To:
From:
Date:
RE:
RespectAbility Board/Donors
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
April, 2014
Performance Report on empowering people with disabilities to achieve the
American dream
Thank you so much for caring about people with disabilities (“PwDs”) and for being a part of
our start up as we work to empower people with disabilities to achieve the American dream.
RespectAbility is now nine months old and has spent $130K. Thus, it is time to take stock,
evaluate our progress to date, and make any needed mid-course corrections. Additionally, we
were given temporary free office space and now we are at the juncture where we need to actually
move to more permanent and paid office space. Thus, as we look at our own performance
metrics, here is a look back and ahead.
On June 13, 2013 our board passed a very specific mission for RespectAbility, which is to:
1. Reshape the attitudes of American society so that people with disabilities can more fully
participate in and contribute to society, and
2. Empower people with disabilities to achieve as much of the American dream as their abilities
and efforts permit.
Our business plan and launch outlined a number of specific sectors critical to achieving our
goals. Our “theory of change” was very clear and already in our early months we have achieved
great things. We have spoken face to face with 32 governors about employment for people with
disabilities, seen several of those governors already make dramatic improvements in their
policies (i.e. Delaware, Wisconsin, Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota), are seeing big potential in
other states (NY, NJ, IL and others), received important media coverage, completed multiple
polls and focus groups, built critical databases of key contacts and hosted multiple educational
opportunities including a highly successful event on Capitol Hill with Gov. Jack Markell, Rep.
Pete Sessions and MTV Host T.J. Lavin. We launched our first PSA with T.J. Lavin which aired
in Washington in CNN, FOX, MSNBC, MTV, CNBC and other networks. We have done two
events with the White House, both of which were covered in the media.
It is still too early to see employment rates and attitudes overall improve as a result of our work,
but we hope to see some future positive movement. New Department of Labor numbers do show,
however, that Delaware and Iowa, which are starting to use best practices, have very good new
statistics on employment for veterans with disabilities.
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You can refer to our business plan for why we targeted each group. I have put in bold special
notes on each sector.
1. Elected Officials, Policy Makers and Government
Our most important impact so far has been with governors. We focused on this group because of
the leadership of then National Governor’s Association (NGA) chair Gov. Jack Markell, who
made this issue a priority in “A Better Bottom Line: Employment for People with Disabilities.”
Governors have a tremendous impact on public education and workforce development. Programs
such as Project Search (real life work experience done during school hours by students with
disabilities ages 19-21) are showing terrific results in leading to employment. We now have an
excellent contact point for every governor, and have spoken face-to-face with 32 governors on
jobs for people with disabilities.
For example, we first met at length with Gov. Scott Walker of WI and his top team on August 2,
2013. In his State of the State Address in January of 2014 he made jobs for people with
disabilities one of his top issues and a feature not only of his speech but also of his policies. The
same is true of the policies of other governors including Jack Markell (DE), Dennis Daugaard
(SD), Terry Branstad (IA), and Phil Bryant (MS). While Gov. Markell’s commitment preceded
our work, and in fact we rely very heavily on our partnership with him, we have sponsored other
meetings at two National Governors Association events and plan to repeat these again at the next
one. We also made visits to NY and NJ to follow up specifically with the top
professionals/Cabinet officials on these issues per the direction of Governors Cuomo and
Christie, respectively. We are in discussions with teams from Governors in NM, VA, PA, IL,
MO, CA, GA, NC and other states as well.
See Appendix D for a sample letter that went to governors during our second approach to them.
RespectAbility sent our Fellows repeatedly door to door on for days on Capitol Hill to find a
point person for each office. In the past eight months we have dramatically expanded our lists of
political and policy contacts. We are emailing opportunities and information to more than 900
Hill staff and state officials and have shared these political contact lists with other disability
groups who share our agenda.
However, our key focus in the public sector has been with governors where we see the most
immediate progress taking place. See Appendix E for an update on work with governors across
the country.
However, it’s not enough for us to know who the players are – they need to know and trust us on
disability issues so we can help them be more effective. Like any relationship building with highlevel contacts, it takes time. When we started it was disheartening to find that most disability
groups were only working with a handful of offices on the Hill, and that most Capitol Hill and
Governors’ offices had not even designated a person within their core staff who would handle
disability issues.
Therefore, we have also made it a priority to reach out to political consultants. This is because
elected officials often do what their political consultants advise them to do, as it generally helps
them get re-elected/ elected. We built a list of 300 top political consultants and are sending them
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information including data from our poll that shows that people with disabilities WILL vote on
disability issues. Many of the poll questions were designed specifically with these consultants in
mind. Doc Sweitzer from our board is an especially important participant on this front as he is a
major player inside the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), which is the
trade association for political consultants.
2. Disability Groups
We are now working with dozens of disability groups and are especially close with our host
group, the Autism Society, as well as those who have leaders on our Board of Advisors such as
NICL and NACDD, plus USBLN, Best Buddies, NFB, and AUCD. Other groups are nervous
that our positioning/ framing that “people with disabilities have abilities and can be excellent in
the workplace” will undermine the “pity factor” that leads to funding the safety net for people
with disabilities. Some have invested heavily in that image and feel it is vital for government
benefits to continue. They are concerned that following cuts in SNAP (food stamps), Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) (which is already financially due to go bankrupt in 2016) is
at risk. We are sensitive to these issues and will do a focus group soon in cooperation with these
groups so we can find messages that work across the board.
There are about 100 disability leaders in Washington who all seem to know one another and
attend each other’s events. We have not had the capacity to get our own work done and show up
at many of these events, especially given how far away we are from DC. Because we don’t
lobby, we do not sign onto the many lobby letters being circulated. This initially surprised some
partners, but has become expected as our SOP. However, we are now asking these same groups
to sign onto letters to Governors, political consultants and Hollywood insiders.
One of the great successes has been our work with Development Disability Councils (DD
Councils) around the country. For example, RespectAbility’s CEO co-keynoted a major rally in
Georgia with the DD Council and Gov. Deal. At the rally Gov. Deal made early commitments to
make progress on jobs for people with disabilities. See
http://www.gcdd.org/component/tags/tag/2-disability-day.html. RespectAbility will be briefing
leaders of these groups at their national meeting this weekend.
3. Private Sector
We have had a lot of success in highlighting the private sector’s use of disability “stories” in
their for-profit marketing TV and web ads. The Guinness beer ad, for example, showed a
tremendous, and clever, example of inclusion: a group of guys are playing wheelchair basketball
– until it is revealed that only one of the players is a regular wheelchair user. The ad received
more than 4 million hits on YouTube. Even better was the Duracell ad created by P&G with
Seattle Seahawk’s Derrick Coleman who happens to be deaf. That ad received more than a
BILLION impressions on the web, with more than 15 million individual views. It was followed
up by another P&G ad, which showcased a paralympian, which has already gotten more than 4
million clicks. RespectAbility showcased these ads widely to get them even more press and
traction. Respectability’s CEO published two op-eds on the ads, which got the attention of
Derrick Coleman and, as a result, he will be doing an event with RespectAbility in the future at
the National Press Club.
The White House, concerned at the lack of progress on the employment front has issued new
Labor Department 503 rules which go much further in establishing specific guidelines for federal
P a g e 3 | 33
contractors and subcontractors to recruit, hire, promote and retain people with disabilities and
protected veterans. In addition to drafting plans to ensure and prove their organizations are
utilizing at least 7 percent of available individuals with disabilities in their workforces (for
veterans, that percentage goes to 8), employers will be required to develop much more in-depth
affirmative-action plans, collect and analyze data to ensure their plans are accurate and effective,
create training programs to ensure everyone involved in hiring is aware of them, and more.
Our partner USBLN is doing an outstanding job with employers as the new 503 regulations
create important opportunities. RespectAbility’s President went to CA for the USBLN annual
meeting and trained their staff. We are working closely with them and others on their efforts.
Still, there is push back from the private sector on what they see as coercion in the 503
regulations. At this moment it is important for the private sector to be exposed to case studies
that illustrate employees with disabilities who have enabled companies to make more money. A
good
example
of
this
is:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/autism-help-land-job00100888.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory. On that front we will soon do a webinar with Lori
Golden of Ernst and Young, one of the foremost experts in this field. We will do another in
partnership with USBLN.
Elite Private Schools: Many private sector hiring decisions are at least initiated by CEOs. Many
of the most important companies’ CEOs hail from a small number of elite schools. However, it
has come to our attention that most elite private high schools which are feeder schools into the
Ivy League, Stanford, GA Tech and other key institutions do not include students and faculty
members with obvious disabilities. This is a challenge we intend to address as future CEOs and
elected leaders are being denied access to formative experiences with “twice exceptional”
(people with disabilities but who are also gifted) peers with disabilities. Why would they want
their teams to include people with disabilities if they only see us with pity, and not for the
abilities we have? Thus, we plan to do some targeted work with elite schools on this issue in
advance of the 2015 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. After all, the
talented young Americans who start high school at elite private schools in 2015 will start
becoming critical hiring and policy leaders as soon as 2025.
4. Faith-Based Groups
Faith-based organizations play a major role in American society, leadership and civil rights and
are an important component of our work. With both our chair and president being so active in the
Jewish community, RespectAbility started with a major focus in the Jewish community. Our
president has published approximately two-dozen pieces on disability inclusion in Jewish
publications. We have built a strong list of Jewish leaders and email them regularly. We have
already done polling in the Jewish community, and our recent poll included many questions that
were important to understanding other faith groups as well. We were able to release separate data
for Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals and Jews.
We are a part of a coalition with other faith groups being led by Rev. Bill Gaventa of the Boggs
Center and Prof. Erik Carter of Vanderbilt. Since our training several months ago, “Abraham’s
Tent”, hosted at Temple Beth Ami and attended by 150 Jewish professionals 15, we are seeing
significant progress in the Jewish community. Three streams of Judaism (Reform, Conservative,
Orthodox) as well as the Jewish Federation of North American and Jewish Council for Public
Affairs have all released terrific aspirational goals in terms of inclusion. Now we need to move
from “talking the talk” to “walking the walk.” Other people/groups such as Shelley Cohen’s
P a g e 4 | 33
Jewish Inclusion Project, the Ruderman Family Foundation, Weinberg Foundation, Butler
Foundation, Jewish Funders Network, etc. are also playing major roles.
Additionally, there is significantly more media on this topic in the Jewish press, including real
traction for the New Normal, a blog of the NY Jewish Week on disability issues in the Jewish
community. It already has more than 100,000 unique hits and we publish regularly there as well
as in other publications. We have done two events with the White House and both of them were
covered in the media. It is our plan to replicate best practices in our outreach to other faith
groups in the future.
5. News Media
We have built lists of media contacts and are emailing them regularly, but because we have not
raised enough money to put paid staff in place, we have not had the capacity to deliver enough
stories yet. Perhaps the most influential segment delivered was the CNBC segment we inspired
and helped craft: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000193204. We also have seen
traction with a special target audience – publications read by human resources managers who are
in a position to hire people with disabilities. See
http://blog.hreonline.com/2014/02/24/momentum-building-for-putting-disabled-to-work.
We did reach out to press at the National Governors Association meeting. We got this good
piece:
http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/employing-the-disabled85899495229 as well as several pieces regarding the follow up from our work with Gov. Walker.
See https://www.google.com/#q=walker+disability+jobs+wisconsin and
http://www.jsonline.com/business/collaboration-promotes-hiring-of-workers-withdisabilities-b99144913z1-232937081.html
See section below on all the op-eds published, including in USA Today, Des Moines Register,
Milwaukee Journal, Huffington Post and others. In addition, we have met with the NJ Star
Ledger editorial board, NPR, The NewsHour and have met twice with a key reporter from USA
Today. We have requested meetings with The New York Times and Washington Post editorial
boards, both of whom declined that opportunity. However, we have significant traction with one
publication on potentially giving them an exclusive on the major study we are doing on inclusion
of children with disabilities at the elite private schools that are essentially feeder schools to the
Ivy’s and other colleges.
6. Celebrities/Hollywood/Entertainment Media
We are extremely fortunate to have three key individuals in our court. The first is leading
scriptwriter, Murray Siegel (see http://www.laszlostrategies.com/docs/siegelcv.pdf) who is
highly gifted in mind and heart. He has been working with us, with assistance from our own
board superstar talent Doc Sweitzer, to produce PSAs featuring major celebrities. The second is
reality-TV pioneer Jonathan Murray (see http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bunimmurray-25-years-the-real-world-jonathan-murray-306327) whose exceptional work with
Pedro on MTV’s Real World led to public acceptance of people who are HIV positive. He is a
major contributor to inclusion of LGBT people on reality TV. His dramatic impact there could be
surpassed by his new contributions for the inclusion of PwDs. The third is MTV Host TJ Lavin
who stared in a PSA for us and came to Capitol Hill to participate in an event for RespectAbility
alongside Gov. Jack Markell, Rep. Pete Session and a Paralympic gold medalist. Dozens of Hill
P a g e 5 | 33
staff registered for the event, which was successful. To view the PSA go to
www.RespectAbilityUSA.org.
We have now sent letters to 300 of the most powerful decision makers in the television and
movie industry asking them to include more PwDs in their work as we believe that this would
have incredible transformational potential. A copy of our letter to Hollywood/ Television/Film
leaders is at the bottom of this document in Appendix A. We are now working to get other
disability groups to send letters to these same leaders. Additionally, we will soon be releasing
poll data from our poll of 3800 people in the disability community on how they view Hollywood
and the news media.
7. Philanthropists
We built a list of major philanthropists and sent a letter to more than 900 of them asking them to
ensure that the organizations that they support do not discriminate against people with
disabilities. Many were surprised to learn that religious organizations are exempt from ADA
laws and do discriminate. We have also published op-eds urging the use of the power of the
purse for good. See section below.
Examples of progress include a meeting between the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater
Washington (large donor to Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School – CES/JDS), the new CEO of
CES/JDS and RespectAbility’s president to explore how this $30 million a year school can
become inclusive of more children with disabilities in the future. The school is now working on a
new strategic plan that should include welcoming more students with disabilities. The inclusion
issue has also become a topic of conversation at the Jewish Funders Network - at least behind the
scenes - demonstrating that our strategy of using the golden rule (s/he who has the gold, makes
the rules) can have impact when philanthropists tell the groups they fund that they will not fund
discrimination in the future.
Still, it is important to have both carrots and sticks. The Ruderman Family Foundation has been
offering major monetary awards to successful cases/leaders, and RespectAbility has been
focusing on monitoring progress. In the future we are looking to do an actual formal scorecard in
advance of the 25th Anniversary of the ADA.
First Nine Months: More Outcomes
In our business plan, we were also very specific in our tactics and goals. They are in regular text
below followed by an update on our progress in bolded black.
From Respectability’s Business Plan: The team of RespectAbilityUSA believes in “planning our
work and working our plan”. Our CEO, with support from other team members, founded and led
a successful public policy educational organization in the past. We will build on our proven
leadership skills and techniques. In this new organization, however, we seek to improve
opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities and America overall by educating
leaders, employers, philanthropists and the media through the use of opinion research, strategic
communication, and high quality training and education. Indeed, we seek to focus more on the
communications side than any group has ever tried. Our plan of action has three overall
objectives for our first year:
P a g e 6 | 33
2.1 Create our infrastructure, team, baseline research for messaging and contacts so that we have a
platform for education on key disability and independence issues.
We signed an agreement with the Autism Society, which gave us a safe and solid “home” to
begin our efforts. This also gave us tax deductibility and synergy within their goals.
However, now that the Autism Society has received a major new grant, their expansion
means we will need to find new office space.
In the absence of sufficient funding, we have relied heavily on “fellows” who receive a
$250/month transportation stipend and have been critical to the progress we have made
over the past nine months. Our previous fellows have been: Kenny Kalman, Hannah
Pincus, David Cohen, Hillary Steen, Daphna Oren, Matthew Joyce, Lauren Gilbert and
Megan Bachelder. Our current fellows are Evelyn Kelley, Garrett Patterson, Omar Chan,
Donald Minor, Pilar Pastor and Liz O’Reilly. Two other fellows started with us but did not
complete because of health issues related to their disabilities. Garrett Patterson has played
an especially important role as he has been able to volunteer full time for eight months.
Likewise Evelyn Kelly has been with us part time that entire period and offered vital
writing and web skills. Both are about to go to graduate school, so we will lose them.
Other volunteers include Cathy Gildenhorn, Meyrav Wermser and Robin Shaffert.
Meagan Buren is paid for her professional public opinion research and strategic work, and
Tonya Koslo is paid hourly for bookkeeping and other key administrative tasks.
RespectAbility President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi is working full time for free.
We are operating currently on approximately 6K a month, not including special project
costs and mailings. That cost will increase dramatically when we have to pay rent and
hopefully be able to afford our first paid staff. Additionally, we will soon launch a new
website.

Build a database of key decision makers and influentials that can dramatically improve the
quality of life for people with disabilities. This includes the President of the United States along
with key White House and Administration staff, Members of Congress and the Senate (as well as
their key staff members), Governors, Commerce and Labor Secretaries, Presidential candidates,
political consultants, media (print, television, radio, columnists, bloggers), key philanthropists,
think tanks, journalists, media personalities, celebrities, religious leaders and disability groups.
Database development has consumed a significant amount of our time. Fellows repeatedly
went door to door to every Congressional and Senate office to introduce RespectAbility and
ask for the contact information of the correct staff person in that office for us to invite to
educational programs. We now have more than 900 Hill and Governor contacts. We now
have a database for us of more than 300 television leaders. We created lists of major movie
studios/leaders, reporters, governors, celebrities with ties to disabilities, Presidential
candidates, political consultants, philanthropists, disability groups and more. All of these
lists can and will be improved over time. However, we have mailed or emailed all the lists
at least once, and in some cases (especially disability groups) multiple times.

Complete the legal work to get the group IRS approved and its name trademarked. An
P a g e 7 | 33
outstanding board and staff will need to be recruited, and policies established. Basic operational
issues such as office space and an accessible website will be set up.
We are still finalizing legal application issues to become our own non-profit and have
already applied to have our name trademarked. We have recruited an outstanding board
of directors and board of advisors.

Raise over $1,500,000. The first contributor to the project was Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi who has
donated 70K and worked pro-bono on the project to get it started. At least half of her time
working on this project in the year ahead will also be donated.
Fundraising has been painful and slow. It is the single biggest obstacle to our success. So
far Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and others has been working for free and that will need to
continue for some time. When we hire one full time professional to manage the fellows inhouse it will free Mizrahi to do other things including face-to-face fundraising and
meetings with leaders.

Currently we have a total of 182 donors with total donations of $270,731.00 including $70k
given by the Mizrahi Family Charitable Trust. The donors are:
$50,000 Plus: Mizrahi Family Charitable Trust, Milbank Foundation for Rehabilitation
$25,000 to $49,999: Anonymous Donor
$10,000 to $24,999: Ruderman Family Foundation, Delman Mortenson Charitable Foundation,
J.E. & Z.B. Butler Foundation, Anonymous Donor
$5,000 to $9,999: Thomas Sweitzer, Julius and Dorothy Lazarus Foundation, Sklare Family
Foundation, Marilyn Einstein/Steve Sim Family Donor Advised Fund
$1,000 to $4,999: Alexander Foundation, The Aaron and Cecile Goldman Family Foundation,
Combined Jewish Philanthropies William Sapers, Donn Weinberg, Lisa Wallack, Moses and
Susan Feldman Fund, Cheri Fox, Jack Belz, Linda Mirels, John and Patricia Laszlo, Holtz
Family Trust, Martin and Roberta Goldstein, Einstein-Sim Family Trust, Louis and Robin
Zweig, Shelley Cohen, Andy Lappin, Paula & Jerry Gottesman, Jewish Community Foundation
of MetroWest NJ, Gary and Esther Polland, Michael Frieze, Margo Sim Gleitman, Nancy
Grossman-Samuel, Joanne Hovis, Robert Horwitz, Stanley Tate, Sitirick Family Charitable
Fund, and Audrey and Albert Ratner Fund for the Disabled
$1-$999: Morton Landowne, Les and Lori Ulanow, Andrew Afflerbach, J Karp, Jaime Bassman,
Robert and Arlene Kogod Family Foundation, David Berl, Raymond A. & Vivian G. Bass
Family Philanthropic Fund, United Jewish Endowment Fund, Philip and Phyllis Margolius,
Steven & Lisa Marcus Abramowitz Family Philanthropic Fund, Alan Dana, Joseph and Selma
Sitrick, Seltzer Family Foundation, Neil Schechter, Marty Linsky And Lynn Staley, Howard
May, Lainy Lebow-Sachs, Nancy Laszlo, Friedel Family Foundation, Jules Polonetsky, Levy
Family Donor Advised Fund, Robert and Elisa Bildner, Zarchary Lanier Charitable Fund, Steve
Rabinowitz, Jeffrey Glueck, Elliot and Gail Norry, David Soltz, Karen Sallerson, Betty Kane,
Loryn Lesser, Abraham Briloff, Leonore Briloff, Steven Finkelman, Daniel Ross and Mary Loud
P a g e 8 | 33
Allen, Bill Gaventa, Robert Gutman, Lesley Israel, Steve Rabinowitz, Lynne Kane, Antonio
Godino, Jason Gewirtz, Lesley Israel, Arlene Remz, Linda and Andy Burger, Lisa Derx, Bill
Gaventa, Jonathan Goldsmith, Mark Johnson, Eric Schon, Cathy Bolinger, Lawrence Haas,
Linda Pogue, Marvin Schotland, Robert Gettlin, Bevery Marcuse and Loris Katten Levy
Memorial Donor Advised Fund, Laura Cutler, Linda and Andy Burger, David Landau, Libby
Monias, Marlaine Lavine, Ronald and Barbara Pred, Lois Zoller, Sharon Shapiro, Mark Israel,
Violette Berger, Catherine Rowen, Noel Schachner, Sol Toder, Eva Steen, Gail Gurin, Gary and
Susan Behrend, Noa Meir, Gary Perolman, Paul Kronish, Cecilia Blau, Ariel and Jane Walsh,
Andy Gryll, Liselotte Adler, Alan Schlaifer, Mendel Kaplan, Morris Stein, Lawrence Goldberg,
Carol Fineblum, Maria Negri, James Price, Sidney Marshall, Robert and Leah Isler, Eugene
Brody, Aaron Yaschine, Judy and Jon Rudin, Avi West, Harold Levine, Sandra Turnauer, Martin
Weinstein, Marcel Abel Chopineaux, Larry Pollack, Andrew Sharmat, Nathan Geter, Nochum
and Hindy Light, Gerald and Renee Silverstein, Irving Newman, Michael Altenberg, Suzanne
Parelman, J. Merle and Carla Schulman, Ardis Wexler, Lyon and Sarah Bodzy, Tibor Engel,
Melvin and Marilyn Satlof, Jon and Diane Levinson, Alick Mazin, J. Merle and Carla Schulman,
Jon and Diane Levinson, Anna Lutsky, Madeline Tannenbaum, Sara Simon, Balkin Products
Inc., Leonard Bennett, Gary Peyrot, Norman Davis, Daniel Seftel, Faye Berger, Bruce Waltzer,
Irving Kabik, Bertram and Evelyn Klapholtz, Estelle Schutzman, Carol Dukes Dobos, Sandra
Lehner, Len Bennett, Faye Berger, Ewa Spanjer, Linda Freud, Florencio Lara, Laurence Lipman,
Samuel Liron, Wendy Weisbard, Matt Friedman, Rhonda Lees, Janet Bruner, and Nelson Simon.
It is critical to note that almost all these donors are faith-based donors most of whom do
not typically fund in the disability sector. Many were giving based on a personal
relationship with a member of the RespectAbility team. However, many of these donors
have now become more educated on these issues and are really starting to get excited about
seeing so much progress in a short time span. Still, we need to quickly identify other donors
who are more focused on disability issues/social justice/poverty and civil rights. We already
have a list of foundations that fund in those spaces but almost all of them only fund in
limited locations and/or direct service. So we will need to develop a donor pool of people
who care about these issues but who are not yet involved in them. Fortunately, our first
donors listed above are extremely smart and experienced philanthropists, so we will turn to
them for ideas in addition to their earlier financial contributions. We hope they will
increase their contributions now that they know the issues and we have a proven track
record.
Year-to-date (2/23/14) paid expenses total $130,626.74.

Engage pro-bono and dramatically discounted services of experienced and outstanding strategic
communications experts who can help ensure that elected officials, leaders, and members of the
media understand the values, goals, and strategic needs that they share with Americans with
disabilities.
This is happening and was especially true of our summer media and advocacy training on
Capitol Hill. We enlisted outstanding speakers who all provided their services for free (see
the sessions on our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=respectabilityusa&sm=1).
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A challenge for us has been our Bethesda location, which is very much outside the center of
action. It is impossible for RespectAbility’s President to simply have lunch with key people
or drop by events as the travel consumes whole day. Given the level of supervision that is
needed of our fellows (who come with limited experience for a short period of time and
require significant supervision) networking has been hindered. This can be resolved in two
ways – raising enough money to hire someone who can lead the team in-house and moving
our office to a downtown location. We are currently looking for new space but will be
limited by our tight budget. The majority of our work will still be done by our amazing
fellows who give of their time and talents every day. Many of our fellows have disabilities
and are also very talented, so we live our mission every day.
 Conduct focus groups of key stakeholders. This includes the “customers” (Americans with
disabilities who want/need to be more independent and successful) as well as policy makers
(especially those on the political “right” who are highly skeptical of government-led solutions)
and other key decision makers/influentials. Special attention will be paid to voters with
disabilities in swing states such as Ohio and Florida.
To date we have completed three very important focus groups with:
 People with disabilities who are looking for work;
 Providers/family members of people with disabilities who are helping their loved
one with a disability look for work; and
 Hill staff/Think tanks from right wing/Republican party.
The first two groups were conducted primarily to help us clarify our thinking regarding
our major online poll of people with disabilities, their providers and family members. That
poll has been completed now and the results published.
Our focus group of conservative Washington insiders was critical in framing all of our
messages in the media and to leaders on employment for PwDs. It also gave the disability
community the capacity to reframe the messages about the disability treaty. We still need
to complete the written reports on the other two focus groups and develop a message memo
based on the poll. That will be completed soon.
 Lead focus groups of primary voters from key early states in the Presidential campaign (i.e., New
Hampshire) to see what messages will work to persuade them to put issues that have an impact
on people with disabilities into their campaign planning voting equation.
It is still too early to do this and we don’t yet have the required money. However, we were
able to encourage a highly successful project with the Governor of Iowa – a statewide
summit on employment for PwDs. We have met with him twice and he is committed on
these issues. He is running for re-election and it is likely that he will win another term in
office.
 Conduct three surveys to identify the messages that will win the support of the disability
community, American leaders and voters. The first will be an online poll of self-identified
Americans with disabilities and their families to find out how they view the issues and where
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their priorities lie. The second will be a national phone poll of registered voters. It will have an
oversample of Americans with disabilities and their loved ones. The third will be a phone poll of
New Hampshire Presidential primary voters to inject disability issues into the 2014 Presidential
campaign. All research will be used to find the best messaging for the disability community and
will be shared broadly to dozens of non-profit organizations that champion the causes of people
with disabilities, as well as with leaders who are willing to join our cause. Both political parties
and all major Presidential candidates will be given equal access to polling data that shows what
voters with disabilities care about.
 We completed a poll of 3800 PwDs and stakeholders. This poll required significant effort to
create the right survey instrument and to persuade disability groups to email/Facebook and
Tweet the survey to their own house lists. It was very important to share this data first and
foremost with disability groups. Key data from the poll was also shared with the media,
leaders, etc. The most important outcome was to confirm that PwDs want to work, and
verify that they feel capable to succeed.
 We had a wonderful opportunity to add disability questions to a poll undertaken by
Jerusalem U that investigated PwDs issues in the Jewish community. The poll had a
sample size of 2607 Jews and received a massive amount of press in the Jewish media. This
poll has been very instrumental in encouraging philanthropists to care more about PwDs
issues in the faith community. See http://www.respectabilityusa.org/#!poll/c3mu. This
followed a poll that the RespectAbility team conducted under Laszlo Strategies for the
Foundation for Jewish Camp on disability inclusion. See
http://www.jewishcamp.org/research.
 Become THE source of proven public opinion research on how Americans view people with
disabilities and issues that impact them, and which messages work to bring increased support for
the rights and opportunities for people with disabilities.
Our report on our focus group with staff from Republican Capitol Hill/Think tank offices
was very well received by the disability community. It was critically important to share the
data of our major poll broadly inside the disability community as well as to leaders. This
month we will release another major research memo.
 Create standard, professional and proven messages for spokespeople and organizations that are
committed to promoting the rights and opportunities of Americans with disabilities.
This has been a major focus of our work. We have created media and leadership training
units, held conference calls and in person training seminars. However, not everyone or
every group understands how the use effective messages can save them time/money and
increase their positive impact. We also will not feel fully confident in our messages until we
have completed a national phone voter survey, which will be expensive to do.
We are especially proud of this document:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-laszlo-mizrahi/10-tips-to-enable-people_b_4261901.html?1384567793 and all the toolkits on our website to help the disability
community be more effective in advocacy efforts.
P a g e 11 | 33
- Strengthen partnerships and coalitions between disability groups. Lead intensive personal
sessions with the disability community’s key spokespeople to help them conduct winning
television interviews.
 Produce and air television ads on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and as well as online in the Washington
area to highlight the importance of solving problems on disability issues. Ads will use the
messages found in the focus groups and polls to win hearts and minds for results-driven public
policies that will improve the lives of people with disabilities who want to become independent.
RespectAbility was able to secure support from the creator of reality television shows, Jonathan
Murray, as well as the scrip writing talents of award-winning Hollywood luminary Murray
Siegel and the talent of MTV star and extreme sport champion T.J. Lavin who, due to a major
extreme
sport
accident,
was
temporarily
disabled.
See
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._J._Lavin ). This trio worked together with our team with
some additional support from Jack Harzman, to create our first-ever public service ad. The ad
can me seen at www.RespectAbilityUSA.org. So far the ad has aired on CNN, MSNBC, FOX,
Headline with help from COMCAST. Online it has received 1300 hits so far. See
www.RespectAbilityUSA.org.
We are eager to do more public service ads. One idea is to do a variation on super talents with
disabilities. Here is a version from history. Others would focus on current talents.
Script:
Ability
The screen is black.
The sound of Beethoven's music.
Dissolve to images of sheet music.
ANNOUNCER
(voiceover)
Beautiful music from a deaf man?
Dissolve to a portrait of Ludwig von Beethoven
Superimpose text: Ludwig von Beethoven, Hearing Impaired
Dissolve through to close up of the Declaration of Independence
ANNOUNCER
(voiceover)
World changing words from someone with dyslexia?
Dissolve to a portrait of Thomas Jefferson
Superimpose text: Thomas Jefferson, Dyslexia
ANNOUNCER
(voiceover)
P a g e 12 | 33
Generations inspired by a woman who can't see or hear?
Dissolve to a portrait of Helen Keller
Superimpose text: Helen Keller, Blind and Deaf
CELEB ANNOUNCER Isn’t it time to see people with disabilities for the abilities they have?
Respect the Ability. Imagine the possibility.
Dissolve to logo

Create and disseminate regular e-newsletters that will provide expert information, opeds and
invitations to relevant training opportunities.
This has been a major part of our work as the only way to ensure impact is through
constant message repetition. So far there have been 159,012 total opens of our emails. That
is, on average, 1,127 per email which is a healthy 12.32% open rate. We also have 4,678
clicks, with an average of 33 clicks /email. A full list of our emails is below in Appendix F.

Write and place numerous opinion-editorials on disability topics in publications. Use social
media to do outreach via Facebook (especially to policy makers and job creators), Twitter and in
commenting online to media coverage on related topics.
For a period of time we had a fellow, Lauren Gilbert, who was especially gifted at social
media whose work was augmented by our fellow Evelyn Kelley. Evelyn’s talents have now
been augmented by Donald Minor. Together they are working with a web pro, Serenity
Hanley, on a new website which will launch soon. This website will be blind-accessible with
all videos housed on YouTube so they will have captions for the hearing-impaired.
So far we have sent 1657 Tweets and we have more than 2300 Twitter followers.
We have 343 Friends on Facebook and more than 2500 likes. We post multiple times a day
and have a very passionate following.
2.2 Get policy leaders, press and philanthropists the facts and contacts they need to support
meaningful progress which can help empower people with disabilities to achieve the American
dream of a job, freedom, equal rights and independence.

Produce and disseminate direct invitations to 10,000 leaders, campaign consultants, reporters and
nationally elected officials to invite them to an educational series and to introduce
www.RespectAbilityUSA as a resource for solutions on empowering Americans with disabilities
to have a better life. We need to make sure we don’t just know them…they need to know us as a
can-do and trusted provider of facts that can help them in their goals of making America a better
place.
As you can see from the list above, we consistently invite these folks to conference calls and
trainings on how to do media/advocacy. We hosted a very successful event with Governor
P a g e 13 | 33
Markell. We have promoted the movies ‘CinemAbility,” “A Whole Lott More” and the
“Reel Abilities Film Festivals.” We also promoted conferences on disability employment
hosted by USBLN/US Chamber of Commerce, hearings on the disability treaty, events in
Wisconsin with Gov. Scott Walker and in Iowa with Gov. Terry Brandstad. All of those
events were well attended and successful.

Help with key planning and design for a major conference on employment for people with
disabilities that will be done with Georgetown University and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
A goal of the event is to have President Obama speak out on this topic, and to get White House
Chief of Staff Denis McDonough (a Georgetown alumni) engaged on enabling people with
disabilities to have opportunities to achieve the American dream.
RespectAbility found the organization of this conference to be too slow paced and switched
efforts/focus to the National Governor’s Association meeting in Wisconsin where we were
able to meet 1-1 with 16 Governors. We then focused on the NGA event in Washington
where we met with many more governors.

Design and implement sophisticated site visit tours for top leaders of model programs in
disability work in Washington, D.C. and in New Hampshire. The D.C. tours will transport
Capitol Hill staffers by bus to do site inspections of successful programs integrating people with
disabilities into school inclusion programs, transition services which help people with disabilities
get jobs, job and entrepreneur coaching programs which help people with disabilities achieve the
American dream of having a job, being independent and more. The tours in New Hampshire will
be for potential 2016 Presidential candidates and their staff as well as political reporters. All
tours, like all our work, will be non-partisan.
This is still a very important which we have yet to begin. However, just hosted two
webinars, one with Project Search and one with JFGH’s MOST program. We are hosting a
site tour of a Project Search site at the Smithsonian this spring.

Recruit at least two-dozen disability groups to sign letters to foundations that encourage them to
push for the creation of non-discrimination policies and practices at the organizations that they
fund. Letters will also be created and sent to encourage religious institutions to stop hiding
behind the ADA exemptions, as every American should have their religious rights. It will also be
clear that religious schools, camps, institutions and places of worship should set the example
(walk the walk) by being inclusive of people with disabilities.
We completed stage 1 of this – we sent a letter from RespectAbility’s President to 400
major donors/foundations in the Jewish community. Press clips about the JFNA’s issues,
and about the Pope’s progress were included in that mailing. However, we anticipate that
we will be able to distribute a letter from a larger number of disability groups when we
have a bigger group of fellows again this summer. For now we have prioritized the letters
to governors, Hollywood and political consultants.

Initiate media outreach on the broad coalition of disability groups asking funders to stop funding
institutions that discriminate.
P a g e 14 | 33
So far we have initiated two pieces on this topic – one in JTA and one in e-Jewish
Philanthropy. We plan to publish a future piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. It is
important to note that a copy of the letter that we sent to funders, plus the two press clips,
was emailed to all our media lists. Rev. Bill Gaventa, a major thought leader on inclusion in
the faith community shared that email with all his lists with an endorsement of our ideas on
this front.

Encourage elected officials to speak out in favor of improved employment prospects for people
with disabilities. A key partner for this will be Governor Jack Markell (DE) who is Chair of the
National Governor’s Association. He has made this issue a centerpiece of his tenure
(http://www.nga.org/cms/home/about/initiatives-of-nga-chairs/col2-content/main-contentlist/2012-13-nga-chair-gov-jack-marke.html) and is willing to do much more to see a positive
outcome. A key opportunity is to find leaders who will take on these issues when his term
expires.
With the help of Gov. Markell we have been able to meet 1-1 with 32 Governors so far but
with a limited staff we have not been able to do as much follow through as we would like.
However, we were able to help Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Gov. Terry Brandstad of
Iowa, Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi and others in various statewide efforts. We recruited
volunteers from around the country to push their own governors and trained them in how
to succeed. We partnered with Donna Meltzer’s group of DD Councils and she gave us
some assistance from her super talented Esme Grant.
We were able to do a groundbreaking trip with other disability leaders to NJ to meet with
Chris Christie’s team as well as the editorial board of the #1 paper in the state. We have
also sent materials to the remaining 18 governors with whom we have yet to meet. In
December we met Gov. Cuomo’s designated team. Going forward, our primary focus will
be governors who are running for President.
We are also focusing on Missouri where Gov. Nixon has committed to next steps, as well as
on the Governors of Pennsylvania and Illinois who have also said they will move ahead.
Virginia and Maryland pushes are also needed.

Work to develop new Capitol Hill champions since Senator Tom Harkin, seen as Washington’s
most devoted leader on disability issues, has announced his imminent retirement and Senator Ted
Kennedy has died. Outreach to those interested, such as Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Rep.
Pete Sessions, Sen. Mark Kirk, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Brad Sherman will be important as
each has recently indicated to RespectAbilityUSA’s CEO interest in playing a more substantive
role in the future.
We have become extremely close to the Congressional teams of Congress people Cathy
McMorris Rodgers, Pete Sessions and Brad Sherman. We have ghost written op-eds for
each of them on employment for PWDs. One has been published
(http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/308499-finding-jobs-for-cole-and-hispeers), one is currently under consideration by the LA Times, and two more are in the
approval process with the Congresspeople. As noted above, because the location of our
office and because we don’t have a permanent office manager, we have not been able to
P a g e 15 | 33
spend enough time yet on the Hill. But we do plan to do a major canvass of Capitol Hill
prior to the Project Search/Smithsonian event so that they can be invited personally.

RespectAbilityUSA’s CEO will also reaching out to Former Senator Rick Santorum and Former
Governor Sarah Palin who are both parents to children with disabilities. Each of them has a
strong grassroots following but is not yet known for being involved deeply in these issues.
However, these groups have strong capacities and reasons to engage in helping people with
disabilities “learn to fish” and celebrate their talents and gifts.
Former Gov. Palin met, per our request, for a short chat and photo op with disability
leaders. We organized a lunch with Ralph Reed, a major conservative leader, and disability
leaders. Our CEO was able to speak 1-1 with Former Gov. Jeb Bush and Rep. Paul Ryan –
both of whom may run for President. This summer we intend to speak with numerous
conservative candidates when they gather at a summit in DC.

Design and run a conference on May 2nd in Washington, DC on inclusion for children with
disabilities to be welcomed and accommodated in camps and youth educational programs. Cosponsors will include numerous religious organizations as well as Washington Parent magazine.
Speakers will include Professor Stuart Schleien and expert Aron Hall. (See
http://www.pjll.org/content/tzedek-tirdof-pursuing-justice-may-2-2013)
150 people attended this event and it was a massive success. More than 20 groups
cosponsored and the speakers were outstanding.

Design and implement a conference on November 3rd in the Washington area on creating
welcoming and inclusive faith-based educational and spiritual programs.
This did not happen. However, we gathered a group of disability leaders at the Israeli
embassy with Amb. Noam Katz and Israeli disability leaders. We also had a forum in our
offices with other Israeli disability leaders and Jewish disability leaders. We were able to
bring the White House disability liaison, Claudia Gordon, together with Israel’s Nalagaat
dead-blind ensemble at the Kennedy Center.

Host a series of conference calls and webinars on key topics of empowering people with
disabilities. Topics will include best practices in evidence-based therapies, inclusion, transition
services, job coaching, housing options, and how science is changing the future for people with
disabilities. All of the target decision makers will be invited to these events.
We hosted a major conference call with closed captioning but unfortunately the technology
kept failing us. Since then we have done training calls on media and advocacy, but they did
not have captioning. This has now been resolved and we had successful calls to release poll
data. In the next two weeks we will host two calls to showcase best practices on
transitioning young people with disabilities from school to work. Following that, we will
host a call featuring Lori Golden from Ernst and Young who is an expert on disability
employment from the business perspective.
P a g e 16 | 33

Showcase concepts for helping people with disabilities to start their own companies and create
jobs. This includes hosting a webinar on the creation of micro-enterprise project to provide seed
funding for fledging and promising businesses.
While we have not done a webinar, we have highlighted a lot of materials on these topics
via social media (Facebook, twitter, emails). Soon we will build a toolkit for the web on this
topic.
2.3 Give top-level decision makers the ability to make personal connections with people with
disabilities and the programs in order to empower them to make these issues a much higher
priority.
 RespectAbilityUSA will have an in-house fellowship program with preference for people with
disabilities to learn how to be successful in policy and political skills. RespectAbilityUSA will
help place these people in paying jobs in the political and policy sectors so they can be valued
members of these teams.
We have a very successful fellowship program. Still, it is hard to place people into jobs, as
hiring freezes continue everywhere. Even so, all of our fellowship program alumni are far
more work-ready than they were before. Some have now moved into competitive
employment and others will return to school for graduate work.
 RespectAbilityUSA.org will also work to place young people with disabilities in political and
policy internships and training seminars to engage them in the political process.
Currently we are placing them with us. We need a lot more interested people! We have also
placed one person with Rep. Brad Sherman.
 In New Hampshire and at pre-Presidential events/candidate forms RespectAbilityUSA will be
present to build relationships with key leaders and journalists.
These have not started yet.
 The best way for leaders, decisions makers and reporters to understand the true “disability story”
is for them to see it for themselves as part of developing relationships on tours highlighting key
issues. Reporters will get the facts that they need to cover disability issues accurately, and
leaders the ability to make smart policies. RespectAbilityUSA will partner with key disability
groups to get their help customizing special agendas and trips for leaders and journalists. Each
field trip/site visit will have a customized agenda, ensuring that the leaders, decision makers and
journalists are shown the facts to highlight ways to help people with disabilities become
independent.
This is a goal for this summer during Congressional recess.
 Site visits will be done primarily in two locations: Washington DC for national leaders and New
Hampshire for the large group of potential Presidential candidates (many of whom are currently
Governors or Senators).
P a g e 17 | 33
Publications:
RespectAbility’s President and team have published dozens of op-eds on disability issues.
The most important op-ed pieces published were:






A ghost written piece for a member of Congress that was in the Hill, (See
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/308499-finding-jobs-for-cole-and-hispeers)
“How to” piece published first by the Autism Society and then adapted for Huffington
Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-laszlo-mizrahi/10-tips-to-enable-people_b_4261901.html?1384567793) and
A very important piece in the #1 circulation paper in America, USA Today (see
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/25/jennifer-laszlo-mizrahi-ondisabilities/2860765/)
For the Des Moines Register, where Gov. Brandstad has been making progress:
https://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/D2/20140217/OPINION02/302170021/Another
-View-Iowa-should-help-disabled-find-work
For the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel where Gov. Walker has been making progress:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/jobs-for-people-with-disabilities-is-vital-forwisconsin-b99178519z1-238969011.html
For the Clarion Ledge in Mississippi where Gov. Bryant has been making progress:
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20140121/COL10/301210016/People-disabilitiesdeserve-attention
Most of the pieces, however, have been in four publications where Mizrahi has regular
ties/columns:
Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-laszlo-mizrahi).
New Normal/NY Jewish Week (see
http://www.thejewishweek.com/solr/%22jennifer%20laszlo%22
Times of Israel (see http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/jennifer-laszlo-mizrahi)
The Washington Jewish Week (see
http://washingtonjewishweek.com/?s=Jennifer+laszlo+mizrahi)
SUMMARY AND NEXT STEPS
Overall, RespectAbility is much further ahead than anticipated on some goals, in particular our
work with governors, basic polling, database development and outreach to different constituents.
Much of our success is due to the efforts of Gov. Jack Markell in his NGA initiative, plus our
Fellows. Many of our challenges are due to lack of funding, our current location outside of
Washington DC and lack of a permanent staff person to run the office and supervise/mentor the
Fellows.
Going forward we will focus programmatically on the following initiatives and events, however,
none of this will be possible without funding for office space, a full-time permanent in-house
P a g e 18 | 33
staff person to manage the RespectAbility office and supervise/mentor the Fellows. This would
free up our President/CEO Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi to focus on contacts, training, fundraising
and taking the steps necessary to propel RespectAbilityUSA’s work to the next level. We also
need funds for vital program work, especially the public opinion research and the development
of public service ads/materials that can start to change public perceptions of people with
disabilities.
Public Opinion Research
As a strategic communications organization focused on empowering people with disabilities to
achieve the American dream, step one for our organization is always public opinion research. To
date, RespectAbility’s team has conducted 4 polls on disability issues — one nationwide sample
of voters with Stanley Greenberg, PhD of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, one of the
landscape of opportunities for children with disabilities at overnight Jewish camps on behalf of
the Foundation for Jewish Camps, one of 3,800 Americans (half with disabilities and half loved
ones and professionals) on employment, and lastly a poll on faith issues with Jerusalem
University.
Additionally we have conducted three focus groups in Washington, D.C. of senior Republican
Hill and think-tank professionals, working age individuals with disabilities seeking employment
and professionals and loved ones of working age people with disabilities. This research provided
important insights into the disability community and gave us a glimpse into the real and
perceived obstacles to achieving the American dream.
However, this is barely the tip of the iceberg. We must conduct additional focus groups with
Hill Staff, opinion elite voters, young people, CEOs and small business employers, teachers and
administrators, parents of PwDs, and of course PwDs themselves.
This qualitative research must be followed by a quantitative study of American voters, conducted
with a bi-partisan team so that results can be shared and accepted widely in the halls of Congress
and up and down K Street.
Paid Fellowship for College Graduates with Disabilities
RespectAbility is proud to have a “Nothing about us without us” philosophy and our team has
numerous members who are self-advocates with disabilities. We will continue to recruit and train
college-educated people with disabilities for placement in policy and media jobs. It is vital to
raise money for a day-to-day manager of this program who can mentor young leaders and
prepare them for success.
Elite Private School Accessibility
Numerous studies demonstrate that a disproportional number of the top CEOs and leaders (top
employers and policy makers) in America hail from a small group of elite private high schools
which are feeder schools into Ivy League universities and other institutions. These schools
routinely do not include PwDs in their student bodies or faculties. Leaders entering these schools
in 2015, the 25th Anniversary of the ADA, will be America’s leaders starting in approximately
2025. Yet this elite pipeline gives them little to no contact with people with disabilities during
their formative years, impacting attitudes and presumably future hiring and other practices.
P a g e 19 | 33
We plan to create a “report card” for the top private schools in America so that they can do their
own internal strategic plans to become inclusive. To do this, we will develop a questionnaire on
inclusion practices in the schools. The questionnaire will include questions such as—is there an
inclusion/diversity statement on their website? Are the campuses physically accessible? Are
students who are academically qualified excluded based on a disability? How many students
with disabilities attend the school? Are qualified faculty with disabilities on the team?
We will also conduct focus groups of academic admission officers, heads of schools, and board
members from elite preparatory and private schools on inclusion of students with disabilities. We
will write, design, and distribute a full formal report on the findings of the “report cards” and
research.
Creation of public service materials that show the ABILITIES of people with disabilities
Our plans going forward include:
1) Winning hearts and minds for inclusion: Focus groups and a poll to test what
messages and images will make people WITHOUT disabilities more open, aware, and
engaged in supporting inclusion of people WITH disabilities.
2) A picture is worth 1,000 words: Photo contest for best photos to capture people with
disabilities included in the workforce and other aspects of life.
3) Public service ads (video/print creation in support of inclusion for people with
disabilities) for broad use and also for Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month and beyond.
4) 25th Anniversary of ADA – An Inclusion Scorecard for religious organizations.
5) Library inclusion project- Creating a partnership to encourage the creation and
dissemination of children’s books that have themes and characters with disabilities
included in normal life.
The importance of education and formative images in creating an inclusive community can never
be understated. Fundamental to all of this work, however, is the need to have better public
opinion research to determine which messages will resonate to those who are not YET with us on
inclusion, and who we need for success.
In addition to the major initiatives listed above and throughout this document, the
following are upcoming events and projects that will be keeping the RespectAbilityUSA
team very busy.
April
Disseminate webinar from events on promising practices with Project Search and FJGH’s MOST
Program
Release new resource kit for policy makers on employment for people with disabilities
Speaking at national disabilities conference
Launch new website for RespectAbilityUSA.org
National Autism Awareness Month
April 7-9 - Disability Advocacy day
Release new resource kit for job-seekers with disabilities
Release poll numbers on how PwD community views Hollywood and News Media. Event to be
done with two members of Congress (one Democrat, one Republican)
Event on promising practices for employers with Lori Golden of EY
P a g e 20 | 33
Move to new office space?
Focus groups of Capitol Hill staff
Launch new advocacy program to enable grassroots to write to leaders and editors
Invite Hill and Governors’ staffs to Project Search Tour at Smithsonian
May
May 1 - RespectAbility to address disability issues at major Smithsonian event on ADA
May 2-8 - Mental Health Month National Children’s Mental Health Week
May 4-9 - National Anxiety and Depression Awareness Week
May 12-18 - Mental Health Awareness Week
May 19 – 25 - National Schizophrenia Awareness Week
May 28 or 29 – Project Search event at Smithsonian
Letters from disabilities groups to governors, political consultants, Hollywood, Foundations
National Poll of Voters
Private school scorecard
Last day for key fellows
June
Summer site visits for Congressional and Governors staff as well as media to best proactive sites
June 27 - National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day
National Press Club event with Seattle Seahawk’s Derrick Coleman
New PSA on successful people with disabilities
Conference call with USBLN/AAPD on Employer Scorecard and best practices
Webinar for political consultants and elected officials on how to reach out to voters with
disabilities
Photo contest for best images of PwDs in integrated work
July
July 26 - Encourage people/groups to set goals to accomplish, the 25th anniversary of ADA, help
create a sense of urgency for senate races next fall
National Governors Association meeting in TN
RespectAbility National Training on Winning Hearts and Minds for So People with Disabilities
Can Achieve the American Dream (to be held in US Capitol)
September
National Deaf Awareness Month
October
National Disability Employment Awareness Month
ADHD Awareness Month
National Down Syndrome Month
Rett Syndrome Awareness Month
Disability History and Awareness Month
Learning Disability Awareness Month
October 3 – 9 - Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW)
October 9 – 15 OCD Awareness Week
October 10 - World Mental Health Day
P a g e 21 | 33
November
Epilepsy Awareness Month
November 9 – 15 - Mental Health Wellness Week
December
December 3 - International Day of Persons with Disability (United Nations)
APPENDIX A
Letter we sent to Hollywood/Television/Film leaders (below is the TV version)
Dear
As you are a major thought and culture leader, I am writing to ask for your help to reshape
attitudes so that people with disabilities can more fully participate in and contribute to society.
We know that by putting people with disabilities on television – in scripted television, reality
television, the news and in jobs behind scenes -- you can help empower people with disabilities
to achieve as much of the American dream as their abilities and efforts permit.
As you know, media plays a critical role in society. In addition to its entertainment and news
value, media contributes to the values and ideals that define us; and what we desire to share with
our children. What we see, we feel. And what we feel, impacts how we act.
What is the media if not to be both a window and a mirror? To shine light in the shadows, to help
us see what we might not otherwise see? After all, doesn’t all art aspire to give the viewer an
understanding of other lives?
We encourage you – just as we encourage businesses in every sector - to recognize the disability
but respect the ability. We ask that your work focus on what people with disabilities can do,
rather than on what they cannot. We are asking you to use the power of media to help move the
needle of perception regarding people with disabilities (PWDs).
Orson Welles said, “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” And while he wasn’t talking
about physical or cognitive limitations, the point is the same. Limitations are, ironically,
inspirational. The differences we see in people with disabilities give them strength, insights, and
perseverance that they might not otherwise find within themselves.
Including characters and real people with disabilities in television shows and the media reveals
the essence of our humanity. They offer visual shorthand through images that evoke deep
emotions that human bodies and minds are fragile. They are easily damaged, broken, changed.
And they remind us, too, that we are all vulnerable; we are all less than perfect. And still, we can
all adapt and succeed.
But let’s put emotions aside for a moment and focus on the potential economic benefits of
including stories about or characters with disabilities in your projects. People with disabilities
P a g e 22 | 33
(PWD’s) represent the largest minority group in America. According to the U.S. Census, 56
million Americans have disabilities. A national poll found that 51% of Americans either have a
disability or a loved one with a disability. So PWD’s make up a huge number of potential
viewers. There are more than 1.2 billion PWDs living worldwide. In the U.S. alone, the Census
Bureau found that consumers with disabilities already spend more than $200 billion each year.
By showcasing more characters with disabilities and real people with disabilities in the media
you help people with disabilities enhance their image and you, in turn, gain more audience share.
Sadly, however, 70% of working age Americans with disabilities are out of the workforce –
compared to 28% of Americans without disabilities. Your work has the power to help change
that. And as PWDs are more included in the workplace, they will become an even larger
consumer pool for your work. We hope that you will do even more to hire people with
disabilities at your organization – both to be in front of the camera and behind the scenes and
they can be amazing talents who can help you go from strength to strength.
PWDs should be represented in media in ways that reflect the real world and the progress we
hope to make in it. While their stories are inspiring and fascinating, how much better to
normalize disability into the fabric of every story: When the audience is accustomed to seeing an
office worker who happens to be blind or a teacher who uses a wheelchair on the big screen, they
cannot help but being more accepting of people with disabilities in their lives and workplaces.
Movies have shown some strong successes. Why are Dustin Hoffman's portrayals of Ratso Rizzo
in Midnight Cowboy or Raymond Babbitt in Rainman seared in our memories? Why is it
impossible to forget Daniel Day-Lewis as Christy Brown in My Left Foot? Who doesn't
remember - and love Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump? How did Thomas Horn as the young Oskar
Schell in Incredibly Close and Extremely Loud give unexpected raw emotional depth to the
story?
Actors love playing these characters because people with disabilities learn to transcend the
limitations their minds and bodies impose to discover a depth and humanity that makes them
both more complex and simpler than first impressions suggest. Because of the way they
experience the world, people with disabilities are often so very exciting.
But rather than urge you to produce more movies or documentaries about people with disabilities
as a central focus, we envision a day when you cast actors or create roles without regard to their
"differentness" but because of the "uniqueness" borne of the strength and power their disabilities
endow them with. Indeed, television’s Michael Fox's Parkinson and on Homeland Claire Danes'
Carrie Mathison's bipolar disorder are central to both their characters and their shows' stories, the
fact that Al Robhins on CSI lost both legs in an accident or the stiff, hesitant gait Michael
Emerson gives Harold Finch on Person of Interest, contestant Justin LeBlanc on Lifetime’s
Project Runway are not the focus makes these portrayals more powerful. They are simply doing
their job, living their lives, confronting the world as ordinary people. We celebrate Fox with
Glee, Sundance Channel with Push Girls and others. But they are too few and far between on
television. Still, your audiences have seen people like them in the market, at the park, in your
neighborhood. They could be your brother, your sister, your mother or father... They might even
be you. People with disabilities are everywhere around us. And if what we watch is meant to be a
heightened reflection of the real world they should be in our television shows and movies, too.
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We are advocates for people with disabilities; we hope you, too, will be advocates for this
underrepresented, underutilized, but ultimately all too human cohort.
No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly
to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.
- Ingmar Bergman
With one television show or film you can do so much to change the world's ideas about,
reactions to, and perceptions of people with disabilities. Image how much impact your shows
will have when a person with a disability is just another character.
Right now we are doing a poll of 3,000 PWDs and have included some questions about how they
are portrayed/covered in entertainment and the news media. I will share the results with you
when they come out. Thanks for your consideration!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
President, RespectAbilityUSA
P.S. I would welcome a chance to meet with you anytime you are in Washington. Meanwhile,
please let me know if I can ever be of help to you as you think about the inclusion of PWDs in
your work – either in front of the camera or in roles behind it. People with disabilities have real
talents and are ready for the task!
APPENDIX B
Letter sent to Political Consultants
Dear Political Consultant,
As a political consultant your top goal is for your clients to win elections. But did you know that
20% of Americans have a disability and that 51% of likely voters either have a disability or a
close friend or family member with a disability? These are voters you should be speaking with –
and we will help you do it for FREE.
RespectAbilityUSA is a brand new non-partisan, non-profit organization that understands that
ALL Americans want to achieve the American dream. This includes Americans with physical,
mental health, intellectual and sensory disabilities. RespectAbilityUSA works with stakeholders
across the political and disability advocacy fields. We know that the Americans with Disabilities
Act changed the architecture so Americans with disabilities have more opportunities. But what it
did not change was attitudes. That is where we would like your partnership. When you do
political polling, please add to your demographics a question to ask if the person has a disability
or a close friend or family member with a disability. When your clients make their campaign
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websites – encourage them to make it blind accessible. With new apps, blind people can read
everything on websites that are set up correctly. When you make TV /web ads, include closed
captioning which is now very fast, easy and cheap to do. If you need help on any of this, don’t
hesitate to contact me!
Currently 70% of Americans with disabilities who are working age are outside of the work force.
Our top goal is for Americans with disabilities to have jobs so they can get hands up instead of
hand-outs. The National Governors Association has made this a top policy agenda item, and this
week we were able to meet one on one with 16 of America’s governors (some of whom may be
your clients). Stay up to date with the latest developments in regards to issues affecting this
crucial constituency. Visit our website www.respectabilityusa.org. “Like” us on Facebook.
Follow us on Twitter. Also, please contact me with any comments, suggestions, or questions at
JenniferM@respectabilityusa.org and (240) 744-7546. Let’s work together to ensure each
American has the access and opportunity to achieve the American dream regardless of ability.
All the best,
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
President, www.RespectAbilityUSA.org
APPENDIX C
Letter to Funders asking them not to fund discrimination
Dear (insert name)
Happy Holidays! I am writing to you as an advocate and a fellow funder of non-profits. Earlier I
sent you a letter for funding for RespectAbilityUSA, which works to empower people with
disabilities (PWDs) to achieve the American dream. Now I am writing you about something
that won’t cost you a penny – but will help raise awareness for people with disabilities.
I am asking you to add a few simple questions to your grant applications about inclusion of
people with disabilities. I am not telling you how to spend your philanthropic dollars. You have
every right to give to every cause you deem worthy, but by mentioning any or all of the
following sample questions enclosed you have an opportunity to create a ripple effect
of consciousness-raising about inclusion and civil rights of people with disabilities in numerous
organizations throughout the world. Talk about bang for your buck! Here you get to proactively
help the cause of inclusion without it costing you a penny!
Now, you might ask, isn’t it already illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities? Well,
actually, religious organizations are EXEMPT from the Americans with Disabilities Act. Sadly,
people with disabilities are regularly denied access to religious schools, places of worship, camps
and activities. Some organizations are doing outstanding work, but often it is in segregated
programs and separate is not equal.
Our family foundation followed the lead of The Ruderman Family Foundation, J.E. & Z.B.
Butler Foundation and others who ask a series of questions which I have enclosed. I have
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published literally dozens of op-eds that specify what discrimination is going on and what can be
done about it. I would be very happy to speak with you at any time. My number is 202 365 0787.
Thanks for your consideration!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
President, RespectAbilityUSA
Co-founder/director, Mizrahi Family Charitable Trust (done through Vanguard
Free way to promote civil and equal rights! Questions for you to ask to all the non-profit
organizations you fund:
In a total of no more than two pages, please answer the following questions. Please attach any
relevant sample policies.
1. Does your organization have policies and/or programs that support meaningful inclusion of
people with disabilities at all levels? If yes, please describe; if not, please indicate efforts
underway to develop them.
2. Does your organization have a disability advisory committee / inclusion committee? If so,
please describe; if not, please indicate efforts underway to develop one.
3. Will the program or project include people with disabilities? Will ALL people with any kind
of disability be welcomed to participate? If not, why not? If so, how do you plan to identify,
reach, and welcome them?
4. Do other programs in your organization include people with disabilities? Please discuss,
including if they are served in a segregated way, or if they are included in with the general
population.
5. Describe the accessibility of your offices to people with physical disabilities.
6. Describe the accessibility of your website to people with hearing and vision impairments.
7. Do you employ individuals who have disabilities? If so, what are their jobs? Do they
receive the same compensation and benefits as all other employees in like positions? If not,
please describe all remedial efforts underway.
8. Please describe how you educate your Board of Directors or Trustees and other stakeholders
and leaders about serving and partnering with people with disabilities.
Thank you!
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For information contact: Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, President, www.RespectAbilityUSA.org
202 365 0787 or JenniferM@RespectAbilityUSA.org
APPENDIX D
Letters to Governors requesting a first meeting at the NGA event
Dear Governor ……
On behalf of RespectAbilityUSA, Autism Society of America, The National Federation of the
Blind, Best Buddies International and USBLN we are writing to request a meeting when you are
next in Washington. We were at the recent NGA meeting and met 1-1 with 16 of your
colleagues, Governors from others states. As we did not yet get to meet with you yet, we want to
request a meeting when you are next in Washington.
We endorse the new ideas by the National Governors Association, “A Better Bottom Line:
Employing People with Disabilities,” and hereby ask you to do much more to enable Americans
with disabilities to achieve the American dream – a real job at a real wage.
Sadly, while the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has helped society, the percentage of
Americans with disabilities who are outside the workforce is exactly the same as it was before
the ADA was passed in 1990 (70%). Thus your efforts on this front are vital. We know that
under your leadership your state can enable Americans with disabilities to have the ability to
achieve independence, dignity, community and more.
We sincerely hope you will host a statewide summit on disability employment that includes
companies, people with disabilities, non-profits, faith leaders, media, government,
philanthropists etc. The goal of the summit would be to start a process that involves all the
sectors to break the deadlock of poor performance by meaningful public-private
partnerships and new thinking.
We also urge you to:


Make specific commitments to improving the numbers of people with disabilities who
are employed in a real job for a real wage, as well as for disability owned businesses to be
created and expanded through best practices, state procurement and other policies.
Support a change in focus from a failed system of “from cradle to dependency” to
“from cradle to job and independence” thinking. This “Employment First” thinking
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


means that public school and other services, including transition efforts, must be geared
toward successful employment opportunities and that schools be measured on their success.
For your disability jobs/new business summit to create a public-private partnership/task force
reporting directly to you in order to achieve specific employment goals both in your own
hires and outside of the public sector.
Use your office and leadership to promote progress through personal statements/opeds/media events on this issue. We hope that you will focus on employment issues not only
during disability awareness month but throughout the year as well. This is important not only
for hiring people with disabilities but also for empowering them to start their own companies.
Hold people accountable for better outcomes in the public and private sectors so people
with disabilities in their state can be empowered to achieve the American dream.
We celebrate the new toolkit offered by the National Governor's Association (see
(http://ci.nga.org/cms/home/1213/index) and hope you will both follow its recommendations in
full and will call on us if you need any information and/or support.
America cannot afford to have more than 10 million Americans sit at home on the sidelines when
they can help make America stronger – and want to work. Keeping a disability unemployment
compensation system that costs taxpayers $450 billion a year is financially unsustainable. As a
nation we need people with disabilities, especially young people with disabilities, in the
competitive workforce at fair, competitive wages. Every American who can work should be
encouraged to do so.
We know that the next NGA initiative is America Works: Education and Training for
Tomorrow’s Jobs. We hope that this new initiative will include people with disabilities and that
with this work we will only go from strength to strength. We hereby look forward to meeting
with you when you are next in Washington, D.C and offer our support and help on this work.
Thank you for your leadership on this and other issues. We look forward to working with you
and your team in the future.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, President, RespectAbilityUSA.org
Scott Badesch, President, Autism Society of America
Jill Houghton, Executive Director, USBLN
John Pare, Executive Director for Advocacy and Government Relations, National Federation of
the Blind
Lisa Derx, Vice President, Best Buddies International
APPENDIX E
Update on Governors’ Work on Employment of PwDs
Since the NGA report came out, the speed in which some of the governors are moving is
outstanding. For example:
• Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) quickly improved policies and practices and made it a key
point in his State of the State address. He has expanded to 20 Project Search sites in his state,
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which will help young people with disabilities go straight into jobs instead of a life of
dependency. He has become a role model for expansion of opportunities for people with
disabilities.
• Gov. Dennis Daugaard (SD) did the same in his State of the State address and has created a
very specific plan to move ahead. Both of Gov. Daugaard’s parents are deaf, he has a special
understanding of these issues.
• Iowa’s Governor Terry Brandstad has been working with Sen. Tom Harkin on solutions. He
hosted a statewide summit on jobs for people with disabilities and is working systematically
to make progress possible.
• Governor Rick Scott (FL) recommended and the Florida Legislature approved $500,000 this
year to fund job internships and Supported Employment for people with developmental
disabilities. This is in addition to programs that provide job coaches to more than 3,000
people with developmental disabilities.
• Governor Jerry Brown’s California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) is sharing best
practices that were initiated through membership on the CSAVR National Employment
Team (NET) — which works with employers to meet their business needs in the hiring and
retention of individuals with disabilities. The DOR is engaged in many promising practices
which have positively impacted the employment of people with disabilities, including new
partnerships with Lowe’s and Safeway.
• Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois started “employment first policies.”
• Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia committed to focus on employment for PwDs at a rally
with the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities
(http://www.gcdd.org/component/tags/tag/2-disability-day.html).
 Governor Markell of DE and his team are the farthest along. The state helped bring together
the IT firm CAI and an international organization called Specialisterne, which is dedicated to
employment of individuals with autism. CAI is committed to hiring people who have autism
for more than 3% of its workforce by 2015, recognizing that these individuals are especially
qualified for technology roles. The Governor has advanced the Specialisterne model within
his administration and several departments have hired or are actively recruiting through
Specialisterne.
Governor Markell’s initiative created a major spark in Delaware’s Department of Labor with an
increase of 8.6 % of individuals with disabilities becoming actively employed from 2011 to
2013 and Delaware is utilizing options available through the Medicaid program to expand
community resources and services to create Pathways to Employment.
The Health Care Association made up of Delaware’s hospitals has signed on to the Governor’s
initiative and is developing internships, expanding Project Search and building recruitment from
these efforts into employment.
APPENDIX F
BLAST EMAILS
The completed list of RespectAbility’s blast emails is below. There have been 159,012 total opens,
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
1,127 per email, 12.32% open rate, 4,678 clicks, and 33 clicks /email:
DATE
EMAIL BLAST TITLE
3/20/2014 Do you know of free or cheap office space in DC area? We’re looking…
3/18/2014 Invite to two free events on jobs for people with disabilities
3/16/2014 Lots going on! Keeing you in the loop…
3/14/2014 RespectAbility Congratulates JCPA: Unanimously Passes Inclusion for People with Disabilities
3/12/2014 Congratulations to Gov. Bryant and Mississippi for standing up for people with disabilities!
3/5/2014
Will you be in Miami? I’d love to see you!
2/27/2014 Can you help us recruit terrific young leaders for this fellowship?
2/26/2014 Can you share this public service ad with your grassroots?
2/25/2014 Invite to events at JFN conference
2/21/2014 NGA Meeting: Governors making key progress on jobs for people with disabilities
2/18/2014 Reminder: Conference Call Today
2/17/2014 I hope you’ll join us for these
2/15/2014 MTV’s TJ Lavin, Gov. Jack Markell, Rep. Pete Sessions, Rep. Brad Sherman and Gold
Medalist Matt Cowdrey Join RespectAbilityUSA
2/14/2014 Invite to JDAM Conference call on Inclusion in the Jewish Community
2/13/2014 Invite to events at JFN conference
2/13/2014 Urgent request: Can you please take a minute to make a difference?
2/11/2014 TJ Lavin Stars in New PSA on disability
2/5/2014
Lots of news!
2/5/2014
Invite to event with celeb & elected officials – NOTE TIME CHANGE
2/2/2014
POLL + 56 Million Americans with disabilities will win the Super Bowl!
2/1/2014
Don’t miss out – GREAT movies!
2/1/2014
Before you watch the Super Bowl… check this out…
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1/30/2014 New Poll on faith in disability community released
1/28/2014 State of the Union, big news plus 100K award
1/27/2014 Invite to session with Gov. Markell, TJ Lavin and Rep. Pete Sessions
1/21/2014 10 Tips to Enable People with Disabilities to Get Jobs
1/15/2014 Open letter to elected officials, public servants and political consultants
1/14/2014 Invite to session with Gov. Markell and Rep. Pete Sessions
1/10/2014 Poll release at 1:30 ET Today
1/8/2014
You’re Invited: January 10th Free Webinar – New Poll of 3800 people in disability
community on jobs for people with disabilities
1/8/2014
Breaking News: Call today at 2 pm on 9/11 Disability Fraud & Jobs for PWDs
1/7/2014
Please see my oped on Jobs for People with Disabilities
1/7/2014
Woo Hoo! Something to warm you up on a cold day!
12/30/2013 Yes, this is a shameless fundraising appeal… last chance for a 2013 tax deduction too!
12/29/2013 I’ve already sent you 2 emails on this… I hope 3 is a charm… sorry to be a nudge!
12/27/2013 This holiday, help people with disabilities achieve the American dream
12/22/2013 Make sure your donations don’t fund hate and discrimination!
12/20/2013 Happy Holidays from RespectAbility
12/10/2013 Hate crimes DOUBLED! Organ transplant denied to child with disability!
11/29/2013 This holiday, can you be a hero?
11/26/2013 Happy Holidays and More!
11/25/2013 Request to put more people disabilities (PWDs) in your work on TV!
11/24/2013 Can you help us recruit terrific young leaders for this fellowship?
11/22/2013 I already sent you 2 emails on this... here's hoping 3 times is a charm!
11/17/2013 Reminder... hate to be a nag
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11/14/2013 If you donate to charities (especially faith-based ones), read this!
11/13/2013 Very important survey – your help is needed!
11/12/2013 Can you help on this?
11/10/2013 Good news from Washington...REALLY!
11/6/2013 Your opinion wanted in new poll!
11/1/2013 Free Media and Advocacy Training by Phone
10/31/2013 Can you be a hero today?
10/30/2013 Last chance to have your donation doubled with JFN matching grant
10/28/2013 Free Media and Advocacy Training by Phone
10/23/2013 Can you join us for breakfast tomorrow?
10/21/2013 Two great events – including Ben Affleck and Jamie Foxx
10/18/2013 Three great events!
10/17/2013 Good news from Washington (Really, I mean it)
10/16/2013 Can you join me for this?
10/14/2013 Free lunch with the Governor
10/11/2013 Free lunch with the Governor
10/9/2013 PEW Poll and helping keep Jews Jewish…
10/8/2013 Did you see 60 Minutes? Now get the REAL scandal…
10/8/2013 Special Event Invitation with the Governor and More
10/7/2013 Special Event Invitation with the Governor
9/30/2013 Washington may be shutting down…but we're going strong…
9/26/2013 600 leaders to gather to discuss employment for people with disabilities
9/25/2013 My piece in USA Today today
9/23/2013 How to call a child with a disability
9/19/2013 Invite to free fundraising and media training next week
9/18/2013 Wisconsin Summit
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9/18/2013 USBLN Media Advisory
9/15/2013 Can you do this?
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