provided me with valuable leadership skills. Disability Lead has aided me in understanding the connections and common ground that exist between different identities and struggles. I feel so lucky and blessed to be a part of the Disability Lead community!” – Maureen Burns
- Marina Salman brought her expertise to a webinar discussion earlier this year on the topic of “Disability in Palestine”, contributing to important conversations about the mass disabling events we are currently witnessing internationally. Watch this important discussion/teach here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN4_dkE5gTs
- One of Disability Lead’s 2024 fellows, Sadaf Ajani, recently joined Center On Halsted’s Inaugural Auxiliary Board, leveraging her emerging leadership to drive meaningful change.
“With all your encouragement and affirmation, I'm able to tell my story on my terms.” –Sadaf Ajani
Disability Leadership Matters!
In May of this year, five of our members showcased their expertise for Disability Lead’s first in-person event of the year, “Disability Leadership Matters.” The event was held at The Chicago Community Trust, where Disability Lead was first incubated as under our first name, “ADA 25 Chicago” in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Nine years later with over 220 members, over 6,000 followers on LinkedIn and with tremendous progress and success, Disability Lead returned to its original home to discuss why “Disability Leadership Matters.” A special thank you to our five Disability Lead members who served as our event panelists: Andre Johnson, Chad Turner, Claire McNorton, Joyce Ozeh and Michele Lee! It was truly wonderful to listen to their journey in disability leadership and how Disability Lead aided in their journey thus far.
Disability Lead Members At The Democratic National Convention
“Chicago’s disability community is active and vibrant, so it’s not surprising that when asked to help make the 2024 convention in Chicago more accessible and inclusive, so many Disability Lead Members enthusiastically raised our hands. We are excited to not only shape an equitable experience for disabled convention-goers in August, but we hope to have a lasting impact on what it means to create large-scale experiences that are truly inclusive for people with disabilities.” Emily Blum, Executive Director of Disability Lead.
In other exciting news this year, Disability Lead’s fearless leader Emily Blum has been appointed as co-chair of this year’s DNC Convention Disability Advisory Committee, alongside ten other Disability Lead members.
Those members joining Emily are the following:
Congratulations to all our members on their accomplishments! We are inspired by your dedication and look forward to sharing more stories of leadership throughout 2024. If you have an achievement you’d like included in future updates, please contact Risa at rrifkind@disabilitylead.org.
Stay tuned for more updates and continue to celebrate Disability Pride Month even beyond pride month!