Sign On to Philanthropic Organizations Committed to Disability Solidarity Respond to the Passage of H.R. 1
This July, the Disability & Philanthropy Forum will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA was founded on the principles of unity among individuals with disabilities, civil rights organizations, and across political ideologies. With the passage of H.R.1, we are witnessing the frayed threads of our democracy unravel as older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, and families with children already teetering on the cliff, are now facing one of the most challenging moments of our lifetimes. In a truly disability inclusive country, where rights are respected, programs like Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, IDEA, and SNAP are fully funded and essential to achieving disability justice.
While we feel a deep sense of sorrow and, at times, even outrage, our resolve remains strong. Movements are built on unity and reflect our deepest hopes for democracy, our love for our communities, and our commitment to the boldest aspirations of our cause. As champions and leaders of disability justice, rights, and inclusion in philanthropy - we firmly believe that our democracy is made stronger when those closest to the solutions have the resources to continue to lead the way forward. Alongside the Disability & Philanthropy Forum, we remain firm and unwavering in resourcing and being in solidarity with disabled people and organizations by taking even bolder actions to dismantle ableism.
Quicker and Faster. Image courtesy of Tommy Hollenstein.
Thirty-Five Ways Philanthropy Can Celebrate Disability Pride Month
Below are some suggestions for your organization to honor, educate, and be in solidarity with disabled movement leaders and advocates leading the way forward on disability justice, rights, and inclusion. We encourage you to refer to this list throughout Disability Pride month and beyond.
Expand Your Accessibility Practices
Consider these ideas to support more accessible and inclusive grants applications, Letters of Intent (LOIs), and convenings.
Looking for a retreat space? Consider accessible spaces that are stewarded by and for disabled people.
Consider access and accommodation statements at the next philanthropy conference your organization is hosting or sponsoring, as modeled by GEO’s 2025 Learning Conference.
Budgeting appropriately for accessibility in your gatherings, conferences, and retreats requires planning for access and inclusion from the start.
Sharing funding opportunities, events, or other information online? Make sure it’s accessible for everyone! Turning access into an active project that everyone is engaged in, and one with mutual commitments, creates a culture that transcends the usual “inclusion” and provision of accommodations as a secondary thought.
Don’t leave out the ‘A’ in your organization’s DEIA — Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility — efforts. Funding or supporting accessibility is not wasteful, illegal, nor fraudulent. In fact, elevating disability means supporting DEIA, and according to this report, we have not done nearly enough in these areas.
Avoid check-box approaches. Instead, consider questions like: What do our partners need to show up fully and well-funded? How can we minimize barriers to funding access?
Deepen Your Knowledge on Disability History & Culture
Follow disabled wisdom by reading and listening to the many disabled activists and advocates whose perspectives and expertise must be centered.
Funding what you mean starts with saying what you mean. Say the words: disability, disabled, people with disabilities, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and learn why language choice matters.
Remember: People with disabilities are not “the problems” requiring “solutions.” Dismantling ableism and barriers to more equitable conditions should be among our sector’s shared values.
Disability advocates and organizations are active in every state. Get to know local disabled leaders and build relationships. Not sure where to start? Reach out to us, or begin here.
Learn about disability-led stories and the shift in narratives about disability and ableism happening through films like Patrice, storytellers like Disability Visibility Project, disaster relief activists and organizers like the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, and journalists reporting on stories like this one from s.e. smith on the role of disabled people in AI.
Eugenics has been part of philanthropy’s ugly and harmful role in disability history. Learn about this history and ways to become part of a less ableist and more just future for all of us through these resources.
Know the differences between disability justice, disability rights, and disability inclusion. Let’s end philanthropy’s habit of co-opting movement terminology and misappropriating words.
Political education is important to have a more informed funding analysis. Learn about the disability rights and independent living movement history. Read about the founders and tenets of Disability Justice.
Progressives, liberals, and those who describe themselves as ‘leftists’ can and must do better on disability justice, rights, and inclusion. Disability Justice means nobody and no bodies left behind in our collective liberation.
Increase Disability-Inclusive Grantmaking
Fund disability-led organizing and power building. Reach out to the Disability Inclusion Fund to have a conversation about their approach towards more equitable, joyful, and inclusive disabled-led futures.
Learn about these powerful examples of collaborative funding to support disabled people and disability-led organizations from the Disability Futures Fellows, DIF x Tech, and the Black Disabled Liberation Project.
Support disability movement’s sustainability through opportunities for disabled-led joy, rest, and respite.
Invite disabled people to serve on Foundation boards and other decision-making bodies. Not sure where to begin? Let’s meet and explore together!
When philanthropy funds community-led research, we can address power imbalances in funding and research priorities. Disability community led research can support and inform stronger disability advocacy on public policies and programs.
Shifting power to disabled people and communities is one way to dismantle ableism. Some participatory and advisory committee funding models that exist are: WITH Foundation’s Self-Advisory Committee, the Disability Inclusion Fund’s Participatory Grantmaking, and Community Transforming Policing Fund’s Participatory Grantmaking.
If your Foundation makes grants to protect democracy and democratic practices like civic engagement, this also means supporting disability rights and pathways to strengthen the political power of people with disabilities.
Funding public health should be inclusive of people with disabilities as students, providers, practitioners, researchers and thought leaders. People with disabilities and their families are more than just patients and recipients of care.
Funding disability justice, rights, and inclusion efforts means funding ecosystems and generations of disabled people, communities, movements, and organizations. We are more than this month, this moment, and this crisis.
Cultivate a Disability-Inclusive Workplace
Create disability-inclusive workplaces and hire more disabled staff throughout Foundations.
Implement access check-ins as a practice to foster a more inclusive workplace culture. Because whether you identify as a person with a disability or not, everyone has access needs.
Collect data and information about disability internally and in your external programs.
Establish equitable compensation policies for disabled people who serve as consultants or advisors. This example from the Center for Healthcare Strategies provides suggested guidance.
Get Involved with the Forum
Join peer-to-peer groups like the Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy and Celebrating Disability Across Philanthropy to be in shared company and practice disability solidarity.
If your organization is already a Pledge Signatory, remember to complete your organization’s Disability Inclusion Pledge survey! Contact us to learn how to get started.)
Sign-up for our next offerings geared towards funders: a webinar on Disability Justice & Immigration and our first-ever learning institute, Climate and Disability Justice!
There’s no better time than Disability Pride Month for your organization to join 100+ other signatories to make a long-term commitment and sign the Disability Inclusion Pledge! (and unlike the costly trade offs that were just passed in Congress, this commitment is free)!
Disability Pride Month started in July, 1990 with the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which works to prohibit discrimination of citizens with disabilities in all aspects of society, including work, education, transportation, public space, and more. The first Disability Pride Parade was held in Boston that same year in celebration. The ADA symbolizes a commitment to equity and accessibility, one that people of all abilities can strive for. However
A Disability Pride Parade in New York City, date unknown, from disabilitypridenyc.org
