Celebrating Our Members During Disability Pride Month

Event Photos Taken By Eva Ho

In July our community celebrates both the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and disability pride and culture. And on July 9, we were elated to celebrate Disability Pride Month in-person. Throughout this blog post, we have featured many photos of our time together. Thank you to all those who were able to join us as it’s wonderful to be in community together. Also, thank you for those who donated to make the evening possible as your generosity helps support accessible events like these. Below are just a few highlights from this year's Annual Membership Celebration:

Celebrating the 34th Anniversary of The Americans with Disabilities Act

As we all well know, the Americans with Disabilities Act, is a landmark—bipartisan—civil rights legislation that made it unlawful to discriminate against people with disabilities. At its heart, the ADA reinforces that people with disabilities have civil, political, and human rights. While the gains from this law are tremendous, our movement continues. In a highly politicized climate, we fight to protect our hard-won rights and we advance for equity and justice for all disabled people.

Here in Chicago and Illinois, our Disability Lead Members and Fellows are helping in your own unique way to lead this movement. This month—and every month of the year, we celebrate their work whether it happens in corporate, nonprofit, or government spaces.

You can read about some of the amazing achievements our Members have recently accomplished. Look out this month for our  January - July 2024 Connections Update blog coming out SOON!
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Thank you Disability Lead Members and Fellows! Your leadership drives our mission. Every time you show up—wherever you show up— proudly and loudly as a disabled person and talk about inclusion, equity, access and justice you make progress toward our collective vision: that people with disabilities will lead with influence and power for full participation and equal opportunity.

It is with deep admiration and gratitude that we celebrate you.