January 2023 Newsletter
AWN January Newsletter
Dear Friend,
We’re back from a much-needed winter break. We hope you took time to rest as well.
This year, 2023, is when we’re going to be building on our commitment to promote the principles of restorative and transformative justice in disability spaces. In 2022 we rolled out a new website with a Guiding Principles page that was the result of over 6 months of collaboration with Mia Mingus, a disabled leader who trains and guides community organizations towards doing more liberatory work. We believe in order to build a future where we all can thrive, our work must always be striving towards greater community accountability. Moving forward will also mean stopping to reflect on and address harm and pain people in our communities frequently experience because of the unjust systems we’re forced to work within. We want to invite other organizations and grassroots efforts to join us.
One of our newest collaborations that we’re excited to announce is with COVID-Safe Campus. They’re doing important advocacy for improved COVID protections and disability inclusion in higher education. We’re honored to be supporting them in their commitment towards justice work through our fiscal sponsorship program.
AWN is always eager to build community spaces online for our community, and as part of this commitment we started a social media account on Mastodon! If you’re on Mastodon already, please check out our profile here. If you’re interested in using Mastodon but not sure where to start, here’s a resource video by and for advocates in the nonprofit space.
We’re looking forward to February, and in honor of Black History Month we’re planning to release an e-book “A Neurodiversity and Parenting Guide…In Color.” It’s authored by our Equity, Justice & Representation Committee Chair, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, and the ebook will be a resource for families of color with autistic/neurodivergent family members, so stay tuned for more details!
I’m grateful to be in community with you.
In Community,
Sharon daVanport, Executive Director, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
P.S. I would appreciated it if you could donate today to support AWN’s work in 2023!
Donate to AWN
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