Affiliate Spotlight: Disability:IN Central Texas
Welcome to our Affiliate Spotlight series! Each month, we highlight one of our affiliates, celebrating their unique contributions to disability inclusion in their local business communities. Disability:IN affiliates are non-profit, employer-led membership-based business associations that create business-to-business connections, networking, and shared learning. This month, we’re excited to feature Disability:IN Central Texas- check out this conversation with the Executive Director, Sharon Denson, M.Ed., J.D.
Question (Q): What is the background of your affiliate?
Aaron Bangor (AB): The Disability:IN Central Texas affiliate was built around the excitement and engagement of having the national conference here in Austin, TX in 2015. Leading up to that, the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities helped facilitate a collaborative meeting of over 30 organizations who had shown commitment to workforce inclusion of people with disabilities in other forums. Later that year with support and guidance from the Greater Houston affiliate, a core group founded the Central Texas affiliate and has continued to be a voice in the community advocating for greater disability inclusion and accessibility in the workplace, supply chain, and digital experiences. Over the years, we’ve adapted to meet the needs of our local community, especially transitioning to virtual education events since the pandemic. We’ve found that this flexible approach is most inclusive of the needs of our members and the local business community.
Q: What are some key events coming up for Disability:IN Central Texas?
AB: In 2024, Disability:IN Central Texas launched a monthly educational and discussion series: “Disability Inclusion Academy.” Many of these events have been on LinkedIn Live and targeted to a general audience as well as HR, diversity, and accessibility practitioners. Our goal is to expand the conversation around what it means to live and work with a disability and feature unique speakers in a panel interview-style format.
As we shift into 2025, we’re keeping the monthly event programming format and beginning to include in-person events to help our built audience connect with eachother in-person and in a meaningful way.
Q: How does your affiliate collaborate with local businesses and organizations?
AB: For many organizations, disability inclusion can be a difficult topic to talk about. When they do, it’s a multi-faceted topic with the added pressure of not wanting to make a public, embarrassing misstep. What better way to learn than from peer organizations who are sharing this journey? The key principle Disability:IN Central Texas follows is that no matter what they have done to date or how long an organization has been on their own disability inclusion journey, they have something valuable to share with others and that collectively we have more to learn and do. This empowerment comes from the business-to-business format of our affiliate and the direct engagement of our members. We all are simultaneously leaders and learners.
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This is just a glimpse into the impactful work being done by Disability:IN Connecticut. To learn more about events happening near you, be sure to check out the Affiliate Events Calendar. Stay tuned for more spotlights on our incredible local affiliates!
