Our Commitment
Disability Belongs™ has transitioned its diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (collectively, DEIA) work to a model that better reflects our ever-evolving brand and commitment: accessibility, inclusion, and belonging (AIB). This commitment remains a core tenet of our mission and frames the core values of our organization.
Our commitment to AIB is essential in redefining narratives, developing leaders, and driving opportunity so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community. As an organization, we are against all forms of discrimination, including ableism, racism, sexism, ageism, anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, sizeism, anti-immigrant discrimination, antisemitism, religious discrimination, anti-Muslim/Islam discrimination, and hate of all kinds. Our work strives to be deeply inclusive of all disabled people and their allies, with an emphasis on those who face intersectional barriers to equity and inclusion.
We recognize the importance of going beyond transactional diversity initiatives to transformational organizational and societal change. We understand that to truly reflect the mission we hope to achieve requires us to constantly challenge our own internal biases and continue growing, learning, and improving our own company culture and standards.
We are actively working to build an organization and contribute to a society where lived experiences of those with marginalized identities are centered, valued, and respected. This means we work to dismantle systems of oppression and their effects within and outside of the disability community.
Our Journey
We’re working to create an accessible, equitable, and inclusive organization, inside and out. For us, this means continually reflecting on our commitment to equity and how we put this into practice.
So far in our journey, we’ve made great strides in incorporating intersectionality as a critical lens across our work. Internally, we’ve made important changes to our policies, practices, and procedures to center equity. In partnership with our staff and Board, we are actively building an organizational culture of inclusion and belonging. We’ve also started work on a new AIB strategy, to guide the organization’s work for many years to come.
While we are proud of our commitment and our progress, we know we have not always lived our values and commitment to AIB. This has caused harm within and outside of our organization. We are working to take accountability and repair that harm.
We Want to Learn from You
As we continue our journey, we invite input and outreach from any individual, group, or organization that may have experienced harm. We appreciate any opportunity to learn from these perspectives and experiences. To share your experience or learn more about ways we are putting equity into action, please complete this anonymous form below or email our President and Chief Executive Officer, Ariel Simms: ArielS@DisabilityBelongs.org.
The message form is anonymous and does not require you to identify yourself if you do not wish to do so. If you would like us to follow up with you, please include your contact information.
Our Vision and Values
We envision a society in which every disabled person belongs. Belonging means people are valued and celebrated for who they are.
Our organizational values include:
- Cultural and Societal Transformation: growing and developing beyond transactional initiatives by dismantling barriers and systems of oppression within and outside the disability community.
- Accountability and Transparency: assessing and taking action when we are not living up to the organization’s commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and belonging.
- Advocacy and Centering: centering and listening to directly impacted individuals and their lived experience.
- Caring and Celebration: recognizing wins internally and within the larger disability community and taking time to care for ourselves as we advocate for others.
- Collaboration and Modeling: creating partnerships and allies to better act in service of the full diversity of the disability community and to achieve more than we could alone.
- Intersectionality and Representation: building and developing leadership opportunities for people with disabilities and their multiple identities to be represented in our work, especially those who have been historically excluded.
Our Team
| Organization Level + Number | People of Color | White | Disability | LGBTQIA+ | Women/Non-Binary | Men/Male-Identifying |
| Board (34) | 53% | 47% | 52% | 6% | 52% | 48% |
| Staff (25) | 48% | 52% | 80% | 40% | 60% | 40% |
| Senior Staff (7) | 37.5% | 62.5% | 62.5% | 25% | 62.5% | 37.5% |
| Fellows (229 alumni) | 46% | 54% | 90% | 22% | 62% | 38% |
