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Category: Disability Inclusion

Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo with photos of Sunday Parker, a White female with medium-length blonde hair and cream sleeveless blouse, and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with blonde and red hair, glasses, red shirt, and black jacket.

| 39 min

Everyone’s Role In Creating Accessible Communities With Sunday Parker

In Episode 109, Sunday Parker, Access Technology Program Manager at Microsoft, joins Melinda in a conversation about everyone’s role in creating accessible and inclusive communities for people with disabilities. Sunday describes what physical and digital accessibility look like and the importance of continuing to incorporate digital accessibility into social media platforms, particularly as they evolve and change. She shares the value of interdependence in communities and how allies can amplify the voices of disability advocates. She also talks about her work in providing non-profits with the resources they need to better support their disability constituents.

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Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo and photos of Catarina Rivera, light-skinned Latine woman with long brown wavy hair, hoop earrings, a black and beige wavy striped top, and a beige jacket; John Marble, a White man with blond hair and a brown beard, a black t-shirt with a small white triangle pattern, and a navy zip-up jacket; and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with blonde and red hair, glasses, red shirt, and black jacket.

Creating True Disability Inclusion In The Workplace

In Episode 100 (recorded live), Melinda is joined by an incredible panel of disability advocates and experts to discuss how individuals and employee resource groups (ERGs) can drive important conversations and actions that create true disability inclusion in the workplace. Catarina Rivera and John Marble share how managers can build inclusive team environments by embracing accessible design for all and being proactive in providing accommodations at work. They also discuss the importance of supporting self-advocacy, normalizing disability, addressing intersectionality, and centering people with disabilities when working towards belonging.

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Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo and photos of Dr. Victor Pineda, a man sitting in an electric wheelchair with dark hair, a white button-down, and black suit jacket; and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with blonde and red hair, glasses, red shirt, and black jacket.

How To Create Disability Inclusion, Accessibility, & Equity Through Policy

In Episode 98, Dr. Victor Pineda, President & Founder of The Victor Pineda Foundation / World ENABLED, joins Melinda in a discussion on his work to create disability inclusion, accessibility, and equity through a comprehensive and integrated approach to policy. They discuss the importance of thought leadership, culture change, and training programs to address the barriers to inclusive innovation in communities and organizations. They also explore top strategies for companies and individuals to build a disability-inclusive workplace.

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Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo and photos of Eleanor Lisney, an East Asian woman with short brown hair, glasses, a woven hat, black t-shirt, and red and white plaid flannel; Eddie Ndopu, a Black man with short curly black hair and mustache, light grey turtleneck, and black button-down with abstract green and blue floral pattern; and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with red hair, glasses, and orange shirt holding a white mug behind a laptop.

Addressing Disability & Intersectionality Across Global Teams

In Episode 93, Melinda is joined by visionary activists for disability and social justice, Eleanor Lisney and Eddie Ndopu. Throughout the live recording, they discuss the importance of having leaders who cultivate empathy and inclusion for global teams to work better together across different cultures, genders, disabilities, and intersectionalities. They share how we can be better allies against systemic ableism to support disability and social justice worldwide. They also explore the first step that organizations can take to align their strategic priorities and objectives with the Sustainable Development Goals and promote sustainable economic growth, inclusivity, and accessibility for everyone in the workplace.

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Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo with the Empovia logo and photos of Tim Goldstein, a White cis male with grey hair and facial hair who is wearing a white shirt and smiling at the camera, and host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with red hair, glasses, and an orange shirt holding a white mug behind a laptop.

The Power Of Neurodiversity In The Workplace With Tim Goldstein

In Episode 74, Tim Goldstein, Neurodiverse Communication Specialist, joins Melinda to explore what it means to have a neurodistinct team. They discuss the breadth of neurodiverse experiences, how we can be good allies to neurodistinct colleagues, and the significant benefits of having neurodiversity in the workplace.

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Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo with the Empovia logo and photos of Emily Ladau; a White woman who is wearing glasses and has curly brown hair pulled back halfway, with the rest framing her face. She is wearing a black dress dotted with red flowers and green leaves. She is sitting in a power wheelchair, facing the camera, and smiling. One of her hands is resting in her lap and the other hand is resting on the joystick of her wheelchair, turned so that a tattoo of a peacock feather is visible on her inner arm; and host Melinda Briana Epler; a White woman with red hair, glasses, and orange shirt holding a white mug behind a laptop.

Demystifying Disability With Emily Ladau

In Episode 59, Emily Ladau, Disability Rights Activist, Author, and Communications Consultant at Words I Wheel By, introduces the topic of disability through an insightful discussion with Melinda on systemic ableism, disability history, representation, and rights. Emily explains why it’s alright to use the term ‘disabled’, how accommodation and inclusion should be viewed upon, and how we can build allyship within the disability community.

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Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo with the Empovia logo and photos of host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with red hair and glasses, and Victor Calise, a White man with short hair, tie, and suit.

How To Make Disability Accommodation & Inclusion The New Working Norm With Victor Calise

Join Change Catalyst Founder & CEO Melinda Briana Epler with Commissioner Victor Calise, on discussing how to make disability accommodation the new norm in the working environment.

We talked about Commissioner Victor Calise’s disability journey and how he turned it into a strength, becoming one of the most innovative advocates for disability. In this rich conversation, we learned about:

  • The forward-thinking work NY is doing in collaboration with other cities to build inclusive working environments.
  • The need for ‘accommodation’ of the disabled community and how Covid-19 has helped accelerate the workplace’s transformation.
  • The impact of outdated regulations on the community
  • How we should not separate disability from the other movement fighting for a more inclusive working environment.
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Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo with the Empovia logo and photos of host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with red hair and glasses, and KR Liu, a White woman with short blonde hair and black jacket.

Opening Doors For The Disabled Community With KR Liu

Join Change Catalyst Founder & CEO Melinda Briana Epler with KR Liu, Head of Brand Accessibility at Google in conversation about how we can make the working environment more inclusive for people with disabilities.

We talked about KR Liu’s incredible journey to becoming an advocate, based on her own story of struggling in the workplace with dealing with hearing loss.

We learned:

  • The importance of speaking up and making the disabled community part of every department in a company.
  • The dramatic statistic with regards to the representation of the disabled community in the workplace and even more for the Black disabled community
  • The simple actions you can put in place to help to make this community more visible. 1 in 4 people experience disability at some points including permanent, temporary or situational.

Learn more about KR Liu www.krliu.com/

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Leading With Empathy & Allyship promo with the Empovia logo and photos of host Melinda Briana Epler, a White woman with red hair and glasses, and Tiffany Yu, an Asian woman with brown hair and beige shawl.

| 39 min

Advocating For People With Disabilities With Tiffany Yu

Join Change Catalyst Founder & CEO Melinda Briana Epler with Tiffany Yu, CEO & Founder at Diversability to discuss ways to be an effective ally and advocate for people with a wide diversity of disabilities.

In this episode, we talk about Tiffany’s disability origin story, and her path to growing into her disability identity. We speak a bit about #NoBodyIsDisposable and what people with disabilities are experiencing during COVID19. Tiffany shares her experience as a person with intersectional identities as an Asian disabled woman, we discuss the significance of the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and go over disability identity language. And we go over many ways that leaders can better lead with empathy and allyship for people with disabilities.

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