#AdvocacyMatters: New Year, New Vision
December 10, 2021 / #AdvocacyMatters
As we near another turn of the calendar, it’s important to pause, reflect, and focus on the challenges that lie ahead. Our work doesn’t happen on its own – it is informed, motivated, and overseen by a very special group of people… people whose experiences and backgrounds offer unique perspectives, unique voices, and unique direction. The life experiences of our DRO Board of Directors help to define and shape our work. One of the unique characteristics of DRO is the makeup of our board: Most have experienced life through the lens of a person with a disability or a relative of a person with a disability.
Earlier this year, we introduced you to our newest board members as they settled into their roles within the organization. At the outset of a new fiscal year, 6 new perspectives joined our 15-member Board of Directors. These fresh ideas, unique views, and diverse backgrounds are already helping to shape and inform our work. With the voice of a Bhutanese refugee, the spirit of a multi-lingual mental health advocate, and the perspective of a respected comedian, our work better adapts to and reflects the world – and needs – around us.
Read more about DRO Board Member Matt O’Nesti’s advocacy through comedy.
Read more about DRO Board Member Douglas Kidd’s advocacy after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
In wading through all the challenges that come along with leading a non-profit organization like ours, each board member’s unique story and background helps ensure that the core of our mission – advocating for the rights of Ohioans with disabilities – never slips from view. They offer the motivation and focus to push us through the good times, and the resiliency and resolve necessary to carry us through the challenges. While that calendar change looms near, the need for our advocacy carries on. The uniting factor between these unique perspectives is a shared belief that #AdvocacyMatters, and it’s through that lens that our next year of work will come into focus.