Morning. The ada. I want to start off, my name is rebecca cokley, director of the center for american progress. At first i want to start off by thanking mira and claudia for an amazing kickoff. Both of your support to this work, to this scene has been someaningful. Since its inception we couldnt do it without folks like you rally around us daily and remind us of the important work that we do the work that wehavent had. I love to increase our amazing panel that comes with a variety of experience in the employment and economic ability space to the experience of americans with disabilitiesstudy with , we had Crosby Cromwell who is the founder and this is a one . This is week one. What civility which is searched from targeting seniorlevel folks with disabilities in communities of color is actually nominal, the perfect time to focus on a senior sector which i know a member of us are thrilled to see that so congratulations crosby. Karen williams, this is our first event, he is the managing director of the poverty prosperity at the center for american progress. Kerry wade was the director of rams the American Association of people with disabilities. And the ever so dapper virginia carter who is the cofounder of new view consulting. So lets be honest, we know that this has been an exciting week. Theres a number of challenges folks and, these have anything that have been affecting our community for a long time we heard your address, we were wanting address it so while we know we have far to go, any frame of an economic narrative around the rights of people with disabilities and around what true Economic Empowerment looks like is not impactful if it doesnt take into account those intersections whether its in disabilities , its around disclosure, both live in the intersection of dealing with racism, hallelujah, as you, have all seen it, . We know this is you. But however you you all seen this, in your own career or the work that you all have been doing mark and you guys cant press your nose and say not. I would say that i am a career woman. Im also 30 so im sort of right at the start of Ada Generation i would say. Ada has alwaysbeen a factor in my life and my work. I always think that actually my experience in the workplace in the world at large has been one of privilege and a lot of that has to do with whiteness as well as economic status. I come from an uppermiddleclass family, everybody is educated, it was never a question of where you go to college how procedures will that University Mark i am sort of, i come from houston standpoint in terms of i didnt really have to think about my disability as a factor of my life experience. Certainly in an Employment Contract until i was maybe in my mid20s, early to mid 20s. It was always frayed as this whole thing that i have to navigate and it was sort of a you just have to find a way to do things and you do the same things and achieve the same thing with all of your fears which is great framework also did really let me off the hook confronting all these other intersections in any sort of real way, especially when it came to my Employment Status so i think ive sort of gotten a very skewed perception from my personal experience of what employment and what Economic Security and empowerment is like for disabled people because my dominant experience is one of privilege. But i will say as somebody who runs youth based initiatives at my current employer, ill say one of the things that comes up from these various intersections and impressions is that you can have for example participants of color in your program and people love to talk about that and they love to show the data of what percent is people of color, what percentage lgbt hue, and anything then not really have your programming acknowledge or reflect that in any way so youre still putting marginalized folks into a system designed for and by privileged white people and youre surprised when that doesnt go well, when is not affirming experience, when it doesnt provide for everyone what is supposed to provide. And thats the thing that i really have come facetoface with in my work with young people is how do i particularly as a white person in leadership help to restructure these programs to make sure that theyre delivering on the promise not just to people that are coming from already privileged backgrounds, making sure we are addressing and fully acknowledging the existence of oppression within theprogramming, not just whos participating in it. I was going to say much like kerry coming from a place of privilege, in some ways it a collateral of good intentions and understanding how damaging saying i dont see color, i dont see disability, wereall just people , how that erases identity and understanding actualization, understanding the recognition of identity is as important as the legislation component or the employment component that we walk into the spaces fully as our self, recognizing all of those. I would comment a bit on this. As a black woman who lives with a non apparent disability and who has really been socialized in environments that are both predominantly white and that is true of both education and employment, i have confronted i would say both external able is him and racism and also internal able is him. A lot of times thats taken the form of knowing that in order to be successful, in order to understand and be able to convey that i belong somewhere that i have to work twice as hard and that i have to work twice as long and i also know that if i make an error and i have no time, they may not be afforded that same level of break as would someone who has more privilege or someone who is presumed to be, to belong to that place in the first. I also as a nonapparent, as a woman with a nonapparent disability, as a woman living with colitis and arthritis know that if i work twice as longor twice as hard , that is a surefire way to land in the dr around the corner. So as i have grappled with that throughout my career, i can say quite frankly i dont get , i do not have the answer yet i do know that sometimes that my of resistance is to show up. To show up fully as my authentic self and to understand that as i have grown in my career and i now have a seat at leadership tables, i have a responsibility and the ability to educate others on how damaging ableism can be, how damaging internalized racism can be and the ways in which implicit bias shows up in structures that we create. That said, the reason why we need this economic agenda that weve released today is because we are still actively producing institutions and policies that reinforce all of those and it makes it that much harder for us to really truly realize justice for the Disability Community and for all communities of marginalized people. Ill just add that particularly being in a space where being an entrepreneur, being an entrepreneur or most of my life, and in the capacity to higher other folks is something that i never would have been able to think that id be into operate in the space of, so talking about that internalized legalism and the internalized racism, a lot of that also comes with who is in your circle. And kind of recognizing that some of those folks in your circle, even disabled people may disrupt or cause harm to your actual growth. This pertains to your lived experience so for me, i can honestly say that for probably most of my career prior to getting into politics and public policy, it was skewed and different and it took a clear recognition from me to understand that i need to take for myself and not be concerned with what my family thinks. Not be concerned with what my friends think in terms of what lane i should operate in. Because for the most part i can only speak for myself but in my line of work i didnt have a direct mentor that could speak to my experience and help guide my path. So i kind of had to create my own path and blaze my own trail individually and create space for others. Thank you. How do the issues, we have this continual debate in the Disability Community and im seeing it right now as it plays out ahead of 20 20 which is people are like, when is thisperson coming out with a disability agenda . And at the same time, we hear our community continually fight for inclusion and we want to be included alongside everybody else and one of the things that i thought was interesting in how it was laid out is how these issues fit into the broader agenda. They are really short bus issues or segregated disability issues. The brilliant author and the folks that work with her on this report sought to about how does this fit in the context of the broader Agenda Setting narrative right now. And so how do youthink of that . How do you think we engage on this conversation around creating a more integrated agenda versus creating a more silo agenda. I think for me, i think what it comes down to is having more conversations like this one. Having more folks in the space to actually want to be here rather than folks who are required to be here. And i know with respect as for many of the folks in the room right now. I think what it comes down to is making sure that the the space in the conversation and especially the agendas out disabled popes. And make sure that cable is accessible before you invite disabled folks to that table. Because a lot of times that table is not disabled so i think its really a matter of creating the agendas, creating the policy and id like to thank albert for taking the lead to generate this policy because its something that hasnt been seen in the, its something that folks in the disabled community have talked about never been on paper though i want back her again or taking the lead on that. But also understanding that her individual work that she put together is not the only report that needs to be done. We have to, have to be consistent. It can be one report, thats it. The policy is set, were done. It has to be consistent and it has to be an ongoing conversation and in order for the kind of landscape to change, the entire landscape of the accessibility space after also adapt as well. I think of an economic agenda for people with disabilities, i think of it as an economic agenda for individuals all across the country. Claudia, and marist talk already about what what is in this roadmap that weve released today for people with disabilities, i wont go through all of the points but i do strongly encourage everyone to take a look report and the recommendations that are made there i do want to highlight one example and that is the one of paid leave and sick days and i grew up in a family of women so i tend to be a storyteller at heart to forgive me of that but i can tell you a story. As me, as an only child a couple of years ago, when my father had the first of many falls and living in los angeles , it is because of paid sick leave, it is because of paid leave and Flexible Work that i was able to travel back and forth between dc and california for a couple of years helping care for him. When my mother had at lumpectomy a couple of years ago, it is because of paid leave the ability to take leave that i was able to go and be with her and care for her in that time. That is not good policy because i am a person with a disability, its good policy because there are americans all across the country who are confronting decisions every day about taking care of their work life and their family life. I think you will see echoes of that in every single recommendation that we have here. Echoes of what is a joint economic agenda for the country. It was written and produced by oz and it was done in partnership with a lot of the teams here at who recognize that we are truly going to be advancing aprogressive agenda , it is inclusive of people with disabilities but its good policy for all workers. Its good policy for all individuals. Who live in this country. Anyone else want to jump in on a . One thing i have taken saying when im invited to tables when we talk about this thing, people will generally invite me there as the disability representative , whatever that means which is already a bizarre thing to do. But i will always, theres no such thing as disability issues. I think that the phrase disability issues is one of my least favorite because it gives us this excuse to sort of separate the community from everyone which is exactly your point. Saying that if we remove that framework of certain issues or disability issues and certain issues are not, recognize the truth is if you work in policy, the working programming, where you work, you are working with disability people already whether you know it or not and that a paradigm shift im really hoping to see and encouragingly, it does, often in my work with youngpeople. Second nature to some of the, that an obvious point. That disabled people are everywhere and that disability issues are all issues. And also kind of shifting the conversation away from just inclusion, the point you were making. Make sure the table is accessible when you get there but shifting away from simply including disabled people and disability issues and how do you empower us once we arrive. An understanding that some of that, closing, making that change will require discomfort on the part of people that have historically been in leadership around these conversations but thats really where we need to go and thats whats most important. I would add as a community we need to be careful of celebrating small wins like major victories and mentions arent enough anymore. It needs to be platforms and i think exactly what karen said, its about the inclusion across the board whether that be wage and hour, whether that be childcare, whether that be whatever that is, its time to have inclusion and not separation. Leading off of that, were now starting to see the Disability Community galvanized behind these issues, around a really good example was the public charge fight earlier this year where we talked about the Disability Community come out for the first time with a stick in the ground and say this issue and immigration issues, Immigration Rights are a disability cause or something that we need totalk about, we need to be getting behind. Data tells us the Disability Community and Lgbt Community are most likely to use paid family leave to care for others and direct biological relatives. Were seeing with this next, sort of falling into ada and this movement wears in conversations around accessible childcare in a way weve never seen that before and not just accessibility from the standpoint of what does the facility look liketo be accessible for disabled children but from the front end, what is a Childcare Center need to be accessible for disabled parents. What do you all think is behind this . Do you think the Disability Community was like wow, we need to get on this letter mark what was the impetus and do you think that previous policies, do they hope to get there and is it more of a social impetus . I think it was probably a little bit of both. There was certainly a push from individuals who work at multiple intersections in the Disability Community to speak up about migrant issues, to speak up about lgbtq issues as well and how they intersect and i think part of the problem and i dont want to use that phrasing but i will is, and i think when we talk about policy in the past, policy currently or policy goingforward , part of the problem is we heart addressing the intersection at the forefront. We are kind of waiting to say we need this person who lives at this many intersections as they got before we actually address this policy issue. Depending on what the policy issue is, whether its paid sick leave are raising the wage. You know, all of these issues need to be addressed intersection consistently and we cant wait until one individual speaks up and if that one individual does the gap, we have to empower as has already been mentioned, we have to do a better job of empowering that voice and looking up that voice and protecting that voice because coming with empowering also comes strolling and vitriol and anger and negative response. And why are you talking about this, why are you segmenting, why are you reading , we all talk about things at the same time, we can talk about things at the same time because you waited until this person spoke and now youre trying to silence them by saying they are doing enough or they are just one voice, when one voice is speaking to their experience and it automatically silencing them out of the gate, that doesnt give them the opportunity to look up and speak the truth. Okay. Lets jump over to carry. Youre wrapping up the latest year of the American Association or people with disabilities Internship Program. And you work very closely obviously on the ground with a whole cohort of you know, related generations, i dont want to call the next generation, i dont want to emerging leaders because they clearly already emerged,were not having them on the head with a one , but with every generation comes different priorities. And i think coming out of gen x is where we are seeing things like the movement around civil rights for parents with disabilities, seeing the conversations around, we saw the conversations around Police Violence and disabilities for gen x and millennial area what are you seeing out of this next generation of disabled leaders as sort of, what are they focusing on and also, whats the preparation they need that we need to be doing to support them, to make the next step, connected to the career theywant to have and the lives they want to leave. Absolutely, and happily ever emerged by the way. I spent nine weeks looking with his coordinates and incredible. Its an incredible learning experience for me and a moment for ada as an organization and i think thats what the Internship Program should have always done and not coming closer to reaching that ideal of are the people that we are working most closely with which is in turn actually the people that drive our culture and the things thatwere focusing on. Im heartened to see that this cohort of interns that we have is s internet, integrating organizational change. I will say i have a skewed perception because interns are people that apply for an Internship Program in washington dc so theres a certain type of people that are going to find that interesting. So theres certainly isnt cutting across every young person, whoever and every disabled young person. But i think that the thing that sticks out to me about the young folks that ive been working with in recent years is to them, they dont see the silo is making any sense. You dont see the disability issue silo ismaking any sense. A secret issue, applying to them as disabled people and wanting accessibility at the very least to be vacant from the very beginning as opposed to this rant achievement. This is what you were saying about ballwin and grand achievements i think that mindset is really at the forefront for a lot of these young folks so notthinking about only certain issues applying to the Disability Community but the other way around. We are everywhere so what are you doing for us . And i think that in terms of employment, interesting because a lot of them come here and they dont want anything to do with disability organizations or disability policy is typically. Theyre just excited to be here with other young disabled people and to learn from each other but they want their workplaces. To be fully outside of whatever the Disability Community is. And i think thats interesting. Theres definitely arguments to be made for the value of exposing people to disability policy and the community specifically. Sometimes in leadership they can still be this idea that you are hiring us because either its the right thing to do and it makes you feel good, not in an economically empowering way but in a moral fiber way and thats why you make the higher. And the value we bring to the workplace things like our loyalty and resilience and soft skills like im not your golden retriever, and your employee. My value to you is not that ill never leave you but im good at my job. Right . Because im good at my job and qualified im going to move on. You need to support that and it cant be that you brought me here because you knew i do not have another option. I think that is a shift where you see that more in organizations and companies and the like but have not had exposure to disabled people and particularly young disabled people. Well see them bumping up against the things like this person is coming in here and not giving me a cookie. Im upset. Why arent you telling me what a good job im doing. I think getting away from the idea of the value of disabled people in the workplace being feelgood and give me a substantive job to do it may have to do with disability and it may not. You can go either way. Seeing our value is more than the emotional boost that we historically have given people. Building off that i want to turn it over to you, crosby. Congratulations on the launch of flex ability this week. We are thrilled youre here with us. While we have extrinsically seen firms focus on the supply form of frontline workers and entrylevel staff why is your firm different and what are your thoughts on how to crack that feeling or steps as they that keep disabled workers from it . Let me start with the story. A little more than a year ago at this point i was at a meeting for global employment for people with disabilities. I was surrounded by incredibly smart people and incredibly connected people and corporate actors who had the bandwidth and the bret to build programs that could move the needle and the meeting opened up with an example of the walgreens distillation center program. Now that was ten years ago. That was an important stake in the ground for a company to say we care about disability and had moments but hearing that as the example of employment one year ago made me angry. It made me angry that if it was as important as we said it was that it did not create momentum and maybe angry it was being used ten years later and it made me angry that we were sitting in a meeting eating our Chicken Salad and accepting the status quo. At the root of anger was hope and idealism that we can change this and we cant make a difference. Out of that idea and meeting these perfect magical founding members for flexibility, flex ability was born. Where a new kind of social impact firm and a forprofit benefit corporation things like ben jerrys patagonia, tom shoes and stepping into this space because there is a marketplace for individuals with disabilities and theres a talent resource and money to be made in money to be had by realizing who we are as a community. We will be its not just exactly executive search but its entrylevel and midlevel because the Disability Community is not a homogenous set of skills that. Its all those things and making sure companies are comfortable they say theyre serious and have a partner and we know we have to do this differently and we are here to have uncommon collaborations in here to have uncommon conversations and we are here to be a partner who knows change can be made and we have to do it in a different way we are here to stay companies, corporations, businesses they care about the space need a space to try. And they have that space with us and have that space knowing that at the end result is what we all need and want. Im excited for a year from now and for us to hear what youve done in year one. Neil, youre an object anywhere in the space so what are the things you had to take into consideration as you build your business that you think would have been different had he joined a big boring conglomerate somewhere. Well, being in the industry im in i recognize that i funny enough i have not been approached by Membership Organizations or leadership organizations looking to transition me out of the industry for those that dont im in Political Consulting in one of the only Political Consulting firms in the discipline disability owned space. Because we are the only one, we have blazed a trail, right . But while weve blazed this trail and set our own path oaks has said who did you knock over and who did you push out of the way and who did you what organization to your question did you say no to before you decided to get into this space can i did not decide to get into this space but candidates and campaigns and policy organizations recognized that there needed to be an organizational mind and a firm like mine and i took that as a sign to create the firm i did. It was not i also tried to make sure i wasnt or i think probably early when i started i was taking advantage of more than i am now because i did not properly recognize or have the wherewithal to understand the difference of folks gladhanding their way into taking pictures and putting me on panels and putting me in spaces whether inclusive or noninclusive spaces to speak and be the black disabled guy in a mostly white space. I know my history is mostly ate white space. I know when i see that i have to play two roles simultaneously. In doing so i have to make sure that while i am also blazing a trail, as i mentioned before, im trading space and making space for others and in the capacity to hire which i dont think there are firms like mine that can say that explicitly without putting caveats onto that when theyre on a panel like this. They will usually say things like well, we have two consider and so many considerations before we bring you on and that is why a lot of Membership Organizations in my industry look to me now and all of the sudden, 12 years later, now they say lets bring you on and bring you as a part of the membership and have you speak at our panel and now you dont pay to be on it but previously you did or you do not have debate to be part of our Membership Organization grievously but im sorry you did have to pay previously but now you dont because now we see a black and disabled and its always like ive been here, guys. [laughter] nothing changed. So, for me i recognize im creating space while also setting new trends for me its a matter of being availab available. For conversations and individuals like this one where they want to actively do the work. Thats part of the problem. Folks in our space segment ourselves out of conversations by pitting different parts marked trinity to get to each other, rather than saying that we are in allinclusive space and bringing everyone to that inclusive table we talked about previously. Lets look at what crosby said in carrie said and what are your thoughts about structural policy changes that could make an impact in these spaces . I talked about a few, right . Paid leave and sick days really paying attention to what is the availability of leave for workers particularly not only for their families and lines, as we say but for their family and i want to go back and highlight something that claudia mentioned because this has to be stated yet again. Last week was a historic occasion and it was because a chamber actually voted to raise the minimum wage and thats a big deal but in doing so they also voted to eliminate 14c, the provision of the fair labor standards act that allows us to continue to pay people with disabilities on the hour. I cannot state this enough how important that is. By allowing the system to persist, by codifying in statu statute, that system, we are saying its okay to have a permanent underclass of people with disabilities. We are contributing to the attitude and barriers and physical barriers that prevent us from truing the injustice so when i think of like some of the structural barriers that we need to begin to tear down those are two that come to mind and there are many more. Again thats why i point you to that economic agenda that we released today because despite, in in a perfect, ideal world we will come together again. Right . It will be a big deal because we will be in one ear celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ada and we wont be able to point to progress towards some of these recommendations and we will be able to point to an increase in public drive and public will to adopt these provisions. Again, not just because theyre good for people with disabilities but because theyre good for individuals across the country, regardless of where you are and who you are with race, gender, sexuality, disability. I get very animated about these things, as you well know but those are a couple things i would highly. This is my last question to the panel before we open it up for q a. Lets say you could go back in time to that really hot nasty, muggy day, july 26, 1990 where you remind yourself for the 450 a time that i find it bothers built this Nations Capital on a swamp. And theyre getting ready to sign the ada did justin and evan and congressman owens all surrounding president george w. Bush as he signs the bill into law or going back to the rehabilitation act signed in section 504 was codified in knowing what you know now are there things that you would have included or elaborated on to ensure that we were not at this. 29 years later . Or 36 years later for 46 years later for the rehab act . Think about we still have not fixed that thing. Honestly other than [inaudible] wage. I think so, i will age myself here but under that administration i can remember that administration vividly and i can remember when the ada was signed and if i would take myself back i would say this is that this administration and the subsequent act signed at the time did not have the teeth and did not have the people in this room right now and folks not in his room watching life that are advocating. It did not have a level of checks and balances with it at the time and it was just an act passed in pictures were taken similar to other courts that happened that year. It its not that the passage of the time was not taken seriously but, i think, because at the time, if you looked at what the disability leadership and disability advocacy look like back then versus what it looks like now you would say 29 years later owing into 30 years next year that now is when we need to readjust but also recognize that the disability space, as a whole, has changed, grown, adapted and back then it was mostly to pale into mail. Now, its not. The folks who are now at the table and folks who we need to consistently bring to the table look vastly different than the folks from 29 years ago. Because we set in multiple intersections we need to make sure those intersections are represented. At this new table. When we talk about going back i dont like going back because the current ministration campaign on taking the country back and to a certain extent, they did. We are still dealing with that. Previous administrations prior to that one that rolled back certain things related to Disability Committee that can be addressed in another panel. [laughter] as far as Going Forward and not looking back, we have to make sure that when were bringing other people to the table that there is a consistent accountability to what the accessibility table looks like because again, it did not look 29 years ago. Anyone else . My answer could appear to be fluffy or soft and that there is real work for 14c1 100 , not fluffy and soft but a wish then and now is a real tearing of a heart and mind campaign. Real money for storytelling that it is on our tvs we open up youtube or open up and walk into schools that we are telling the story of disability and intersected malady of the world we live in that is in a way of changing hearts, minds and attitudes and that has to be paired with the legislation because storytelling is where we get the people to understand. I dont know the answers your question thinking in retrospectively about the ada but something ive been grappling with recently is to what extent we, as a community, are still driven by fear. Particularly as it relates to the statue of fear that if we go back and start to fight for more and if we go back and start to talk about an advocate for policy as if the ada is a floor as opposed to an aspiration then we might lose what we have already gained. That fear to have conversations about what the ada has been for us and what it still needs to be, i think, keeps us from having True Conversations and Movement Towards actions around the intersections of what the ada has not done for all people with disabilities. We are afraid to peel back the layers and explore how it might have been amazing for really advancing the physical infrastructure for this country but it has not yet done what we need it to do to universally define when all individuals with disabilities can be successful. Then i would question what is success and what it means but i know we have to get to the q a. I will leave it there. I thank you all said it well. Anything i would say would be accommodation of what you have said. The one specific thing that has irked me getting a little more granular about the ada is the Historic Site exemption and how that is used against a lot of students in particular on University Campuses for how buildings that are historic and got grandfathered in basically and you dont have to great a College Experience that has come dont often in my work so if looking at a specific thing i would question why that was the thing but largely is more of an ideological shift and not just resting on the laurels of the ada is the Gold Standard and congratulations, we can go home. Respectfully that the floor to the ceiling. Blessing i would add is i wanted to recognize someone in the room who is the first president of delhi that university and seeing the activism of our young disabled leaders of colors this last week and over this last month took me back to the days of the president now in the fight by students at calumet to have their leadership represent themselves and its the same fight racine enacted today that we have a right to choose leadership that represents our values and committees and that stands with us rather than continually trying to divide us. Its an interesting reflection on where we have been and where we continue to go. Frankly, the leadership of our movement has been defined by the passion and intelligence of our young people. Really, they continue to push our community to listen to its better angels, i think, as it were. I just wanted to before we go to q a i want to recognize the importance of that and to highlight the importance of, frankly, the legality of leadership in space and time that were seen and reflected in leadership of disabled folks in disabled folks of color today. Do we have questions . For accessibility purposes constance is running the microphone and i will ask you state your name and where you are from. Hello, my name is diego. I work for another Organization Called [inaudible] international that supports entrepreneurs with disabilities. Im excited to see a number of entrepreneurs on the panel. The question is around that. I would argue that entrepreneurship is a way to equalize the Playing Field around employment, specifically for people with disabilities because, in a way, we are entrepreneurial by default in the way we live our lives and how you get dressed and how you drive and communicate and so i am curious what your thoughts are on entrepreneurship as a Workforce Development strategy or as a mechanism to move the needle forward on the appointment of disabled people . I want to ask and entre nous are in week one. [laughter] as long as it is yes and what is needed is access to capital. You have to make sure theres access to capital so these are sustainable, growing businesses and have to make sure the adobe certification matters and is taken seriously by companies and they are reporting on that. Yes, one 100 is one avenue and we need to support it, grow it, develop it and make sure that at the same time those workforce opportunities if that is what you choose are going in opening up as well. I will add, keep your hands up if you have questions. In terms of Workforce Development specifically, i think, to kind of bounce off what crosby said its a matter of addressing, not just as i spoke to earlier not just green space but also and not just making sure the capital is there but also creating opportunities. Right . And making sure those opportunities remain available and are consistent. I talked a lot about consistency today so i wont bring it up again. [laughter] opportunities make sure they arent disability specific opportunities as wellin terms of employment. That is part of the issue as well. Its about filling quotas for that disabled person rather than saying i will fill this position because this person is probably qualified for this position. I think its a matter of making sure the position is there and not for making sure there are multiple positions there and also making sure it was multiple positions are not disability specific. I would coast on that and put on a labor hat for Workforce Development and say that it is clearly remonstrated in research that entrepreneurship is a surefire pathway to employment for people with disabilities. Entrepreneurship in general is something that i think we need to continue to drive forward, recognizing it takes quite a bit of social capital at times for individuals to find success as they launch their own businesses so we need to be careful not to amplify the examples that are vested in the privilege you carry with you because of your family and your community connections. [inaudible] happy ada. My question is around 88. We are 29 and going into our 30th year and this is a ver very i forget the word partisan so how do you deal with and the ada was signed by president bush and there were lots of republicans who worked on the ada and how do you go into this environment where you talk about why the ada should be around next year, ten years now, 50 years from now, whatever it is and i worry about that. I will just say in an age where we are in contention thank you for your question we should not be afraid to have these conversations. The problem is the fear is so stoked within spaces in general within communities in general that we are afraid to have those continued conversations. Because of that fear, that fear has been rested in us and we have lived with that fear and to be honest that fear was prior who is occupying the white house right now. For certain folks including myself. While that fear is rested in me i also recognize that in order to progress forward and make sure that ada is still a part of the conversation going into our 30th year and now are we have to make sure that these conversations are consistentl consistently i will say it again, consistently happening. We cant just rest on our laurels and say its our anniversary of the ada, happy ada and then walk away and just expect the conversations to not happen. Whether it is Disability Awareness the mother not have to consistently have these conversations and not be afraid to have them. The only other thing i would add is been able to have these tough conversations with our friends. The 88 was passed in a bipartisan administration under bipartisan leadership and i think supported to remember that last years hr 620 the lead sponsors of it were people that call themselves aggressive and that completely decimated title iii of the ada. Its important and having a holistic take on who is with us and how do we have these conversations around the shared unity of people and how do we have this conversation around what disabilities are capable of and not just have it with folks we expect always to be with us because sometimes those folks are not with us. How do we have those tough conversations with people who traditionally would have aligned themselves with our values and perspectives but instead framed disabled folks as takers of moneymakers. One last question. Hello, my name is angie. Im on the board of counsel and might question is [inaudible] what about the over 50 crowd . Whats being done . Its an important question and its all sides of the spectrum. We need all of us, all in this room to put ability to work and that does not aid you out and there are chapters and phases and stages and that is it. The ability to work regardless of the age. I would add the importance of the rhetoric i used to work at the imitation for Community Living and never seen a bigger fight than when we were writing our mission statement. The ministration between a living brought together the ministration on [inaudible] the fight about the use of the word empower versus enable where the aging Community Like the world enabled because they do not need to be empowered because they had power. The Disability Committee did not like the word and able. They liked empowered because enable implies lack of ability. I would say this about our loving elders in the Disability Community because of changes in healthcare and things i got your scene folks age with disability as well as people aging into disability and is not the conversation we had. We had a conversation with my great uncle who has polio and i asked him what are your conferences like and this will sound like a bad joke and its my family but his response was a really dead crowd. He said they get smaller and smaller every year and said for him its been hard to find a doctor who treats polio in the United States because people dont go to school to learn how to treat people with polio anymore. Hes in his 70s and worked for a large part of his life but when the facility got this ability are two significant he retired and it is that challenge around the economic conversation about how do we have a conversation and this is something we get at another time but for folks who cant work. How do we Start Talking about the asset limit and therefore we pull together and hit on those other recommendations. I wanted to thank you all for joining us. Before i wrap up i want to make one last very exciting announcement. Joining our team here is a non residential senior fellow who is the founder of the ramp your voice creator of the story is disability to white and will work with us on reproductive justice and disability work that we are excited about and she will work remotely for us and were thrilled to have her join our team. I just wanted to take a moment to think our events team for pulling this together and you all amaze me every time in the number of times i see you the Text Messages you like its already been taken care of so why are you texting me and as someone in the disability space to work with such highly qualified and phenomenal and passionate leaders is truly a gift. I want to think our arts and Editorial Team for their terminus work and labor pulling this report together and they are amazing. Here, here. Last but not least of the moment think our interpreters and card providers and everyone that works to pull together a event like this. I have to tell you when they came here to cap there were clear and tell me they wanted to be a leader in the space, not just in terms of content we produce and policy the rollout. But to set the bar in terms of accessibility for all our events both here in house and publicly and our event team does it every time. Thank you all. Thank you all for joining us today. [applause] [inaudible conversations] marilyn congressman who chairs the House Oversight committee speaks wednesday at the national [inaudible]. We have live coverage of 1 00 p. M. Eastern tomorrow on cspan and reminder can also follow all of our coverage online at cspan. Org. [audio difficulties] cspan has live coverage of the 2020 president ial candidates at the iowa state fair starting thursday at 1 45 p. M. Eastern with Steve Bullock followed by former Vice President joe biden. Before we get started allowed me to say a few words. About the horrific Mass Shootings that occurred over this weekend in el paso and dayton. Like all americans, taryn and i were outraged and sickened by these barbaric attacks. As i stand before you today, 31 people have died, and 53 were injured. And it breaks our hearts to see so many innocent lives cut short by unspeakable violence. What happened this weekend were acts of pure evil, and we ex