Past Events

With one-in-five people having a disability in the U.S. today, the lack of representation – less than one percent in children’s television – means that millions of children are unable to see themselves in media today. Furthermore, when representation exists, a great deal of disability representation on screen is of white males. By introducing a female Black character who uses a wheelchair, Disney Junior’s Firebuds, which premiered Sept. 21 on Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney+, is ensuring that a population, which is often overlooked, is represented.

Set in a fantastical world where talking vehicles live, work, and play with the humans who drive them, Lauren “Lolo” Spencer, who has muscular dystrophy, voices Jazmyn ‘Jazzy’ Jones, a young Black girl with spina bifida. Jazzy’s older brother Jayden is part of a group of first responder friends who help others in their community. Throughout the series, Jazzy is included in a variety of ways as Jayden’s younger sister, who drives a combination wheelchair and automobile.

Watch Lolo Spencer and series creator and executive producer Craig Gerber have a conversation with RespectAbility’s Lauren Appelbaum and Vanni Le, who worked with the team to ensure authentic disability representation in Jazzy and other characters featured throughout the fictional towns of Gearbox Grove and nearby Motopolis where the series takes place. [continue reading…]

This webinar focused on the findings of a recently completed study on best practice program models in disability employment. The initial idea for the study came about through discussions at a meeting of the National Affinity Group on Jewish Poverty and its Jobs workgroup – back when the group met in person, pre-COVID!

With funding from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, NJHSA developed and implemented a study on this issue in partnership with colleagues from the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce and RespectAbility.

View the Disability Employment Best Practice Guide online.

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NBCU LAUNCH and RespectAbility presented LAUNCH TALKS: THE MAKING OF QUEER AS FOLK (Peacock), a conversation with Stephen Dunn (Showrunner), Ryan O’Connell (Actor & Writer), and Andrew Gurza (Actor & Consultant). They discussed the reimagining of the groundbreaking queer drama series and the importance of authentic and intersectional representation in front of and behind the camera. [continue reading…]

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Celebrate and learn from the first ever recipients of the Justin W. Chappell Memorial Award and the Steve Bartlett Award: Roy Payan and Nicole LeBlanc! This event was hosted by actor, writer, comedian, and RespectAbility Entertainment Lab alumni Harold Foxx, and was introduced by RespectAbility CEO Ariel Simms.

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Target Audience: individuals with disabilities and their family members, benefits navigators, direct service providers, provider agencies, self-advocates, advocacy agency staff, workforce development board members, and state agencies leaders

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Presented by Chezie and RespectAbility

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More often than not, accommodating accessibility is often an afterthought in our ERG events (or not even a thought at all). As ERG Leaders, it’s on us to make sure every component of the our events is accessible to every single participant — no matter ability.

In anticipation of Disability Pride Month, Chezie teamed up with RespectAbility to share best practices on how we can make our events – in-person and virtual – accessible to all who want to participate!

This event was hosted by Nick Sophinos (Head of Data & Analytics at Strategus and Event Speaker at RespectAbility) and Ila Eckhoff (Managing Director at BlackRock).

About Chezie

Chezie is an all-in-one solution designed to help you build impactful employee resource groups. We help you easily and seamlessly track membership, events, budgets, and engagement, so you can focus on what matters – building inclusive communities so you can retain your talent.

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RespectAbility was thrilled to present this conversation in partnership with Women In Film to celebrate the second annual Mental Health Action Day. As the global conversation around mental health continues, finding effective resources and knowing how to get help remains a challenge. Convened by MTV Entertainment Group, Mental Health Action Day was created with an open-source model that has effectively united and galvanized brands, organizational leaders, and cultural leaders to seamlessly integrate the message and spirit into their existing branding and voice. In this panel conversation, we spoke with a variety of Film & TV professionals to discuss ways to accurately and authentically represent mental health on-screen, while also prioritizing your own mental health in an industry that hasn’t traditionally given folks the space to do so. [continue reading…]

Throughout the year, Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s office of diversity and inclusion hosts events aimed at expanding a vision of what it means to be a diverse community that is inclusive of all. This event was created in partnership with Einstein’s chapter of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine & Dentistry (AADMD) and RespectAbility, a diverse, disability-led nonprofit that works to create systemic change in how society views and values people with disabilities, and which advances policies and practices that empower people with disabilities to have a better future. Einstein AADMD student board members moderated this discussion. [continue reading…]

Attendees heard from CUNY Hunter College student Ariel Gold about how disabilities are represented in the Hebrew Bible. Following her short presentation, Ariel moderated a panel of four Jews with disabilities — Noa Etedgi, Peter Fox, Haley Moss and Lee Chernotsky — who shared their experiences and offered insights on how the Jewish community can become more inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities.

Co-sponsored by Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, RespectAbility, the Hunter College Jewish Studies Department, and ROSIES. [continue reading…]