Goodbye 2023: Highlights from the Year
By Katherine Lewis, Head of Content, Diversability
As 2023 comes to an end, we at Diversability want to reflect and thank you for being a part of our journey.
Our 100% disabled team works diligently to elevate disability pride. Our online communities, content, events, and partnerships offer us the chance to build community, amplify the disability community, highlight disability issues, and advocate for inclusion.
Here are a few highlights from this year's efforts:
Our communities are 6,900+ members strong.
Members of the disability community were paid almost $40,000 directly through opportunities that we curated.
Our digital ecosystem grew from 66,000 at the start of the year to 82,000+ in December, surpassing 30k followers on Instagram and 15k followers on LinkedIn.
Our original Instagram guides and posts, created with an emphasis on education, advocacy, and awareness, reached more than 188k accounts over the year.
We held 64 events exclusively for members of the Diversability Leadership Collective (DLC) members, our membership community to advance disability leadership and build disability power.
30 people were recipients of a sponsored monthlong membership to the Diversability Leadership Collective thanks to the Frazier Fund, a mutual-aid effort by DLC member Nico Meyering.
We held 18 events that were open to the public, including 9 of our signature Diversability Unplugged events, which welcomed over 1,100 attendees.
We published 17 blog posts, featuring insights from over 40 members of the Diversability community. Our blog pieces were syndicated on MSN and Medium and were published in Women Enabled International, The Mighty, Saybrook University’s UNBOUND magazine, NAMI Advocate Magazine, and more.
Diversability® Unplugged
This year's lineup for our signature Diversability Unplugged was incredible. We started the year with our January event on Gen Z Advocacy. Our guests empowered us with their insights and reminded us how strong the future of our community is.
We continued throughout the year with events featuring topics such as Disabled Parenting, representation in the entertainment industry, and the power of the disability vote in partnership with REV UP.
We celebrated the LGBTQIA+ community with our June event, highlighted a number of student advocates with our event in partnership with the Georgetown University Disability Cultural Center, and ended the year with an important conversation on the intersection of disability and the veteran experience.
Follow us on social media @diversability or our Eventbrite to get updates on our 2024 dates and lineup. A huge thank you to all our speakers, attendees, and participants across these 9 Unplugged events for making them a huge success!
The 2023 D-30 Disability Impact List
In celebration of Disability Pride Month in July, we honored 30 Disabled leaders making an impact around the globe with our 4th annual 2023 D-30 Disability Impact List. We also honored Judy Heumann, widely regarded as “the mother” of the disability rights movement, who passed away earlier this year. We received over 270 nominations for 168 incredible disabled leaders from 36 countries. We are incredibly grateful to our outstanding D-30 Selection Committee (and former D-30 honorees): Ahouty Kouakou, Helena Donato-Sapp, Luciana Viegas, Vashkar Bhattacharjee, Puneet Singh Singhal, Winfred Wanja Kirumia, and Zane Landin.
We’re looking forward to our fifth D-30 Disability Impact List in 2024, with nominations set to open in spring 2024.
Partnerships & Recognition
This year, we were honored to partner with the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)’s REV UP, the Georgetown University Disability Cultural Center, and Walmart.
We also introduced our audiences to additional partners like the NAMED Advocates, Chronicon, RAMPD, How To Dance In Ohio - the Broadway musical, and offered our members access to group coaching through Medley.
We released our first white paper in partnership with Gauge, Disability Community Brand Allyship & Engagement, featuring the perspective of over 200 disabled people and allies. We provided support and guidance on the Campbell’s commercial, Spoonful of Joy. And we started our term serving in an advisory capacity on the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Working Group on Local Hire and Workforce Development.
We were honored to have our work recognized by the Rehabilitation International Centennial Award for Significant Contribution, the Stand Together Foundation Catalyst Program, the M&M'S® “Flipping the Status Quo” program, and the Shorty Awards x Wave Elevate Creatives Fund.
As an entirely disabled-run and disabled-led company, thank you for supporting disability pride this year.
If you are interested in partnering with us in 2024, you can learn more at https://mydiversability.com/collaborate. If you’d like to support our work, make a tax-deductible donation at https://buy.stripe.com/00g8yn32JgzTejK4gi.
We are excited to continue to elevate disability pride in 2024 and beyond.