Event Description

This two-part webinar series will suggest organizational (internal) and programmatic (external) strategies to consider when approaching disability inclusion and accessibility in philanthropy. These presentations, featuring foundation staff with disabilities, will answer questions like, ‘how do I start the conversation about disability inclusion with managers/executive teams?’‘ what can I do to make our grant application and grant-making processes more accessible?’ and ‘what can we do so our entire organizations more inclusive of people with disabilities?’

Participants can expect the panelists to cover topics including accessibility as part of diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, the value of intersectional approaches to grantmaking, and actionable steps funders can take to address accessibility and disability inclusion in their philanthropic efforts. Please join us to learn more about how to address ableism in our workplaces and incorporate a disability lens into your organization and programs.

Series Goals:

  • Emphasize a “nothing about us, without us” philosophy and the importance of disability inclusion in organizational and programmatic practices.
  • Highlight the value of equitable and inclusive philanthropy practices and suggest ways for funders to make their processes more accessible.
  • Highlight the presence of disabilities within common issue areas and demonstrate intersectional approaches to grantmaking.
  • Direct participants to resources and information to further their education on the topics introduced.

You can register for the full series or the individual sessions of your choice. We recommend attending Session 1 along with any other individual sessions you choose, as it lays the groundwork for all session content. 

Session Info

It’s About Equity, Not Kindness: Accessible and Inclusive Grantmaking Practices | December 6, 2022, | 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm 

Following the first webinar, this 60-minute panel discussion will illustrate the value of accessibility and disability inclusion as part of intersectional and equitable grantmaking practices. Panel members, including Ability Centralstaffand representatives from other disability funders, will outline some of the inequitable practices of traditional nonprofit and philanthropy structures, suggest ways in which funders can adjust their practices to be more inclusive of people with disabilities, make connections to tenets of the disability justice movement, and discuss how any funder can incorporate disability-led projects to their issue area. This presentation will be great for program officers, grant managers, entire philanthropy teams, or anyone interested in incorporating disability inclusion in their funding practices. Participants will leave with actionable steps their organization can take to improve accessibility in their grantmaking processes, as well as resources to find additional information.

Speakers

Profile photo of Nikki Brown-Booker

Nikki Brown-Booker

Borealis Philanthropy

Nikki Brown-Booker (she/her) is the Program Officer for the Disability Inclusion Fund at Borealis Philanthropy. As a person with a disability and a biracial woman, she has devoted her work to advancing rights at the intersection of disability justice and racial justice. The daughter of a domestic worker who immigrated from the Philippines and a professional chef and a long-term SEIU member, Nikki was taught from a young age that justice is a human right. Nikki was the Executive Director for Easy Does It Emergency Services, a nonprofit that provides emergency services for people with disabilities and seniors in Berkeley, California. She has a master’s degree in clinical psychology and is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Nikki continues to organize with Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, and helped pass the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.
Profile photo of Ryan Easterly

Ryan Easterly SCG Member

Executive Director, WITH Foundation

Ryan Easterly (he/him) serves as Executive Director of the WITH Foundation. An experienced grantmaker, strategist, and advocate, Ryan lives and works at the intersections of race, class, disability, and sexual orientation and is driven by a desire to effect meaningful change. Before joining WITH, he served on its Board of Directors, which advanced his commitment to disability justice and the need for broader access to comprehensive healthcare for adults with developmental disabilities. Ryan has worked in the federal sector and within community outreach and advocacy efforts. He is a co-founder and previous director of Northern California Community Relations at MySupport, Inc. As manager of the National Youth Transitions Initiative for The HSC Foundation, a Washington, DC operating foundation of a health system for children and young adults with complex medical needs, he provided funding and programmatic support to a grantee and collaborative network of 70+ organizations serving young people with disabilities and young veterans. He also worked at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and was appointed by President Obama to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities in 2016.

Ryan regularly advises on issues such as community participatory grantmaking, inclusive philanthropy, leadership development, employment, and healthcare impacting communities of color, the foster care system, and the LGBTQ+ community. He is a member of the President's Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy, the Disability & Philanthropy Forum Steering Committee, and co-chairs Exponent Philanthropy’s Disability Funders Peer Circle. He was also recently appointed by President Biden to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. Ryan hails from Alabama and often wonders when he will find his next glass of sweet tea.
Profile photo of Jessie Galloway

Jessie Galloway

Program Officer, Poet and Educator

Jessie Galloway is a published poet and educator with 17 years of nonprofit development and program management experience. As a person with disabilities that has a sister with disabilities, she is passionate about working in philanthropy to direct funds supporting communication access for the community. Jessie believes that self-expression is vital. She believes her life’s work is to ensure more people have the opportunity to express themselves. She facilitates creative writing classes with elders to tell their own stories through Litquake Foundation and writes grants and fosters community partnerships to ensure more multi-marginalized LGBTQ+ writers are uplifted as Development Director of the award-winning LGBTQ+ literary press, Foglifter. She holds a B.S. in Psychology, an M.A. in English, and an M.F.A. in Writing. She came to Ability Central in 2017, following her work as a Research Grants Administrator for the Neuroscience.

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