Episodes
Tuesday Aug 11, 2015
CHICAGO CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF THE ADA: Meet Risa Rifkind of ADA25 Chicago
Tuesday Aug 11, 2015
Tuesday Aug 11, 2015
Recently Jason's Connection's founder, Jason Harris, interviewed Risa Jaz Rifkind, Program Coordinator for ADA 25 Chicago, an organization that will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the ADA in 2015 and leverage this historic milestone to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities through building public awareness, as well as partner commitments in four key areas: education, employment, community inclusion, and technology.
In this interview, Ms. Rifkind discusses the ADA 25 Chicago program, its Disability Rights Museum on Wheels (DRMW), and the legacy of the ADA.
People with disabilities are our parents, children, coworkers, attorneys, doctors, teachers and our public officials.
Risa Jaz Rifkind is Program Coordinator – ADA 25 Chicago. Due to her experience as a little person, Risa has always been interested in accessibility, but started working in this field while at Johns Hopkins University where she studied travel and accessibility through the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Grant. After graduating from college, Risa moved to Chicago and worked at Open Doors Organization (ODO) as the Program Coordinator. While at ODO, she specialized in trainings for the aviation industry in regards to the Air Carrier Access Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. In 2013, Risa joined the Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium (CCAC) as a Steering Committee Member, a position which she still holds today. The CCAC is a volunteer led group that offers monthly free programming to cultural institutions on how to make their services accessible to people with disabilities. In May 2015, Risa became the Program Coordinator for ADA 25 Chicago where she works with various partners to develop and execute their programs. She also serves as the accessibility expert on the team.
ADA 25 Chicago will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the ADA in 2015 and leverage this historic milestone to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities through building public awareness, as well as partner commitments in four key areas: education, employment, community inclusion and technology. ADA 25 Chicago will include educational, cultural, arts, sports and recreation events sponsored by our program partners, from organizations in the four key areas to create a lasting legacy throughout the Chicago region for people with disabilities.The Chicago Community Trust is the lead supporter of ADA 25 Chicago and has assembled Honorary and Steering Committees to lead this initiative with the region's leading civic, business, cultural, educational, community and disability rights organizations.
For more information on ADA 25 Chicago, please visit: http://ada25chicago.org/
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