Disability Pride Month honors the history, achievements, and leadership of people with disabilities but more importantly, it is a call to action. Despite hard-won progress, ableism¹ continues to shape our systems and institutions, and recent federal rollbacks threaten to reverse decades of advancements. These include the elimination of the Department of Justice’s Disability Rights Section and cuts to Medicaid and special education which will impact millions of Americans. At the Weingart Foundation, we are committed to deepening our understanding of disability justice and advancing a multiracial democracy where access, equity, and care are foundational.

Disability justice is inseparable from racial, economic, and social justice. It emerged from the leadership of queer, trans, Black, and brown disabled activists who recognized that traditional disability rights efforts often left the most marginalized behind. Disability justice goes beyond access and legal protections like those established under the Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.); it asks us to examine how society defines worth, who gets to belong, and which bodies and minds are valued. Disability justice calls for systemic change centering lived experience and advancing community-led solutions. It envisions a world where care, dignity, and interdependence are at the center.

“While the A.D.A. was a major civil rights milestone, its protections remain incomplete. Systemic change requires people with disabilities not only have a seat at the table, but lead the conversations,” shared Judy Mark, Co-Founder and President of Disability Voices United (D.V.U.). “It’s about shifting power, challenging ableism, and recognizing that true justice isn’t possible unless it includes all our voices.”

Judy brings her own lived experience—as a person with a disability and the parent of an adult son with autism—into her leadership, shaping D.V.U.’s values and approach. D.V.U. is helping to redefine what disability justice looks like in action and is building a future where disabled people have real choice, control, and power over their lives. Their work challenges the deep-rooted inequities that limit opportunity and replaces them with pathways toward self-determination and dignity.

At the heart of D.V.U.’s model is the belief that disabled people must lead the movements that shape their lives. More than 60 percent of the organization’s staff identify as disabled, many of whom are holding their first meaningful job in a world that too often locks them out. Through D.V.U.’s Self-Advocate Speakers Bureau, over 300 disabled leaders across California have received training and support to testify before legislators, speak to the media, and advocate for policies that reflect their lived experience.

These aren’t just programs, they’re powerful acts of narrative and systems change. Together, D.V.U.’s team is shifting public perception, breaking down barriers to employment and representation, and creating space for disabled people to be seen, heard, and valued as leaders in their own right.

Among those leaders is Tina Ewing Wilson, D.V.U.’s Outreach Specialist and a Howard McBroom Fellow. A survivor of abuse in a group home, Tina has reclaimed her story through self-advocacy and now supports others in doing the same.

“We are showing the world that people with disabilities are not just resilient—we are leaders, educators, and change-makers,” Judy said.

Now more than ever, the disability justice movement needs champions. As Judy put it:
“We need philanthropy to stand with us—not just in principle, but in practice. That means resourcing organizations led by disabled people, integrating accessibility in all strategies, and recognizing that our liberation is bound together.”

We invite our peers in philanthropy to listen, learn, and invest in disability justice as core to our collective future. Because when we build a world that works for disabled people, we build a world that works for everyone.