- August 20-22, 2019; Atlanta, Georgia
- Register online or by using the printable registration form (PDF)
- Registration Fee: $150.00
- Registration Deadline: August 2, 2019
CILs are always striving to reach unserved and underserved populations and to better represent the vibrant, racial, ethnic, linguistic, and multi-cultural communities that we serve. If you would like effective, practical information on how to accomplish this at your CIL, then you simply cannot afford to miss this training. Sign-up today!
At our core, Centers for Independent Living are community-based, civil rights organizations. Sure, we focus on the core services of Independent Living, but disability rights are civil rights, and the Independent Living Movement shares similarities and a siblinghood with other civil rights movements. We have a strong enough foundation in human rights to expand our celebration and inclusion of people with disabilities from other marginalized communities and identities in our organizations.
As Centers for Independent Living, we all believe in “Nothing About Us, Without Us!” We should abide by the same rules when it comes to including, serving, and being led by all of the diverse people with disabilities in our communities. We must engage in thoughtful conversations, strategic partnerships, proactive outreach, and organizational shifts to ensure that our organizations are reaching, serving, and welcoming to people with disabilities of all backgrounds in our communities. This is not only relevant to our consumers, but to ensure that our staff, decision-making staff, board members, volunteers, and community leaders represent those same backgrounds and life experiences.
Join us in Atlanta this August to learn from the Executive Directors of seven CILs, as well as other IL leaders that excel in this work, how they’ve created organizations that welcome and represent the broad communities that they serve.
You will learn:
- Disability, diversity, and intersectionality (DDI) as a process requiring focused and intentional time and effort.
- The purpose, framework, and overarching findings of the DDI research project at ILRU and its importance to CILs.
- The definition of intersectionality, and relationship to people with disabilities, IL/Disability Rights Movements, and CILs.
- What CILs can do to convey a welcoming atmosphere to all people, across a diverse range of identities and groups.
- Ways to engage and connect to consumers in rural and remote areas across diverse populations.
- A Strategic Model Mission, Vision, Values that reflects commitment to DDI.
- The importance of organizational policies, procedures, and practices to create a necessary framework in achieving DDI.
- Strategies for recruiting, hiring, and supporting diverse staff that represent your community.
- How the concept of intersectionality addresses all identities of individuals with disabilities—including diverse disabilities, race, ethnicity, language, cultural norms, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, and socioeconomic status.
- Steps to recruit diverse board members and engage them in supporting DDI.
- The definition of micro-aggressions and aversive ‘isms,” and how to handle micro-aggressive behavior.
- How to identify potential partners and collaborators who represent racial, ethnic, cultural, civil rights, and social justice communities.
- Strategies for effective coalition-building that enhance capacity of all partners.
- The nature and value of statistics that reflect disability, race, ethnicity, and economic status of CILs’ communities to support goals and priorities around outreach and inclusion.
- And much more!
Visit the training web page for a basic schedule of events, hotel information, and presenter biographies.
The IL-NET is a national training and technical assistance project for centers for independent living and statewide independent living councils. The IL-NET is operated by Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) in partnership with the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL), and Utah State University Center for Persons with Disabilities.
The IL-NET is supported by grant numbers 90ILTA0001 and 90ISTA0001 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.
