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30 Disability Leaders We are Celebrating Today (and Everyday)

Announcing the 2020 D-30 Disability Impact List #D30DisList on the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Diversability

Diversability

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rectangular graphic with a charcoal background. In gold block text, “The D-30 Disability Impact List”. Below, a gold bar with black text, “2020 honorees”. Collage of the headshots of the 30 honorees.

Today, on the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Diversability announced the 2020 D-30 Disability List, honoring the unique accomplishments of 30 disability leaders globally.

In May 2020, we made an open call for nominations to this inaugural list and after receiving almost 400 nominations for almost 150 disability leaders, the D-30 Selection Committee helped us highlight the work of 30 individuals with disabilities. We know that this list is not comprehensive of all the disabled people doing great work, but we hope that this can be a catalyst for continuing to advance disability inclusion, leadership, and representation at all levels.

“That impact is unconditional that you’ve already made. And reading all of these stories, all around the globe, so many different disabilities, so many intersections of identities, my heart swelled reading these and realizing how much people are just triumphant, and how much disability creates so much beauty in the human spirit and so much resilience and strength and power. And they are already possibility models for people in their lives and people like myself witnessing that.”

A message from D-30 Selection Committee member Alex Locust to all those nominated, as recorded on a special episode of the Tiffany & Yu podcast

2020 D-30 Disability Impact List honorees by the numbers

  • Age range: 14-83 (median age: 38)
  • Number of countries represented: 11
  • Gender identity: 63% female, 27% male, 10% nonbinary
  • Black: 33%, non-Black people of color: 47%, LGBTQIA+: 27%
On a black background, a gold circle centered in the middle with the white Diversability logo and black silhouettes of people with mixed disabilities. Below, curved to meet the circle, white text reads, “#D30DisList”. Surrounding the circle is a grid of photos of the honorees.
On a black background, a gold circle centered in the middle with the white Diversability logo and black silhouettes of people with mixed disabilities. Below, curved to meet the circle, white text reads, “#D30DisList”. Surrounding the circle is a grid of photos of the honorees.

Meet the 2020 D-30 Disability Impact List

(in alphabetical order by first name)

  1. Abha Khetarpal (she/her) – Counselor | India
  2. Annet Babirye (she/her) – Social Worker | Uganda
  3. Brenda Mudzimu (she/her) – Executive Director, Miss Albinism Zimbabwe Trust | Zimbabwe
  4. Cara Elizabeth Yar Khan (she/her) – Entrepreneurial Humanitarian | USA
  5. Caroline Casey (she/her) – Founder, The Valuable 500 | Ireland
  6. Catalina Devandas-Aguilar (she/her) – Special Rapporteur, United Nations OHCHR | Costa Rica
  7. Dhanya Ravi (she/her) – Freelance Content Writer and Disability Evangelist | India
  8. Dior Vargas (she/her) – Latina Feminist Mental Health Activist | USA
  9. Donna Lee (she/her) – RID (NIC) Certified American Sign Language Interpreter | USA
  10. Florence Ndagire (she/her) – Lawyer and International Disability Rights Consultant | Uganda
  11. Garrison Redd (he/him) – Founder, The Garrison Redd Project | USA
  12. Haidi Peng (he/him) – Artist | China
  13. Ikponwosa Ero (she/her) – U.N. Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism | Nigeria
  14. James LeBrecht (he/him) – Filmmaker | USA
  15. Jennifer White-Johnson (she/her) – Professor of Visual Communication at Bowie State University | USA
  16. Jennison Asuncion (he/him) – Head of Accessibility Engineering Evangelism, LinkedIn | Canada
  17. Jordan Reeves (she/her) – Disability Advocate and Author | USA
  18. Kenny Fries (he/him) – Writer | Germany
  19. Kiran Nayak. B (he/him) – Disability Rights Advocate | India
  20. Leslie Irby (she/her) – Disability Advocate | USA
  21. Michael Hess (he/him) – Executive Director/Founder, Blind Institute of Technology | USA
  22. Milagros (Millie) Gonzalez (she/her) – Public Relations Professional | USA
  23. Namulinda Esther (she/her) – Founder/Chairperson, Support Organization of Parents with Disabilities | Uganda
  24. Roberta Louise Francis Watene (Robbie) (she/her) – Co-Founder/Director, The Lucy Foundation | New Zealand
  25. Ryan J. Haddad (he/him) – Actor and Playwright | USA
  26. Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu (they/them, she/her) – Executive Director, Project LETS | USA
  27. Teresa Danso-Danquah (she/her) – Manager, NextGen Initiatives at Disability:IN | USA
  28. Wendy Lu (she/her) – News Editor and Disability Reporter, HuffPost | USA
  29. Wil A. Alveno (he/him) – Disability Advocate | USA
  30. ziggy farrow walker (they/them) – Community Organizer | USA

We also recognized the impact of Stacey Park Milbern (1987-2020) as an in memoriam honoree. Learn more about Stacey in the Disability Visibility Project and the New York Times.

A special thank you to our D-30 Selection Committee Members

(in order by first name)

  1. Alex Locust, he/she/they – Counselor, Workshop Facilitator, Glamputee | USA
  2. Amornthep Sachamuneewongse (Sanju), he/him – Founder, Sati App | Thailand
  3. Emon Shakoor, she/her – Founder & CEO, Blossom Accelerator | Saudi Arabia
  4. Erin Brown, she/her – Disability Inclusion Consultant | The Bahamas
  5. Joe Vasquez, he/him – Venture Partner, Revel Partners | USA
  6. Lani Dickinson, she/her – Freelance Artist, Teacher, and Salesforce Administrator Trainee | USA
  7. Tatiana Lee, she/her – Model, Actor, and Hollywood Inclusion Advocate | USA

The D-30 Disability Impact List was made possible by Diversability team members Katy Brennan and Alyssa Yam.

Learn more about the #D30DisList and D-30 honorees at http://mydiversability.com/d30.

This post was originally published on July 26, 2020 at Diversability.