Newly Appointed CEO of DRA Discusses Mission

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone in the United States and around the world today. Welcome to the show. We got a great special show today with a great guest. So exciting. And special shout out to Yoshiko. We love you, Yoshiko. Just letting you know that every show. And a special shout out also to my good friends in Japan, Richard Roberts with the State Department. He is so awesome. And get ready, the Embassy, State Department, The people in Okinawa in Japan are going to be on my radio show again. So keep your eye out for that. And Gangneung in South Korea— Gangneung, you got to be next. We got to get you on the show. I've been there twice and it was just truly so exciting and an honor to be there with him. And Cheryl Harris from Tunisia. Only a few weeks ago, she was on from Tunisia, from the embassy. If you missed that, you've got to catch that show. And Veniamin from Kazakhstan. Hello, Veniamin. So thank you all. And I got to tell you, we have listeners, as you can see, around the world and in China, many. And I just want to say keep on keeping on, keep on telling other people about this show, because when you do that, that is how we obtain quality of life for all people living with disabilities. I couldn't do any of this without Highmark, who has been the lead sponsor over the past 5 years. And let me just tell you, with Highmark, They do set the high mark for other companies to follow because we've now been on 18 years. Couldn't do it without them and other companies that have supported us along the way. AudioEye peoples and Wells Fargo. So thank you all so much. Well, I told you we have a special treat. Oh, we have a special treat because we have a famous person on today. We have on the new the new President and CEO of Disability Rights Advocates, Kathy Martinez. And when you say that name, Kathy, in the disability rights community, everyone knows who you are talking about. And it is just so awesome to have Kathy, who is a great leader, and also I'm so blessed to have as a friend. Kathy, how are you? First. How are you today?

I'm having a great day, and thanks for, for letting me be on your show. It's always a privilege, and I'd like to give my own personal shout out to Yoshiko for being such an amazing ally, supporter, friend, and just all-around fabulous human being.

Oh, she is, and I know she'll be thrilled. She listens to every show. And just so you know, when you— when we say that to her, she says back to the, uh, wherever she's listening to this from, the computer, wherever, she says, "Hello back to you!" And you know she does. When she told me she does, I know that she does. Uh, well, Kathy, it's— it is an honor to have you on the show today. You're such a powerhouse. And since, as you can see now, the 18 years have passed, we have listeners around the world. I want all of them to know about you. So, how about if you start by, you know, giving them some history on you, your life, a child who lived with blindness, and then at the end, what led you to become an advocate? Because I always say, there are many people with disabilities,, but not everyone chooses to be an advocate as you did. So, Kathy, I'll turn it over to you.

Thank you, Joyce Bender. Well, as you said, I am a person who's blind. I was born blind quite a while back. I have to say I'm old, in my 60s, early 60s, but 60s nevertheless. I was born to a family of Latino parents, and When I was born, of course, they had no idea I would be blind, but more to the point, they had never really dealt with any kind of a disability unless it was with an elderly relative. So, I was born, and then 2 years later, my sister Peggy was born, who was also blind. We are the 2 middle of 6 children, so we come from a very large Latino family. My parents, we were very lucky to have parents that expected us to succeed, expected us to contribute. You know, I tell the story of my father who insisted that I learn how to mow a lawn. And, you know, in those days, fortunately— Wow. In those days, fortunately, they were push mowers, not power mowers. I still have all fingers and toes, but my parents really expected us to contribute. So, it was assumed that we would do chores, much to our chagrin. It was assumed that we would go to school and get educated. At that time, the School for the Blind was far away from where we lived, and so my parents insisted that we be mainstreamed. And so, Peggy and I were one of the first blind folks in our area to go to mainstream school. And I bring that up because I like to talk about how kids are just amazing before they learn to hate or fear or be ableist or racist. They are just an amazing power of innovation and, and I would say collaboration. So when I was on this, on the playground during unstructured time, you know, the teachers weren't there to tell the kids what to do. And I will say that they figured out how to incorporate me and Peggy into playground activities. And I talk about this because In a way, it was such a natural form of accommodation. I was part of the deal, part of the team, part of the group, and they figured out how to weave me into projects. So, with that kind of grounding, you know, of course, at some point in my life, I realized that, you know, the world wasn't designed for me, and I would have to figure out other ways of of how to get things done, how to get from point A to point B, you know, how I was going to write a paper, how I was going to read a book. But, you know, I had a lot of help and mentors, and I was able to do that. You know, through high school, I became very politically active in the farm workers movement, and then, of course, the women's movement, and finally I found that this Disability Rights Movement after I moved up to the Bay Area. And to me, that was the first time I'd ever really known that you could feel proud to be a person with a disability. And I was just so drawn to the tenets of the Disability Rights Movement, even though it was a little different because culturally it was different. It was based in kind of middle-class values. But all in all, I was very drawn to the fact that that there was something called disability pride and that people with disabilities did have the right to live in society and contribute. So, I became a disability rights advocate because I felt that of all my identifying factors, including being a woman and being Latina and being gay, you know, I have lots of different different identities. I'm a parent of a son. Anyway, of all the factors, disability was the one that people reacted to the most. So it was, you know, and I was so amazed to find a group of people in the Bay Area, you know, who had a civil, like a sense of civil and human rights in terms of race and disability and, and gender identity. And, you know, I landed in the right place. Let me just say that. So I'll stop there.

Well, Kathy, as you've done all of this, do you, in your wildest dreams, did you ever as a child envision that you would be an appointee by the president in a position?

I never did. When I graduated from high school, you know, at the time you could be a telephone operator, a school teacher, or a rehabilitation counselor, and I was not tracked into any of those professions. My Rehab counselor helped to get me a job at a lock factory where I was a punch press operator in very dirty, dangerous work. And I don't think anybody would ever put a person with a disability in that kind of position today. But that's where I started. And actually, I was very proud of having that job because my goal was to get off SSI because I knew that I couldn't save any money if I stayed on SSI. So my goal was to get off SSI, but I was making such a minimum wage at that job that there was no way I would be able to save money there either. And it just wasn't what I wanted to do. But when I graduated from high school, that's what people who were disability professionals at the time thought that I could do, was work in a lock factory. So I never dreamed that I would be a presidential appointee, no.

Well, for people, listeners around the world and the United States, right? I say around the world because I know that, you know, in the United States, the power and prestige of the president of the United States. And when you have a new president, as we do right now with President Biden, there's a group called the transition team. And what they do is they nominate people for positions appointed by the president, positions where they will be appointed by the president of the United States. So I just want you to know how powerful that is. And Kathy was appointed in the Department of Labor, reporting up through to the Secretary of Labor, Assistant Secretary, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Disability Employment Policy. Do you know how powerful that is? That's why when she's going through where she worked and all these jobs, she was told you can only do this, I'm thinking, wow, she would have never envisioned from there to the Department of Labor and all those meetings at the White House and meeting with President Obama. Just such a powerful, prestigious opportunity. Kathy, who is known as still former Assistant Secretary, would you mind talking about that? First of all, what did that mean to to you, you know, how excited were you, and then what you did in that role.

Sure. So, let me go back and just talk about kind of how that happened, because, you know, after I was kind of channeled into the lock factory job, and then I left and moved to the Bay Area and found the disability rights movement, my passion has has been for many years economic justice and employment. I feel, and I still believe this, that, you know, that people with disabilities very often were stuck in a poverty trap because of low expectations. And so people assume that we want to live on benefits. Now, of course, benefits are very valuable for for people that need them. And of course, I'm not saying that we shouldn't have benefits, of course we should. But I, you know, as for me personally, you know, I really saw how living on benefits was very restricting, given that there's a means test. So, the work that I did previously to becoming an Assistant Secretary, A lot of it was around economic justice, anti-poverty work, how do you help people save. I was very happy when the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, the ABLE Act, passed because it was a way for people with disabilities to actually save money and accumulate some type of cushion. So my job before that was I was the director of the World Institute on Disability where we had a lot of economic programs for people with disabilities. We started a program called Proyecto Visión for Latinos with disabilities. And that— and so that— when I moved into being an Assistant Secretary, I thought that it was very important to start weaving the work of economic justice for people with disabilities with social justice movements. So, one of the projects that we, that we started was a project called Add Us In. And Add Us In, the goal of Add Us In was to work with minority-owned businesses and minority-owned business organizations to increase awareness around hiring people with disabilities and make the connection that, you know, among minority communities, the incidence of disability is higher. So I was very proud of that program. We worked with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and National Lesbian Gay Chamber of Commerce and Asian and women's. We worked with WeBank, you know, just numerous groups of people who were fighting for the right, you know, to increase the economic power for their communities, but also saying, hey, disability is also a part of your community, and we have to be more connected.

And what was it like being in that role?

Well, it was very interesting. I was able— we were able to give out some grants. A lot of, you know, I was very interested in the concept of supported employment where, you know, we're looking at significantly disabled people, getting them to work. Remember, I always say, if I lived up to people's expectations, I'd be making brooms still, right? So, you know, my goal was to prove that people with very significant disabilities can work. And so, you know, we had our state leadership programs. I think we really made the point that, you know, If the workplace understands that everybody requires some sort of accommodations, not just people with disabilities, but, you know, nondisabled people go into their workplace expecting lots of things to be done and provided for them, like desks and chairs and computers and lights. And, you know, the idea was to show workplaces who are willing to hire people with disabilities that we all require accommodations. And, you know, when you're nondisabled, accommodations are just called standard operating practice. So, it was great to prove to, you know, to the world, I think, that, you know, we could get people with significant disabilities to work. We also were able to help President Obama establish Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. Which basically mandates that federal contractors strive for a 7% utilization goal for hiring people with disabilities. And that's really been a game changer. So I think we did a lot of good work. I mean, the work is not done, though, believe me. But what we had— I think we had a good run.

I think you did a great job, Kathy. I think, and I'm so proud of you. Thank you. And when I was saying, so what was it like to go to the White House to these parties? I mean, I know you, you, you didn't go to very many parties, just the holiday party, something of that nature. So we'll say meetings. What was it like to go to those meetings at the White House and meet President Obama?

Um, well, it was very structured, and, you know, he was very laid back. He was very nice to me. I'll tell you a story. Once, I was asked to go in to advise him on employment issues, and I was the only person with a disability, at least the only person who identified as having a disability, and we were in the Roosevelt Room around the table, and after the meeting was over, he asked us if we would come and take a picture in the Oval Office. And we did, and of course, you know, everybody rushed to be the one next to him, and I was, of course, the last one, you know, that kind of made it in at the very end of the picture. And after, you know, his folks dismissed everybody, he came up to me and said, "How about you and I take a picture?" Wow. And it was just so amazing. I mean, the fact that he noticed that I was kind of left in the dust, when everybody wanted to be next to him, I thought was so sensitive and incredible. And so I have this really nice picture of President Obama and me, you know, forever in my, you know, on my wall and in my phone and everywhere. And he really initiated that.

That is an awesome story, Kathy. That is an awesome story. And, you know, when you mentioned about being rooms before. So for all of you listeners, I started Bender Consulting Services, you know, my company where I find employment for people with disabilities, 26 years ago. So right the year in 1995, you know, when I started the company, it was in the following year I was invited by the assistant No, the Secretary of Labor, Johnny Butler, to attend this big event in Harrisburg that was, you know, talking about companies hiring people with disabilities. So I was seated at this table by this gentleman, and he said, well, how many employees do you have that you found employment for? And I said, oh, I have, you know, like 10 or so, because remember, now this is when I first started the company. And he looked at me, said, oh, ask me how many I have. I said, how many? 300. Wow. I'm thinking, why am I here and why is he not up there? And he said, yeah, I have all these blind people working for me making brooms. In other words, he was in some type of sheltered workshop.

Sheltered workshop.

Yeah. And I, and, and from that day on, I would tell my employees, especially those that were blind working for me, we're going to have one of those, you know, the circles with the line through it. We're going to have one of those with brooms. No brooms. But that's what Kathy means. That, that is actually how it was. And, you know, still today there are people that, you know, sadly, many people with disabilities unemployed that we have to keep working on. And, you know, I've always said to people, Kathy, you made quite the move because you went from, as you said, World Institute on Disability, Department of Labor, to corporate America with Wells Fargo. I'm wondering how difficult was that for you to go from the public to the private sector?

It was tough. I think it was one of the hardest years of my life because when you're an Assistant Secretary, you have an assistant, you have, you know, quite a large staff. You can ask them to help you with certain things. I lived, I was living I was literally in the disability bubble where people understood about accessibility. And, you know, if I needed something done with my computer, I could just ask, and people would understand what I meant. Now, I will say that I was very lucky when I went to Wells Fargo because I was welcomed with open arms. They did have somebody that understood screen readers. But I did not have an assistant when I started. I did not— I went from a group of about 10,000 people to a corporation which was 250,000 people. My job was to lead their disability and accessibility strategy. And Wells Fargo had done a lot by the time I got there, so I will not credit for everything. I can't, because, you know, first of all, I was one of many people that helped change, you know, Wells Fargo's physical, digital, and cultural accessibility. But when I first got there, I knew nothing about the financial services industry, very little. Steve Bartlett and I had written a paper expressing our desire that, you know, that the financial services industry be more accessible for for people with disabilities. But I had to really step up to the plate. I was completely out of my comfort zone. I was the only disabled person on the team. And that ended up being great. But it just starts out because people are a little uncomfortable and not sure what to say and didn't want to make mistakes. And, you know, they didn't want to say anything politically incorrect. So, it was a tough year, but it was worth every single second of toughness because I learned so much, and I think I was able to contribute. But it was not an easy year. It was not. I had to learn about financial services. I had to learn about marketing in a corporate setting. I had to learn much more about my own adaptive technology, you know, how to use it better. It was a year of learning and a year of stretch, of serious stretching.

Yeah, you know, I give you credit because that is a very hard move to make, just as you said. It's totally different. There is no comparison. And I know you did such a great job there. You really did. And now here we are in your new role, and we are going to talk about that in one moment. I just want to tell you once again one thing about Kathy. She is absolutely, absolutely 100% the real deal. You know what I mean? I mean, she lives it. She's not kidding. But anyway, we have a caller on the line, so we'll take a break and we'll be right back. I mean, talking about this, I think we have Maria on the line. Maria, are you there?

Hi Joyce, this is Maria Town.

Hello Maria, how are you?

I'm doing well.

How are you?

I am great, Maria. Maria, by the way, if you don't know her, this is another one. Say the name Maria. We all know who we're talking about. Maria Towne is the CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, and she is rocking it. But since I know you didn't call to talk to me, Maria, I'll bet you called to talk to our guest, Ms. Kathy Martinez.

Well, Joyce Bender, I will always call to talk to you, but I heard that Kathy was going to be on your show talking about her new role, and I just wanted to come on and say congratulations to Cathy, not only on her new role, but just on everything that she's done. I don't know if I've ever explained this, but Cathy was my first, like, big boss when I first started my career in disability advocacy and policy. And I worked at the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy where she was the assistant secretary. And I was very young, and Kathy instituted some policies that were really progressive. Everybody on staff got access to professional development. Leadership opportunities were not driven by by age or experience or seniority. And what that meant for me was that at like 23 and 24, I was able to do a lot of stuff that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to do. And that has really shaped the arc of my career in many ways. And so I'm always thrilled when Kathy has further opportunities to lead because she is just going to shape the work of disability rights advocates and shape the lives of those staff members, and that ultimately will shape our movement. So congratulations, Cathy. I'm so excited for you.

Oh, Maria, what a nice surprise. Thank you so much. I did not expect this. This is really nice. I appreciate it. Well, Maria was also a star, but I do believe that everybody deserves deserves professional development no matter what, you know, where they fall on, you know, on the— in a staff ranking. It's our job as leaders to provide that. So thank you, Maria. You've done amazing work yourself as a leader.

You've grown into an amazing leader and mentor for folks, and I really appreciate all your Yes, and Maria, when you were saying, oh, when I was so young, I wanted to say, oh, and you're so old now. You really are old. I mean, you're still really young. Uh, but Maria, Maria is talking to two of her board members because not only am I on the board, but Kathy. Kathy, how long have you been on the board?

I think for 2 years.

I'm sorry, 2 years. Yeah, so Kathy, is she not rocking it on that board? I mean, on the AAPD. And Maria, I know you probably want to talk about— we have a gala coming up.

We do. AAPD's Leadership Awards Gala is going to be on April 28th, on the evening of April 28th. The gala this year is virtual and free to attend, so anyone around the world can attend the gala. And if you do attend, you will get to hear from luminaries in the disability and civil rights movements. Including Stacey Abrams, who has been an enormous champion for voting rights for marginalized communities. You'll hear from our Capitol Hill champions, Representatives Don Young and Ayanna Pressley. You'll hear from The New York Times. We have so many amazing guests this year, and I just, I hope that you will join. And Joyce, I will send you the link for people to RSVP so that you can get that information out to all of those folks who follow you and follow your show.

Okay, we have a lot of people coming, customers. You should all go. I always call this the Academy Awards of the disability rights community, but President Biden, I mean, wow, we have everyone. This is like like the Academy Awards. So yes, send that to me, Maria, and I will send it. I got— uh, Kathy, were you saying something? Did I cut you off?

I was gonna say we, we even have people from the movie industry.

Aha, like Judy Newman, uh, like Taraji, um, there you go, Taraji P. Henson. Yeah, from, from Empire and so many hit films. We're delighted to have her as a participant in the Gay Lab, but also recognizing her work on mental health in Black communities. And I think as Joyce Bender was beginning to mention, I don't know if we can really claim the Academy Awards of the disability community this year, because my hope is that Crip Camp, which prominently features another one of our board members, Judy Heumann, will actually win an Academy Award a few days before our gala.

Oh my goodness.

I know, and I had to— I was talking to her just yesterday, and she got a call she had to take, and it was a designer calling about her dress for the Academy Awards. I am so excited about— if you haven't seen Crip Camp, oh my goodness, go to Netflix. This is the most amazing, amazing documentary. So you be watching for that. But first, you can go to our gala. So Maria, thank you so much for calling in.

Absolutely.

Congratulations again, Cathy.

Thank you, Maria.

Have a great day, Maria. Okay, and I see— wow, time goes fast because we're already on the half hour, a little past, for our news break Advocacy Matters with our host Perry Jude Radesik, CEO of Disability Rights of PA, and another disability rights leader that's been with me a couple years now just doing this show every week because you know what, where can you go? Where can you go? Where can you go if you have a disability to hear what's going on right now? Where you can go? To Disability Matters to hear about advocacy matters, and Perry, I'm sure you also want to congratulate Kathy on her position as the President and CEO of Disability Rights Advocates.

Joyce, thank you for the opportunity to do that. We're so excited that Kathy is with DRA, and we can't wait to see what lies ahead for Kathy and for DRA. So, Kathy, congratulations. We're so excited.

Thank you so much.

Okay, Perry, take it away.

Hey, thanks, Joyce Bender.

Uh, we want to talk about state election law activity and accessibility. I think so many of us, the disability voting advocates, knew that the certification of results from the 2020 election would not bring an end to the debate over election integrity and safe and fair elections, even though our elections were safe, they were fair, and there was no evidence of widespread fraud that would have overturned the results of the November election. So state legislatures right now across the country are introducing bills to either expand or restrict voting access.

We have some statistics.

The Brennan Center for Justice reports that at least 253 bills to restrict voting access have been introduced in 43 states. If you want to read that report, go to disabilityrightsPA.org, click on the link for today's Advocacy Matters segment, and you can go right to the Brenner— Brennan Center for Justice report on state activity. And Joyce, here in Pennsylvania, as of today, Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced 56 bills that would change Pennsylvania's election code. Some of the proposals expand voting rights, but far more restrict voting rights. For example, there's one bill that would actually declare the 2020 general election for president and vice president unlawful and overturn the results. Another proposal on the positive side would create a holiday for Election Day. So all of these issues are being discussed in the Pennsylvania House Government Committee. They've been holding a series of hearings on elections in Pennsylvania, and we have a link at disabilityrightspa.org to all of the hearings that have happened already in the House Government Committee. Last week, this committee held a hearing on election integrity and accessibility, and Joyce, we testified. Disability Rights PA testified at the hearing. And raised several points. We talked about how voting by mail is great, but there remains accessibility issues with the paper ballot because paper ballots are not fully accessible. We also talked about the inaccessible polling places that many people with disabilities still face here in Pennsylvania. So advocacy matters. Your listeners, like Disability Rights Pennsylvania, Disability Rights Pennsylvania. We want to ensure that every person with a disability has the opportunity to vote privately and independently. In order to achieve that, now we've got to work with our state legislatures on proposals that could restrict instead of expanding the vote for people with disabilities. So go to disabilityrightspa.org for the information from the Brennan Center for Justice. And take a look at what's happening in your state.

Wow, that is very disturbing, Perry. Well, could you— about the restrictions, would you mind giving our listeners just a couple examples? What do you mean by voting rights being restricted?

Sure, absolutely. So there would be proposals that would limit the number of drop boxes in Pennsylvania for your ballots. It was inconsistent in Pennsylvania. Some counties had many drop boxes. Other counties only had one drop box to drop off your mail-in ballot before Election Day. And, and so now there are proposals that would go back to one drop box, even in counties that were more progressive. Progressive and wanted people to have the opportunity not to travel a far distance to drop off their mail-in ballot. There would be other proposals that would create voter ID, more, more identification. So maybe you would have to copy your ID and put it in the ballot, your paper ballot, and mail it in. So, we're looking at restrictions that would create more voter ID requirements and be a little burdensome and issues about restricting ballot boxes. Those are just a few examples.

Wow. Well, okay. Well, everyone, please go to disabilityrightspa.org. Check into that. You know, you need to speak up. We need to speak up. And Perry, thank you so much. Thank you for keeping us apprised of what's going on so we can make a difference. And remember that advocacy matters. Thank you, Perry.

Thanks, Joyce Bender.

Well, Kathy, I bet that is something that hits you pretty hard.

Well, it's very disturbing that people would want to restrict the number of people who'd be able to vote. It seems to me that we'd want to increase the number of people and increase the ability of people to be able to vote. I know in some states they're, you know, considering not giving water to people when they're standing outside in the hot sun. What does that have to do with voting? I mean, besides the fact that it will discourage some people who are frail from not standing in line for hours and hours. It's a real— it's just shocking to me. And the thing that is even more scary is how many states are looking at these types of voting restrictions.

Well, Kathy, maybe you can be a leader in that area with some of these states, because as far as I'm concerned, they're doing the wrong thing. That's a violation of the ADA, some of these things that Perry was talking about, even let alone some of the things you just mentioned. But everyone, you've got to go read about that. B, you've got to know what's going on and how it will impact you. So, DRA, Disability Rights Advocates. Here you are once again in the National Spotlight. Can you tell everyone what DRA is?

So yeah, I first, I want to say that I'm just thrilled to have joined Disability Rights Advocates because it brings many of my past experiences together And I believe really strongly in its mission, which is to improve social and economic justice for people with all types of disabilities. And we are very clear, you know, that— and when I say all types of disabilities, I mean for all people. Including people of color. And I would say this concept of intersectionality is so important. Like I said, because we know that African Americans and other minority groups experience higher rates of disability. So if we're not considering people like me and other people's lived experiences when advocating for change, then we're really not doing our job. The concept of, I would say, intersectionality also happens to be deeply personal to me, as you know. And I think it's very important to understand that the work that DRA does impacts people of color as well as everybody else. But, you know, we have cases regarding— we are currently litigating cases regarding voting rights. We sued the Immigration Customs Enforcement Agency, and because there were people with immunodeficiency issues crammed into very very crowded environments, and so they were able to get, you know, get out because of COVID We've also worked in various school districts around the country to make sure that people who are— people in the education system are not punished with pepper spray or restraint and seclusion, which often happens to kids of color with disabilities. So I'm very committed to the work that DRA is doing. I've never supervised 30 lawyers before, and that's, that is, you know, that's very interesting. I'm learning a whole new world of high-impact litigation litigation. Again, you know, I'm stepping way out of my comfort zone, but it's— for me, it's just the concept of advancing equal rights and opportunity for people with all types of disability really keeps me going. And the work we do at DRA, you know, is critical. It has really helped put the meat on the bones of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Disabilities Act. Yes, yes, that is so true. You did do spectacular work with ICE that maybe a lot of people don't know what you did in reference to immigrants. How about if you talk about that? Because I thought that was so powerful.

Well, I, I have to say I cannot take credit for it. I have only been at DRA for a month, so You know, the work really involved identifying, you know, folks came to DRA that had, you know, that were in compromised situations, and just the fact that they were in such crowded conditions would increase their, you know, the likelihood of getting COVID. So the case, you know, we were able to to get folks out of these detention facilities, which reduced their, you know, the likelihood, or the— reduced the risk factors in these types of custom— immigration and customs facilities. So as a result, thousands of people were released from detention. And for those who remain, better care treatment and prevention protocols are now in place.

Right. And I mean, I think that just shows how a lot of people don't know what the things that DRA has done and accomplished, but that is a good example of it. And I think that is, uh, Just an indication of things to come with you there, Kathy. So Kathy, what is your goal? I'm sorry, go ahead. What were you going to say?

Well, I just want to say that, you know, we've also handled a number of cases leading to much-needed reform in the juvenile justice system. And as a result, you know, many Black and Latinx youth with disabilities in the systems in the system now have access to, well, as is their right, to appropriate special education, special ed services, and behavioral support. So, you know, these cases also place restrictions on punitive measures such as use of pepper spray and denying access to, school as a form of punishment. So, you know, DRA has actually been around for 30 years. And I have been leading DRA for a month. So, you know, the credit really belongs to the attorneys and the staff there. My vision for DRA is to continue to litigate, of course, to conduct these high-impact litigation cases, but also to do more outreach in the community. I think, you know, we owe the community— I think that there's a lot of misunderstanding about what DRA does. Somebody said to me, "We're the best-kept secret," because many of us benefit from the work that DRA has done in the past and really don't know, you know, what exactly why, you know, why Why is the Target website more accessible? Why are sidewalks becoming more accessible? Why are voting machines more accessible? A lot of this has to do with DRA and other legal disability legal organizations as well. But for me, it's very important to reach out to the community and to really have people understand their rights as people with disabilities, to understand, you know, what they deserve. And so really it is to continue our high-impact litigation with a lot more community outreach and, you know, and just making people more aware of what we do.

Yeah, and I don't think a lot of people understand all of that, Kathy, so I am glad you explained that. Before in a little bit we end the show, since you know so much about employment of people with disabilities, how do you think COVID will impact employment for the future? What I'm meaning about this, I was talking to Ted Kennedy about this. How do you think this will impact hiring people with disabilities when COVID is over?

Well, I mean, sadly, we are the last hired, first fired. Although one silver lining is that companies now know it is possible for people to work from home. And as you know, Joyce, we have been begging corporations and governments and nonprofits to allow that as an accom— excuse me, as an accommodation.. But now there's no excuse. They cannot say that it doesn't work. So hopefully, for people who have trouble getting to work, this will be an opportunity for people with disabilities to be able to work remotely. I'm hoping that— I think we're going to be— I don't know. I still hope that that a lot of us who were let go are gonna be hired back. I think the country is desperate to get out, to get working, to have lunches and dinners, and to be close to people instead of be on Zoom calls. I feel like the economy is gonna pick up, and I feel like there's companies out there like Highmark, you mentioned Highmark and Wells Fargo, that are very committed to hiring people with disabilities and to reaching that 7% goal. When we talk about accessibility, we have to— in addition to digital and physical accessibility, or online and mobile accessibility and physical accessibility, we also have to think of culture. How welcoming is the culture? How do we handle talking about a variety of types of disability? I know that when I was at Wells Fargo, the culture changed quite a bit, and it was because there was a lot of people who were very supportive of having discussions about non-evident disabilities like mental illness or mental disabilities and epilepsy and different disabilities. Besides just physical disabilities, blindness and deafness. We made sure that the spectrum of disabilities were discussed, neurodiversity. And I think that that broader understanding of disability as a natural part of the human condition made a big difference in our culture and our acceptance and welcoming and having a sense of belonging. Of people with disabilities.

Yes, well, Kathy, I know you're gonna just do so many great things as you always have, but I wanted to ask you, uh, what message do you have for our listeners today?

Wow, well, I have a few messages. One, uh, is I think it's important to get out of your comfort zone. As much as possible. It is not easy, but nothing worth it is really easy. I mean, you know, I think you get to know yourself better. I think you prove to yourself— oh, bless you, Joyce Bender.

Thank you.

You prove to yourself, you know, that you can do a lot more than you ever, ever thought. I would say, you know, live the dream. If you're interested in doing something If you're having trouble, find a mentor. I think learning from people is, you know, consider— I would say consider yourself a lifelong learner. I think, you know, learning things constantly is a blessing. And I guess I would say, you know, try to get out of your comfort zone. Always find a mentor. Try to be a mentor yourself. And keep on learning.

Yes, that's right. And for anyone that wants to follow DRA, what is the website, Kathy?

It's dralegal.org.

dralegal.org. And if there's a company listening, or anyone, and you want to make a donation I'm sure if you go to that website, you can find out how to do that.

Absolutely. We, we're always looking for partnerships.

All right, well, Kathy, it has been a pleasure having you on the show today. We end every show with a quote, and today the quote is from Stella Young, who said, My everyday life in which I do exactly the same things as everyone else should not inspire people, and yet I am constantly congratulated by strangers for simply existing. And that, folks, is why I say paychecks, not pity. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters at voiceamerica.com. Talk to you next week with Josh Verdi, board member of Bazelon, attorney at Highmark, talking about mental health. Talk to you then.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters, right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.