American Association of People with Disabilities

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) was founded on July 25, 1995 by five disability rights activists who organized what they believed to be the next logical step for people with disabilities after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): the creation of a national, cross-disability organization that would represent Americans with disabilities and be the positive force to achieve full inclusion of all people with disabilities in American society.

AAPD works to protect and advance the rights of all people with disabilities and to fulfill the goals of the ADA: economic self-sufficiency, independent living, equal opportunity, and full participation. We intentionally invest in the professional and personal development of youth with disabilities to cultivate the next generation of disability rights leaders. Ultimately, AAPD wants every American with a disability to have the opportunity to pursue the American Dream. Despite the hard-won legislative and legal battles that have advanced the rights and opportunities for our community, people with disabilities still face many barriers to community integration, employment, accessible transportation, technology, and voting, and affordable, accessible housing and healthcare. For example, only 17.9% of people with disabilities in the United States were employed in 2016. Through its programs and advocacy efforts, AAPD seeks to break down these barriers, so that all Americans with disabilities are valued equally and have the opportunity to participate fully in society.

AAPD serves as a convener, connector, and catalyst for change, increasing the political and economic power of people with disabilities. As a national, cross-disability organization, AAPD advocates for full civil rights for the over 60 million Americans with disabilities by promoting equal opportunity, economic power, independent living, and political participation.

We work with our partners inside and outside the disability community to drive social and structural changes that decrease discrimination and increase access. As a convener, AAPD is a cross-disability organization that builds trust and unity through open, honest conversations. When we – the broad and diverse disability community - stand in solidarity on the issues that affect any part of our community, we have the power to create lasting change. As a connector, AAPD is a bridge that joins the disability community with our allies and adversaries, businesses, academia, government, and community at large, to foster understanding and identify common ground. As a catalyst, AAPD is action-oriented, building chain reactions that increase the rate and speed of change towards a more inclusive society

Since our founding, we have represented the interests and advocated for the full inclusion of people with disabilities in society. We do this through our:

Summer Internship Program
AAPD places students with all types of disabilities from across the country in summer internships with Congressional offices, federal agencies, non-profits, and for-profit organizations in the Washington, DC area.

REV UP (Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power) Campaign
The REV UP Campaign aims to increase the political power of the disability community while also engaging candidates and the media on disability issues.

AAPD Paul G. Hearne Leadership Awards
AAPD recognizes outstanding emerging leaders with disabilities who exemplify leadership, advocacy, and dedication to the broader cross-disability community.

Disability Mentoring Day (DMD)
DMD is a large-scale national effort coordinated by AAPD to promote career development for students and job-seekers with disabilities through hands-on career exploration and ongoing mentoring relationships.

NBCUniversal Tony Coelho Media Scholarship
Thanks to a generous contribution from NBCUniversal, AAPD offers scholarships to students with disabilities who are interested in pursuing a career in the communications, media, or entertainment industry.

Disability Rights Storytellers Project
Disability Rights Storytellers Project managed by AAPD and Rooted in Rights provides the opportunity for an individual with a disability to learn and apply skills in digital media storytelling, and to connect with media professionals.

Disability Equality Index (DEI)
The DEI, our joint initiative with the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN), is a national, transparent benchmarking tool that offers businesses an opportunity to receive an objective score on their disability inclusion policies and practices.

Technology Forum
The Forum serves as a strategic meeting of national disability advocacy organizations and representatives from the technology industry focused on driving and accelerating innovation to advance the interests of people with disabilities.

Policy and Advocacy
AAPD advocates for national disability policies that promote community integration, equal opportunity, economic self-sufficiency, equal rights, political participation, and access to quality, comprehensive, affordable health care.

Communications
AAPD's communications strategy includes social media outreach, a monthly e-newsletter, the Disability Download, and a blog, the AAPD Power Grid Blog. AAPD also regularly issues press releases and email updates/alerts to keep constituents informed on issues affecting our community and to drive engagement with our programs.

As one of the nation's leading cross-disability civil rights organizations, AAPD has achieved significant growth in recent years. This includes the AAPD Summer Internship Program, which went from offering internships to eight students with disabilities in 2015 to 15 internships in 2017. The NBCUniversal Tony Coelho Media Scholarship has also grown to offering eight scholarships for college students with disabilities interested in careers in communications and media after initially launching with only four scholarships. With Rooted in Rights, we started the Disability Rights Storytellers Project and hosted one fellow in the program in 2017. Additionally, through our non-partisan voting initiative, the REV UP Campaign, we are working to ensure more individuals with disabilities are registering to vote and are voting. We coordinated two successful National Disability Voter Registration Weeks (NDVRW) in July 2016 and 2017, and we look to host another NDVRW in 2018. Since launching REV UP in early 2016, we have established 18 state REV UP Campaigns – diverse State Disability Voting Coalitions – to ensure our community is engaged in the political process and to demonstrate the power of the disability vote. We look to expand the number of these Coalitions throughout 2018 and beyond. Corporate participation in the Disability Equality Index (DEI) also grew by 33% between 2015 and 2017.

Outside of our programs, we have also experienced growth in our communications/social media engagement and reach, as well as with the number of individual donors sustaining AAPD's work. In the last year, our Facebook “likes" increased 37% and the number of followers of AAPD's Twitter account grew 18%. Between 2016 and 2017, individual giving to AAPD increased by 73%. Our goal is to continue to enfranchise new and current donors, thought-leaders, and activists who will stand with us to serve as conveners, connectors, and catalysts for change to increase the economic and political power of people with disabilities.

AAPD has established goals for 2019 to build upon our recent successes and growth. We will steadfastly continue to work to expand our impact and reach across the country, while empowering and informing individuals and organizations fighting for disability rights at the local, state, and national level so all Americans with disabilities are valued equally and participate fully.