Saturday, June 17, 2017
2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Community Activism: Building and Engaging with the Disabled Community
2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Community Activism: Building and Engaging with the Disabled Community
Moderator: Catalina Restrepo | Student, UIC

Lydia X.Z. Brown | Disability Justice Advocate
Lydia X. Z. Brown (Autistic Hoya) is a gender/queer and transracially/transnationally adopted east asian autistic activist, writer, and speaker whose work has largely focused on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people, especially institutionalization, incarceration, and policing. They have worked to advance transformative change through organizing in the streets, writing legislation, conducting anti-ableism workshops, testifying at regulatory and policy hearings, and disrupting institutional complacency everywhere from the academy to state agencies and the nonprofit-industrial complex. At present, Lydia serves as Chairperson of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, and board member of the Autism Women's Network. In collaboration with E. Ashkenazy and Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu, Lydia is the lead editor and visionary behind All the Weight of Our Dreams, the first-ever anthology of writings and artwork by autistic people of color.
Most recently, Lydia designed and taught a course on critical disability theory, public policy, and intersectional social movements as a Visiting Lecturer at Tufts University’s Experimental College. Lydia is a past Patricia Morrissey Disability Policy Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership, where they focused on employment opportunities for people with significant disabilities, and past Holley Law Fellow at the National LGBTQ Task Force, where they focused on reproductive justice and disability rights policy issues. Additionally, Lydia worked for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network for several years as part of the national public policy team, where Lydia worked on various issues relating to criminal justice and disability, healthcare disparities and service delivery models, and research and employment disparities.
Lydia has been honored by the White House, the Washington Peace Center, the National Council on Independent Living, and the Disability Policy Consortium of Massachusetts. In 2015, Pacific Standard named Lydia a Top 30 Thinker under 30, and Mic named Lydia to its inaugural list of 50 impactful leaders, cultural influencers, and breakthrough innovators. Their work has been featured in various places, including Barriers & Belonging: Personal Narratives of Disability, The Asian American Literary Review, Feminist Perspectives on Orange is the New Black, Criptiques, Torture in Healthcare Settings, QDA: A Queer Disability Anthology, Films for the Feminist Classroom, Tikkun, Disability Intersections, Black Girl Dangerous, hardboiled magazine, POOR Magazine, The Washington Post; Sojourners, The Establishment, Al Jazeera America, NBC News Asian America, HerCampus, AfterEllen, and Vice Broadly. Lydia is now a Public Interest Law Scholar at Northeastern University School of Law, where they co-founded the Disability Justice Caucus.
Lydia X. Z. Brown (Autistic Hoya) is a gender/queer and transracially/transnationally adopted east asian autistic activist, writer, and speaker whose work has largely focused on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people, especially institutionalization, incarceration, and policing. They have worked to advance transformative change through organizing in the streets, writing legislation, conducting anti-ableism workshops, testifying at regulatory and policy hearings, and disrupting institutional complacency everywhere from the academy to state agencies and the nonprofit-industrial complex. At present, Lydia serves as Chairperson of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, and board member of the Autism Women's Network. In collaboration with E. Ashkenazy and Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu, Lydia is the lead editor and visionary behind All the Weight of Our Dreams, the first-ever anthology of writings and artwork by autistic people of color.
Most recently, Lydia designed and taught a course on critical disability theory, public policy, and intersectional social movements as a Visiting Lecturer at Tufts University’s Experimental College. Lydia is a past Patricia Morrissey Disability Policy Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership, where they focused on employment opportunities for people with significant disabilities, and past Holley Law Fellow at the National LGBTQ Task Force, where they focused on reproductive justice and disability rights policy issues. Additionally, Lydia worked for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network for several years as part of the national public policy team, where Lydia worked on various issues relating to criminal justice and disability, healthcare disparities and service delivery models, and research and employment disparities.
Lydia has been honored by the White House, the Washington Peace Center, the National Council on Independent Living, and the Disability Policy Consortium of Massachusetts. In 2015, Pacific Standard named Lydia a Top 30 Thinker under 30, and Mic named Lydia to its inaugural list of 50 impactful leaders, cultural influencers, and breakthrough innovators. Their work has been featured in various places, including Barriers & Belonging: Personal Narratives of Disability, The Asian American Literary Review, Feminist Perspectives on Orange is the New Black, Criptiques, Torture in Healthcare Settings, QDA: A Queer Disability Anthology, Films for the Feminist Classroom, Tikkun, Disability Intersections, Black Girl Dangerous, hardboiled magazine, POOR Magazine, The Washington Post; Sojourners, The Establishment, Al Jazeera America, NBC News Asian America, HerCampus, AfterEllen, and Vice Broadly. Lydia is now a Public Interest Law Scholar at Northeastern University School of Law, where they co-founded the Disability Justice Caucus.

Reveca Torres | Founder, BACKBONES
Reveca Torres, founder and Executive Director of BACKBONES, was injured and paralyzed in a car accident at the age of 13. After completing degrees in Fashion Design and Theatre Arts Reveca worked as a costume designer and simultaneously worked with various organizations doing disability work in the realms of health & fitness, transitioning, recreation, education and peer support. She started BACKBONES in 2009 after realizing that years of interaction and friendship with others living with spinal injuries (SCI) had made a significant impact in her self-image, confidence and drive to succeed. Reveca wanted to ensure that others, especially those newly injured, had access to resources, information, and the same type of peer support she has had.
BACKBONES exists to help people with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D) and their families connect with their communities. We do that by creating events and experiences that promote awareness and engage people of all abilities.
Reveca is also a Co-Founder of the National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities.
Reveca Torres, founder and Executive Director of BACKBONES, was injured and paralyzed in a car accident at the age of 13. After completing degrees in Fashion Design and Theatre Arts Reveca worked as a costume designer and simultaneously worked with various organizations doing disability work in the realms of health & fitness, transitioning, recreation, education and peer support. She started BACKBONES in 2009 after realizing that years of interaction and friendship with others living with spinal injuries (SCI) had made a significant impact in her self-image, confidence and drive to succeed. Reveca wanted to ensure that others, especially those newly injured, had access to resources, information, and the same type of peer support she has had.
BACKBONES exists to help people with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D) and their families connect with their communities. We do that by creating events and experiences that promote awareness and engage people of all abilities.
Reveca is also a Co-Founder of the National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities.

Dolores Tejada | Director, Disability and Deaf Services for San Francisco Women Against Rape
Dolores Tejada is a fat, femme, crip, Latinx survivor who has 15 years experience in community organizing around equitable education, harm reduction, and disability rights issues. She currently serves as the Director of Disability and Deaf Services at San Francisco Women Against Rape.
Dolores Tejada is a fat, femme, crip, Latinx survivor who has 15 years experience in community organizing around equitable education, harm reduction, and disability rights issues. She currently serves as the Director of Disability and Deaf Services at San Francisco Women Against Rape.

Maria Conchita Hernandez Legorreta | Founder & Director, METAS
Conchita Hernandez was born in Mexico and grew up in California. She advocates for the rights of blind children and their parents in the public school setting through a lens of intersectionality focusing on social justice. Conchita holds a Master's in Teaching with a focus on teaching blind students from Louisiana Tech University. Conchita also earned a certificate in working with Deaf-Blind students from Northern Illinois University. She is currently a Doctorate student in Special Education at George Washington University.
Conchita is a member of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA), Washington Metro Association of Blind Athletes (WMABA) where she serves on the board as secretary, and the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind (AER). Conchita has been the director of the NFB BELL Academy in Washington DC for the past 3 years. This program mainly serves blind youth of color and empowers them to learn braille and foster a positive philosophy on blindness and disability. Conchita also runs the Spanish Translation Committee for the National Federation of the Blind, which runs Spanish programming across the country.
Conchita is the Chair of METAS (Mentoring Engaging and Teaching All Students) a non-profit organization that trains educators internationally that work with blind/low vision students and students with other disabilities. Conchita is also a Co-Founder of the National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities.
Conchita Hernandez was born in Mexico and grew up in California. She advocates for the rights of blind children and their parents in the public school setting through a lens of intersectionality focusing on social justice. Conchita holds a Master's in Teaching with a focus on teaching blind students from Louisiana Tech University. Conchita also earned a certificate in working with Deaf-Blind students from Northern Illinois University. She is currently a Doctorate student in Special Education at George Washington University.
Conchita is a member of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA), Washington Metro Association of Blind Athletes (WMABA) where she serves on the board as secretary, and the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind (AER). Conchita has been the director of the NFB BELL Academy in Washington DC for the past 3 years. This program mainly serves blind youth of color and empowers them to learn braille and foster a positive philosophy on blindness and disability. Conchita also runs the Spanish Translation Committee for the National Federation of the Blind, which runs Spanish programming across the country.
Conchita is the Chair of METAS (Mentoring Engaging and Teaching All Students) a non-profit organization that trains educators internationally that work with blind/low vision students and students with other disabilities. Conchita is also a Co-Founder of the National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities.