On Monday, July 30, RespectAbility hosts "From Washington to Hollywood and Beyond: The Future of Americans with Disabilities," a forum that highlights the importance of uplifting visibility of people with disabilities across all sectors on Monday, July 30.
RespectAbility is a national nonprofit thatfights stigmas and advances opportunities for people with disabilities. Led by people with disabilities and those who love them, we know that people with disabilities and their families have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else, even if they face different challenges.
Related to diverse communities, the session on the "Importance of Intersectionality: Enabling People of Color and Immigrants with Disabilities to Succeed," features changemakers who are leading important efforts to connect communities of color and communities of disability.
The panel discussion will be broadcast on Facebook live at 2:45pm ET or (11:45am PT)
The conversation will be moderated by Donna Walton, Founder and President, Divas With Disabilities Project. Panelists include: Stephanie Farfan, National Leadership Alumna, RespectAbility; Kaity Hagen, National Leadership Fellow, RespectAbility; and Clarence Page, Columnist, Chicago Tribune.
Read more about the event.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Donna Walton, The Divas With Disabilities Project
Dr. Donna R. Walton is the Founder and President of Divas with Disabilities Inc. A native of the nation’s capital, Walton is an educator and motivator who believes in living not just surviving. She grew up dreaming of becoming a great performer. Facing crowds fed her soul, but fate had other plans. Losing her leg in 1976 to osteogenic sarcoma, a potentially fatal form of bone cancer, Walton became motivated to fight for the respect and dignity she believes all people deserve, especially African American women with disabilities. Walton’s pre-amputation aspirations to perform have not been lost only changed. Now Walton uses the stage to dispel the myths and misconceptions about people with disabilities.
As a public speaker, Walton reaches and moves her audiences using her unique journey as evidence of how to live life in the face of adversity with passion and courage. Walton’s ability to captivate and motivate audiences through her trademark blend of humor, storytelling, and education has earned her numerous speaking engagements including the African-American Women on Tour Conference, The United States Conference on AIDS, The United States Army, Equal Opportunity Office, and the J.W. Marriott Hotel Annual Associates Program. Her impressive oratory skills have earned her awards as a member of the Capital Speakers of Toastmasters International. Walton, a strong advocate of the disability community and a published writer, reaches a broad audience with her tremendous literary skills.
One of her most powerful pieces is a multi-published personal essay titled, “What’s a Leg Got to Do With It?” Says Walton, “to arrive where I am, I had to break down all the meanings my life had for me as a two-legged person and reconstruct a life for myself as an amputee- one that is empowered with courage and determination.” Shattered Dreams, Broken Pieces is her first book. In 1996, Walton created her small business, LEGGTalk, Inc. (formerly named Dream Reach Win), to help individuals translate their personal visions into action and sustained change. In 2012, she founded the Divas With Disabilities Project, a digital campaign aimed to support women of color with disabilities. The bulk of Walton’s work highlights diversity and disability awareness. Walton is perhaps best known for her facilitation of Empowerment Salons for young girls and women of color. Drawing from her background in counseling and education, she conducts Empowerment Salons and workshops to teach women how to embrace their inner strength, to gain self-confidence and self-control over life’s challenges. Walton received her Bachelors in Elementary Education at American University followed by her Masters in Adult Education from Syracuse University. She ultimately earned her Doctoral degree from George Washington University in 2005.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Stephanie Farfan, Young Disability Advocate
Stephanie Farfan was a Policy Fellow in the National Leadership Program at Respectability. She always has been committed to disability rights, particularly for the dwarfism community as she is a little person. She has experienced firsthand the discrimination many people with disabilities face. This discrimination led to her commitment to fight the stigmas and social barriers that people with disabilities have to contend with to be taken seriously.
Farfan has been a part of Little People of America (LPA) since she was 16 years old and volunteers her time as a co-chair for the Hispanic Affairs Committee. Her fluency in Spanish enables her to help Spanish-speaking little people and their families get the resources and support they may otherwise not have access to. Farfan especially enjoys going to LPA conferences because there’s no party quite like a dwarf party. Farfan completed her undergraduate studies with a major in Peace and Conflict Studies and a minor in French at Juniata College in Pennsylvania. While there, she was the only little person on her campus – so naturally, it was quite difficult looking up all the time. Farfan had the opportunity to study abroad in Lille, France while at Juniata. She loved the experience and was grateful that the opportunity allowed her to improve her French.
After graduation, Farfan moved back home to Florida. There, she worked at a number of interesting places – most notably a karate studio and a security and detective agency. Unfortunately, she does not know karate and also is not a private investigator, so please do not ask. Tired of the Florida sun, Farfan came to Washington, D.C., hoping to continue her studies. She was accepted to American University’s School of International Service, where she is studying International Peace and Conflict Resolution. She hopes to combine the experience she has working with the Latino community and her academic work in peace studies into a career that can help the international disability community.
Kaity Hagen, Young Disability Advocate
Kaity Hagen is a Communications Fellow at RespectAbility working on the Hollywood disability inclusion project. Hagen is an advocate, activist and public speaker from Minnesota. She also is profoundly Deaf. Additionally, she is part of the LGBTQIA+ community, identifying as Queer. She joined RespectAbility because she wanted to be a part of making profound changes in disability rights, equity and accessibility all across the nation. Hagen’s primary goal is to reduce the stigma and misperception that people with disabilities cannot work, obtain an education or support a family. She wants to set an example for others and, through her own actions, show what is possible. Hagen also wants to promote and encourage speaking openly about disabilities and make it more of a conversational norm, rather than something to hide and be discreet about.
Previously, Hagen was an intern in the Child Protection Unit at the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office in St. Paul, Minnesota. She also worked as a Special Education Assistant at a charter school for grades 6-12 in St. Paul, Minnesota. These experiences, along with her personal experience, motivated her to become a more active role model and advocate for herself and others with disabilities. Hagen is a public speaker, speaking at schools and universities in Delaware, Maryland, California and Minnesota. Hagen is a senior at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities majoring in Psychology and minoring in Leadership. She was part of the brain club, unicycle club and the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association chapter club. In 2016, Hagen completed an internship at the University of Pacific Doctoral Audiology program in San Francisco.
Clarence Page, The Chicago Tribune
A Pulitzer Prize winner for Commentary, Page is a columnist syndicated nationally by Tribune Media Services and a member of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board. Page also is a regular contributor of essays to The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and has been a regular on NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show, ABC’s Nightline and BET’s Lead Story news panel programs. He also used to be a regular on The McLaughlin Group.
RespectAbility is a national nonprofit thatfights stigmas and advances opportunities for people with disabilities. Led by people with disabilities and those who love them, we know that people with disabilities and their families have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else, even if they face different challenges.
Related to diverse communities, the session on the "Importance of Intersectionality: Enabling People of Color and Immigrants with Disabilities to Succeed," features changemakers who are leading important efforts to connect communities of color and communities of disability.
The panel discussion will be broadcast on Facebook live at 2:45pm ET or (11:45am PT)
The conversation will be moderated by Donna Walton, Founder and President, Divas With Disabilities Project. Panelists include: Stephanie Farfan, National Leadership Alumna, RespectAbility; Kaity Hagen, National Leadership Fellow, RespectAbility; and Clarence Page, Columnist, Chicago Tribune.
Read more about the event.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Donna Walton, The Divas With Disabilities Project
 |
| Donna Walton |
As a public speaker, Walton reaches and moves her audiences using her unique journey as evidence of how to live life in the face of adversity with passion and courage. Walton’s ability to captivate and motivate audiences through her trademark blend of humor, storytelling, and education has earned her numerous speaking engagements including the African-American Women on Tour Conference, The United States Conference on AIDS, The United States Army, Equal Opportunity Office, and the J.W. Marriott Hotel Annual Associates Program. Her impressive oratory skills have earned her awards as a member of the Capital Speakers of Toastmasters International. Walton, a strong advocate of the disability community and a published writer, reaches a broad audience with her tremendous literary skills.
One of her most powerful pieces is a multi-published personal essay titled, “What’s a Leg Got to Do With It?” Says Walton, “to arrive where I am, I had to break down all the meanings my life had for me as a two-legged person and reconstruct a life for myself as an amputee- one that is empowered with courage and determination.” Shattered Dreams, Broken Pieces is her first book. In 1996, Walton created her small business, LEGGTalk, Inc. (formerly named Dream Reach Win), to help individuals translate their personal visions into action and sustained change. In 2012, she founded the Divas With Disabilities Project, a digital campaign aimed to support women of color with disabilities. The bulk of Walton’s work highlights diversity and disability awareness. Walton is perhaps best known for her facilitation of Empowerment Salons for young girls and women of color. Drawing from her background in counseling and education, she conducts Empowerment Salons and workshops to teach women how to embrace their inner strength, to gain self-confidence and self-control over life’s challenges. Walton received her Bachelors in Elementary Education at American University followed by her Masters in Adult Education from Syracuse University. She ultimately earned her Doctoral degree from George Washington University in 2005.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Stephanie Farfan, Young Disability Advocate
 |
| Stephanie Farfan |
Farfan has been a part of Little People of America (LPA) since she was 16 years old and volunteers her time as a co-chair for the Hispanic Affairs Committee. Her fluency in Spanish enables her to help Spanish-speaking little people and their families get the resources and support they may otherwise not have access to. Farfan especially enjoys going to LPA conferences because there’s no party quite like a dwarf party. Farfan completed her undergraduate studies with a major in Peace and Conflict Studies and a minor in French at Juniata College in Pennsylvania. While there, she was the only little person on her campus – so naturally, it was quite difficult looking up all the time. Farfan had the opportunity to study abroad in Lille, France while at Juniata. She loved the experience and was grateful that the opportunity allowed her to improve her French.
After graduation, Farfan moved back home to Florida. There, she worked at a number of interesting places – most notably a karate studio and a security and detective agency. Unfortunately, she does not know karate and also is not a private investigator, so please do not ask. Tired of the Florida sun, Farfan came to Washington, D.C., hoping to continue her studies. She was accepted to American University’s School of International Service, where she is studying International Peace and Conflict Resolution. She hopes to combine the experience she has working with the Latino community and her academic work in peace studies into a career that can help the international disability community.
Kaity Hagen, Young Disability Advocate
 |
| Kaity Hagen |
Previously, Hagen was an intern in the Child Protection Unit at the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office in St. Paul, Minnesota. She also worked as a Special Education Assistant at a charter school for grades 6-12 in St. Paul, Minnesota. These experiences, along with her personal experience, motivated her to become a more active role model and advocate for herself and others with disabilities. Hagen is a public speaker, speaking at schools and universities in Delaware, Maryland, California and Minnesota. Hagen is a senior at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities majoring in Psychology and minoring in Leadership. She was part of the brain club, unicycle club and the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association chapter club. In 2016, Hagen completed an internship at the University of Pacific Doctoral Audiology program in San Francisco.
Clarence Page, The Chicago Tribune
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| Clarence Page |