#AdvocacyMatters: Reflecting on Equity

October 17, 2025 / #AdvocacyMatters

Disability is an experience that knows no boundaries, cutting across different identities, geographic areas, socioeconomic status, and political persuasions. To make our work as complete and effective as possible, we strive to reach people with disabilities with what they need and where they are. We engage with communities throughout the state each year to set our organization’s goals and objectives, and we are led by a Board of Directors with lived disability experiences from all walks of life.

Last week I had the honor of joining a panel discussion hosted by the League of Women Voters, where community leaders considered what diversity, equity and inclusion really look like in our communities and our work.

These discussions helped me reflect on how interconnected these concepts have always been with disability.

Inclusion and equity are at the core of the disability rights movement. Prior to the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities had been excluded from full participation in society. The ADA represented a massive shift in equity for people with disabilities, requiring employers, government entities, and other organizations to provide equal access, including individualized accommodations. We must continue to advance these goals and protect these rights to access, inclusion, and equity.

This all comes together in our Vision: Voices Elevated, People Empowered, Equity Achieved. When we listen to what advocates say they need - and when their power is centered in decision-making spaces - we’ll begin to fully realize equity.

-Kerstin Sjoberg
President and CEO, Disability Rights Ohio