CIL Director of Strategic Partnerships, Sam VanSchoick, shares her top three takeaways from the ANCOR Policy Summit

Earlier this month, I was one of the more than 300 people who virtually attended ANCOR’s Policy Summit, “Leading Beyond Crisis.” Though virtual conferences have been getting a bad rap, I found ANCOR’s sessions to be engaging, informative, and fun (especially those roundtable sessions!). Here are three of my takeaways:   

1. Live Captioning is a MUST

Every session of the three-day event was live captioned! This focus on accessibility, while expected from an organization such as ANCOR which is focused on disability services, is often forgotten. The importance of making events accessible for everyone cannot be overstated.

2. Finding the Positives to Bring into the Future

With all the innovating providers have had to do because of COVID-19, it’s probably not surprising that there have been pivots that have led to positive outcomes. One example a provider shared was the ability to have day programs virtually has actually been positive for some of the individuals they serve, who prefer to not leave the home. Of course, there are drawbacks, but going forward, for individuals who have this preference, keeping some virtual programming could be a great benefit.     

3. We need to be thinking about the intersections between race and disability.

Did you know that in America, 10.8 million people with disabilities are estimated to be people of color? The deep dive session “Civil Rights Beyond ADA: The Intersections Between Race & Disability in the Fight for a More equitable America,” featured panelists Max Barrows of Green Mountain Self-Advocates, Rebecca Cokley of the Center for American Progress, Keri Gray of the Keri Grey Group and National Alliance of Multicultural Disabled Advocates, and Dior Vargas of the People of Color and Metal Illness Photo Project, speaking on the intersections between race, disability, and civil rights. This panel was incredibly thought-provoking – I highly recommend following all of these speakers on social media.   

image credits to ANCOR