Announcing the 2022 D-30 Disability Impact List #D30DisList During Disability Pride Month

Today, Thursday, July 21, 2022, Diversability announced the 2022 D-30 Disability Impact List, honoring the accomplishments of 30 disability leaders across 12 countries. Launched in 2020, the D-30 Disability Impact List is Diversability’s annual list honoring 30 disabled leaders globally.

In May 2022, we made an open call for nominations to the 3rd annual D-30 list. After receiving nearly 250 nominations for 125 disability leaders, our D-30 Selection Committee helped us finalize our list to 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.

2022 D-30 Disability Impact List honorees by the numbers:

  • Age range: 13-46 (median age: 33)

  • Number of countries represented: 12

  • Gender identity: 50% Woman, 43% Man, 7% nonbinary

  • Black: 46%, non-Black people of color: 33%, LGBTQIA+: 26%

  • Disability status: 100% disabled, 83% with non-apparent disabilities

Meet the 2022 D-30 Disability Impact List (in alphabetical order by first name):

  1. Ahouty Kouakou (he/him), Founder and Executive Director, Action et Humanisme, Côte d’Ivoire

  2. David Ernesto Reyes Molina (he/him), Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advocate, El Salvador

  3. Ekta Bhyan (she/her), Disability advocate, India

  4. Elbert Joseph (he/they), Deaf artist, USA 

  5. Emily Ladau (she/her), Disability rights activist and author of Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally, USA 

  6. Eric Harris (he/him), Director of Public Policy, Disability Rights California, USA 

  7. Helena Lourdes Donato-Sapp (she/her), Youth Scholar, Youth Activist, USA 

  8. Imani Barbarin (she/her), Disability Advocate | Crutches and Spice, USA 

  9. Jermaine Greaves (he/him), Founder of @blackdisabledlivesmatters, USA 

  10. Jill Nicole Moore (she/her), Inclusive Play Specialist with a playground manufacturer, USA 

  11. Kartik Sawhney (he/him), Co-founder, I-Stem, USA 

  12. Katrina Martin (she/her), CEO & Founder, Bridges Learning System LLC, USA 

  13. Kelsey Lindell (she/her), Disability Advocate & DEI consultant, USA

  14. Kendra Gottsleben (she/her), Disability/Rare Disease Advocate and Founder/Executive Director of Rare by Design, USA 

  15. Lachi (she/her), President & Founder of RAMPD, USA 

  16. Luciana Viegas (she/her), Autistic activist, mother of an autistic child and black woman creator of the movement Black Disabled Lives Matter Brazil, Brasil 

  17. Matthew Pierri (he/him), CEO & Founder, Sociability, United Kingdom

  18. Mickey Rowe (they/them/he/him), Author, Disability Advocate, Founder, Theatre Artist, USA 

  19. Mike Shoreman (he/him), Disability Advocate and Entrepreneur , Canada

  20. Muhammad Haseeb Abbasi, (they/she/he), Disability advocate , Pakistan

  21. Natalie Trevonne (she/her), Disability advocate for the fashion industry focusing on disability Representation and Accessibility, USA 

  22. Nicole Kohr (she/her), Cystic Fibrosis Patient and Advocate; CEO & Founder, Colie Creations Inc, USA 

  23. Oparaku Onyejelam Jaja (he/him), Disability policy making, advocacy and empowerment, Nigeria

  24. Pawan Ghimire (he/him), x, Chairman of Cricket Association of the Blind, Nepal, founder and promoter of cricket for the blind women in Nepal, Nepal

  25. Puneet Singh Singhal (he/him), Founder of a non-profit organisation working towards normalising speech disorders and an Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Advocate, India

  26. Tameka Citchen-Spruce (she/her), Disability Advocate, Independent Film Producer and Screenwriter, USA 

  27. Theophilus Michael Odaudu (he/him), Disability advocate and grantmaker, Nigeria

  28. Tia Elizabeth Semi (she/her), CEO and founder of Funknsoul 97, Australia

  29. Winfred wanja kirumia (she/her), Community based trainer, Kenya 

  30. Zane David Landin (they/he), CEO & Founder, PositiveVibes Magazine and Landing Dreams PR, USA

A special thank you to our D-30 Selection Committee Members who are also former D-30 Honorees (in order of first name):

  1. Abha Khetarpal (she/her), Counselor and Sexuality Trainer, India

  2. Brittanie Richardson (she/her), Executive Director of Art and Abolition, Kenya

  3. Dom Kelly (he/him), Georgia Finance Director at Abrams for Governor, USA

  4. Iregi Mwenja (he/him), CEO, Psychiatric Disability Organization, Kenya

  5. Kudakwashe Dube (he/him), CEO, Africa Disability Alliance, South Africa

  6. Natasha Graves (she/her), CEO and Founder of Vacayability, USA

  7. Dr. Robbie Francis Watene (she/her), Senior Researcher, Donald Beasley Institute; co-founder and Director, The Lucy Foundation, New Zealand

Learn more about the 2022 #D30DisList and D-30 honorees at http://mydiversability.com/​​2022-d30-honorees 

2021 D-30 Impact List

2020 D-30 Impact List

About Diversability LLC: Diversability® is an award-winning community business to elevate disability pride through disability community, visibility, and engaged allyship. Since our founding in 2009 as a campus club by Tiffany Yu, Diversability® has grown its digital ecosystem to over 60,000, hosted over 100 events to move the conversation forward in disability inclusion, and honored 30 disabled leaders annually through the D-30 Disability Impact List. Having been actively involved in the Disability Interest Forum at Goldman Sachs and co-founding Bloomberg’s Disability Employee Resource Group (ERG), Tiffany started Diversability LLC as a Disability Employee Resource Group (ERG)/affinity group that exists outside of a company. We have worked with a variety of corporate partners on better understanding disability, ableism, and allyship in the workplace, including Hearst, Adobe, Weil, The RealReal, Paradigm, and more.

Arielle Dance