#RespectTheAbility

Selena Gomez

Rockville, Md., 15 de octubre – Hace dos años, la estrella pop y actriz Selena Gómez entró caminando orgullosa al escenario de Ellen DeGeneres con un vestido negro largo hasta los pies y tacos altos. Tenía el cabello estirado hacia atrás, con ondas. En su rostro había una mirada decidida. Se sentó con la espalda erguida y una sonrisa, y les contó a Ellen y al mundo cómo es vivir con lupus.

“Es una enfermedad autoinmune; la tendré para siempre y uno sólo tiene que cuidarse”, les explicó Gómez a Ellen y al público. “Me puedo identificar con las personas”.

El lupus es una enfermedad autoinmune crónica que provoca que el organismo se ataque a sí mismo al ser incapaz de distinguir entre el tejido sano propio y los invasores. Según la Lupus Foundation of America, 1,5 millones de personas tienen lupus en los Estados Unidos y cinco millones lo padecen en todo el mundo. [continue reading…]

Michelle Rodriguez on set of Fast and Furious

Rockville, Md., 15 de octubre – Famosa por interpretar a mujeres sensuales y seguras de sí mismas en Perdidos y Rápido y furioso, Michelle Rodríguez, una actriz latina, enfoca ahora su mirada en escribir y dirigir películas.

“Quiero escribir y dirigir, pero no es fácil con el TDA. Me cuesta concentrarme cuando estoy sola. Soy muy despistada, pero me pone nerviosa tomar medicamentos; realmente no quiero depender de nada para controlar mi cerebro”, manifestó Rodríguez en una entrevista con World Entertainment News Network (WENN).

Ella nació en Texas; su madre, Carmen Milady Rodríguez, es dominicana y su padre, Rafael Rodríguez, es puertorriqueño; pero a los ocho años se mudó a la República Dominicana con su madre. La crió, en parte, su abuela materna. Sin embargo, a los 11 años, se mudó a Puerto Rico con su madre. [continue reading…]

Gina Rodriguez

Rockville, Md., 15 de octubre – Los fans del exitoso programa de CW Jane the Virgin conocen a su protagonista, Gina Rodríguez, como una figura que se expresa abiertamente en las redes sociales. Con frecuencia, publica mensajes sobre temas que considera importantes —feminismo, imagen positiva del cuerpo, política—, pero hace poco se sinceró en Instagram sobre un tema que la actriz no había tocado antes: su ansiedad.

Rodríguez publicó un video realizado por su amigo, el artista Anton Soggiu, como una obra de arte en forma de “retrato de diez segundos”. El video mostraba a una Rodríguez sonriente y cambiante, sin maquillaje, en las calles de Los Ángeles.

“Sufro de ansiedad. Y al mirar este clip pude ver lo ansiosa que estaba, pero siento empatía hacia mí misma. Quería protegerla y decirle que estaba bien sentir ansiedad, que no hay nada extraño o diferente en sentir ansiedad, y que yo triunfaré. Me gusta mirar este video. Me incomoda, pero siento libertad, tal vez incluso aceptación. Esta soy yo. Pura Gina”, escribió Rodríguez en la leyenda debajo del video.

Esta no es la primera vez que Rodríguez habla sobre una difícil afección personal. En 2015, publicó una foto en Instagram con una leyenda acerca de la lucha para aceptar su cuerpo debido a la enfermedad de Hashimoto que padece. La enfermedad de Hashimoto es una afección autoinmunitaria que afecta la tiroides y puede provocar fatiga crónica y aumento de peso. Desde la publicación de esa foto, empezó a publicar mensajes continuamente sobre la aceptación del cuerpo, el amor propio y la confianza.

Mientras los estudios muestran que muchas personas de la comunidad latina y de otras comunidades ocultan las discapacidades invisibles debido a los estigmas negativos, Rodríguez da el ejemplo al compartir abiertamente sus experiencias en Instagram. Por lo tanto, es un importante ejemplo de la campaña #RespectTheAbility (Respeta la capacidad) de RespectAbility, que presenta a personas con discapacidades que triunfaron en las carreras que eligieron.

Por lo menos uno de cada cinco estadounidenses tiene una discapacidad y, según las encuestas, la mayoría de ellos quiere trabajar. Aun así, el 70% de los estadounidenses en edad laboral que tienen discapacidades no forman parte de la población activa. Hay 4.869.400 latinos/hispanos que viven con una discapacidad en los EE. UU. Solo el 37% de los latinos/hispanos en edad laboral con una discapacidad tienen empleo en los EE. UU., en comparación con el 73,9% de los latinos/hispanos en edad laboral que no tienen una discapacidad. Rodríguez es la prueba de que esta no tiene que ser necesariamente la regla.

“Amo esta foto porque siento que la joven Gina finalmente se convirtió en su propia heroína”, expresó Rodríguez en la leyenda que acompañaba la fotografía del 2015.

La economía de nuestra nación es más fuerte cuando es inclusiva respecto del valor que trae la diversidad de talentos a la fuerza de trabajo. Las celebridades como Rodríguez están marcando la diferencia.

Leer este artículo en Inglés.

Fourth and Olive

Long Beach, Calif. – Chatter fills the room. Floor to ceiling windows encompass a room interwoven with a wall here or there. The smell of freshly cured bacon hangs in the air mingling with the scent of steak fries and fish. Exposed wooden beams hang from the ceiling, and white cloths cover the tables. The space is intimate.

It is Friday night at Fourth and Olive, Long Beaches’ best restaurant of 2017 (LA Weekly). And just like any other great restaurant, there is magic coming from the kitchen but with a special twist.

Co-owner and chef Dan Tapia started Fourth and Olive not only to produce great food but also to employ great people. Tapia is a retired Navy Submariner with a disability. He uses a walking cane. After facing discrimination by a former restaurant where he worked, he opened Fourth and Olive – a restaurant where employment will never be discriminated against because of a disability.

“When you hire someone with a disability, you’re hiring someone with something to prove who is never going to do anything to jeopardize the opportunity because he or she is not taking anything for granted,” says Tapia.

[continue reading…]

Kevin O’Leary

Rockville, Md., Oct. 3 – One of the most pronounced, dangerous and hungry sharks out there has no fins, no tale, and no sharp teeth at all; however, he does have one characteristic that he attributes to his success and even refers to as “his superpower.”

Entrepreneur, investor and famous Shark from ABC’s television show Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary has dyslexia.

“The way to look at dyslexia is as a unique power instead of an affliction,” O’Leary told Entrepreneur in an interview. “Very few people have the abilities that dyslexics have. If you look down the road, as they grow, what happens to dyslexic men and women is they become very successful in business. This is because dyslexia gives you some really unique perspectives and abilities that I’d call superpowers.”

[continue reading…]

Barbara Corcoran

Rockville, Md., Oct. 3 – Barbara Corcoran is an American Business woman who started a real estate brokerage business at the age of 23. Famous for her TV personality on ABC’s Shark Tank as an entrepreneur and judge, she credits her determination and drive to her childhood diagnosis of dyslexia.

“When you cannot pronounce the other words that other kids are reading readily and the kids are laughing at you or are shouting the wrong letter to you, or the wrong syllable to you, it’s as painful as a child that I have never gotten over it. Honest to God, I’m sure of that. And so, when I got out of school, I really decided that I’m going to prove once and for all that I am not stupid,” she said in an interview with Spectrum News NY1.

Hailing from Edgewater, New Jersey, Corcoran comes from a large family and is the second eldest of ten children, which taught her to interact with different personalities. In an interview with The New York Times she said: “Everybody’s got to mesh, so you get training early on for getting along with people. It’s a great advantage.”

[continue reading…]

Richard Branson

Rockville, Md., Oct. 3 – Richard Branson always has had a “go getter attitude” in life, even when it comes to his dyslexia.

“Dyslexia is a kind of disability, but actually it’s an opportunity if you turn it into such,” he said during the SkyBridge Capital’s SALT Conference in Las Vegas.

As a child, Branson struggled in school with his dyslexia, failing at the all-boy school Scaitcliffe. When he was 13, he transferred to the Stowe school, a boarding school in Buckinghamshire, England. His struggles in school did not get any better, so at the age of 16, he dropped out of school.

This led to the beginning of his entrepreneur career; he started a magazine that was made by and for students. Called Student, the first edition sold an estimated 8,000 advertisements, enabling him to give out the first 50,000 copies for free.

[continue reading…]

Spotlight on FUBU’s Daymond John

“I see the world in a different way than most people and for me, that’s been a positive thing.” – Daymond John

Rockville, Md., Oct. 2 – Growing up, Daymond John struggled in elementary school, where he was diagnosed with a general “learning disability” without being provided many resources or support. Today, John boasts unimaginable success as a multimillionaire and entrepreneur as the co-founder and CEO of FUBU and a shark on The Shark Tank.

John credits his dyslexia with setting him on his path to entrepreneurial success. “I see the world in a different way than most people and for me that’s been a positive thing,” he said in an interview with AOL.

When John went to school in the 1970’s, the public still lacked information on dyslexia, so children with the disability were given a general diagnosis of a learning disability, like John was. His math and science skills were exceptional, but his reading and writing grades were below average. The entrepreneur was anxious about his difficulty reading and writing until 1999, when he finally saw a medical professional who diagnosed him as dyslexic.

“It was like a light bulb went off. I finally understood why I struggled the way I did,” John said in an interview with AOL.

[continue reading…]

#RespectTheAbility Campaign:

Spotlight on Ernst & Young (EY)’s Co-Founder Arthur Young

Rockville, Md., Oct. 2 – Located at 5 Times Square, the red letters of Ernst & Young LLP (EY) glow on the side of its New York City offices. It’s been said that if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere; and if you have an office in Times Square, in the heart of the city, you’ve truly arrived. That’s the global headquarters of EY, which was co-founded by Arthur Young. Trained as a lawyer, Arthur was deaf with low vision and he wasn’t able to comfortably practice. He turned to finance and the new field of accounting to build his career. His “disability” drove him to innovation and entrepreneurship, which played a pivotal role in the development of EY.

EY is where some of the most talented individuals from across the globe come together to offer services that have turned the organization into an international success, with offices in more than 150 different countries employing more than 230,000 people. A largely unknown factor in EY’s success is the example instilled by founding partner Arthur Young, who because of his disabilities adapted to learn how to think outside of the box. Over the years, EY has continued this trend of hiring the best talent, no matter what package that talent comes in.

By focusing on inclusion across the board, EY has opened the organization to a wide range of talented people, who contribute a wide range of ideas, which has ultimately resulted in tremendous success for the organization. As a result of its inclusiveness efforts, EY was selected by RespectAbility and Positive EXPOSURE, two nonprofit organizations working to enable people with disabilities to be seen for the strong abilities they bring to the table, as the first organization featured when the #RespectTheAbility campaign began.

[continue reading…]