Conversation Starters

Discussion starters for Breaking Barriers: Funders for Disability Inclusion and Accessibility in Philanthropy

General Questions

1. Why did you come to this session?
2. What does inclusion mean to you?
3. What does accessibility mean to you?
4. If you feel comfortable sharing, what is your connection to disability?

Disability inclusion and disability justice in philanthropy

1. What changes, attempts included, has your organization made to be more inclusive of people with disabilities?
2. What types of challenges have you experienced in your disability inclusion journey so far?
   • How did you address those challenges? What resources did you turn to?
3. Have you had any “wins” or “ah-hah” moments?
   • If so, what were they and what did they feel like? What kind of impact did that have on your team/organization?
4. “Disability justice is ultimately about re-imagining and reinventing all of our relationships with one another, as well as our own [bodies and minds]. It is about transforming the very material and psychic frameworks that designate some bodies and minds as normative, valuable, and acceptable and others as deviant, worthless, or dangerous.” – Sins Invalid Skin, Tooth, and Bone: A Disability Justice Primer
   • With this definition of disability justice as a “guide”, how does philanthropy play a role in defining who and what is deemed valuable or acceptable in our communities?