Kendra Gottsleben
A peach gradient background with navy text has “The D-30 Disability Impact List” at the top centered above “2022 Honoree” which is in between two laurels. The words “Kendra Gottsleben she/her/hers United States” is to the left of a picture of Kendra, which fills the right. Kelsey is a female who has glasses and shoulder length hair, smiling with a hand on her right hip. At the bottom, “Diversability, #D30DisList.” fills the left corner.
Kendra Gottsleben (She/her/hers)
Disability/Rare Disease Advocate and Founder/Executive Director of Rare by Design
United States
Kendra is the Marketing Communications Specialist for the Center for Disabilities, a lifelong advocate and educator for rare diseases and disabilities, as well as involved on numerous local, state, and national boards and committees. She is an author, and speaker and has received prestigious accolades; including the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Individual with a Disability in 2020. Kendra’s leadership, drive, and passion are making a much-needed, significant, and progressive mark on the Midwest. Her non-profit's fashion show, The Style Show: A Runway to Empower, was as much of a prime example of intersectionality, as it was a physical display of her heart. The models were of all ages, sexual orientations, abilities, ethnicities, religions, and statuses. She is a true champion for all of the things that make us rare, extraordinary, and human. As a rare and extraordinary human herself, she facilitates, empowers, leads inspires, and disrupts norms in all of the best ways possible.
Kendra started her own non-profit, Rare by Design, dedicated to raising awareness of inclusion and proper representation in our region, as well as being a resource for individuals with rare diseases and disabilities. She launched her inaugural fundraiser (and lifetime dream) of a fully-inclusive fashion show, representative of TRUE diversity from a tangible, local perspective. It was the first event of its kind in Sioux Falls, as disability is often left out/overlooked when addressing diversity.
We asked Kendra if she’d like to add anything else to her accomplishments, she stated: “The nonprofit in which I started in March of 2021 (Rare by Design) held our first The Style Show this past May. The Style Show: A Runway to Empower featured models of varied abilities, ages, genders, sexual orientations (LGBTQIA), races and diverse body types. One goal of this event was to demonstrate what true diversity can look like. See link to the recap video of our event. https://youtu.be/QshXsVFsDaM”