The Road to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the AUCD Network

Being truly inclusive of ALL, including people living at the intersections of marginalized racial, ethnic, and other social identities and cultural factors is important to the AUCD Network. But it’s one thing to talk the talk, and another thing entirely to walk it.

Jeiri is joined by Jacy Farkas and Timotheus Gordon for a conversation all about finding multicultural opportunities and creating true diversity, equity, and inclusion within the AUCD Network. Jacy is an assistant director at the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities at the University of Arizona. She is also the chair of the AUCD Multicultural council. Timotheus is an African-American male autistic research associate at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute on Disability and Human Development. He is also one of the co-founders of the Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition. 

They embark on a conversation all about paving the way for diversity, equity, and inclusion within their communities. Jacy opens up about what motivates her to push things forward across the AUCD network. She also shares her personal struggles when it comes to creating change. Timotheus shares his journey to becoming a disability advocate and the ways in which our community can pay it forward by creating opportunities for people of color with disabilities. 

From how building meaningful relationships can open up more opportunities, to advice for people of color within the AUCD network who aim for growth, Jacy and Timotheus share their best tips, resources, and stories so that you can do the same. Tune in, get inspired, and let’s pave the way for true and meaningful change.


View all episodes and transcripts at http://www.aucd.org/podcast


This episode was funded by the Administration for Community Living through technical assistance contract # HHSP233201600066C. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Administration on Community Living, US Department of Health and Human Services, or the US Government.

Produced by Adode Media; a full-service podcast production agency.

Transcript

Jeiri Flores: Welcome to AUCD network narratives, where we share real stories from our members. I'm your host, Jeiri Flores advocacy specialist at the strong center for developmental disabilities, and the co-chair for the council on leadership and advocacy. Join us as we hear from inspiringly within our network working to make a change.

Jeiri Flores: We are here today with Timotheus Gordon, who is an African- American male autistic research associate at the University of Illinois at Chicago Institute on disability and human development. He is also one of the co-founders of the Chicago LEND disabled people of color coalition. We are also here with Jacy Farkas, who is an assistant director at the Sonoran center for excellence in disabilities at the University of Arizona. And UCEDD training director. She's UCEDD trainee, alum and has been with the center for 15 years. She is also the chair of AUCD multicultural council. Welcome you all. Thank you so much for being here with me today.

Timotheus Gordon: Thank you for having us.

Jacy Farkas: Thank you for having us.

Jeiri Flores: Jacy my first question is for you, what are the motivations Kind of came from for it.

Jacy Farkas: It kind of came about with conversations between AUCD staff, multicultural council, representatives, and even the board in just how important it is that we are truly being inclusive and thinking about the many ways people identify themselves, the intersections that people might have with disability, race, ethnicity, and other cultural factors, social identities, and not only do we need to be kind of walking the talk so to speak but if we're going to be looking towards growing diverse and skilled leaders and modeling diversity equity inclusion, as it relates to people with developmental and other disabilities, we need to have some real conversation on what that's looking like within our network. What are we doing? How are we pushing some of these things forward? And so I'm really excited about this podcast and this season to hear about the work people are doing across the network, what they're learning from their experiences that they've had. And even more importantly, how we can really be centering the voices of disabled people of color. And so I'm super excited, Jeiri, the chair, the host, and that I'm here with Timotheus and I'd love to hear someone whose thoughts too, about the podcast.

Jeiri Flores: So Timotheus, in the spirit of everything that Jacy has just said. Can you tell us a little bit about your journey?

Timotheus Gordon: It's been a long journey To me, honestly. To Like I think they call it the road less traveled, but indeed it is because I started out on a graduate school where I was becoming more comfortable with knowing about my disability which is autism, and also connecting with the disability community. So I became a disability advocate, just learning more about accommodations that disability culture in general, but as far as being an advocate for myself and others and research road, that wasn't really until 2015, when I finished my master's degree in Atlanta and I came back home to Chicago, that's when I started to connect with more self-advocates who not only want to get bills passed that could benefit of the disability community but also create a vibrant community for disabled people of color. And so how I got into research and in particular and advocating from the higher education level is as it happens in a chance meeting with UIC professors and a colleague was just encouraging us to go, go ahead, talk to them. And so I talked to them about my work and advocacy and my writing, and eventually, I got to go see UIC pursue my master's in science. And essentially that's how I became a researcher. So now as a researcher, I am not only looking into if a Mason that benefits disabled people of color in particular, but also translating that information to something that we all could understand. And I think that's been a fun journey and like translate that information and connecting with people from many levels.

Jacy Farkas: I’ve been in the network now for 15 years. And I mean, I’ve definitely seen a difference and a growth from when I first joined and the very first conference I attended in Washington DC versus now. I mean, for one, there weren't as many trainees that used to come. I came as staff in a dual role as staff and trainee when at my first conference, but there weren't as many, and you didn't see as many people of color at the conference and it was predominantly white, predominantly older folks at that conference. There have been some real concerted efforts, you know, over the last five years, five, I would say five to eight years where, you know, changes for the board to have more representation, real advocacy, both with, from the multicultural council and others across the network to not only increase the diversity of our staff and trainees but that was also being supported and seeing that in person when we came together. Because I remember my first one, I felt, I like if I'm going to be real here, like, I didn't know anybody other than the people at my own center. And they’re very few of us who came and I was kind there also in a data coordinator role and trying to kind of mingle and meet people. But I felt like a fish out of water, both as a woman of color and that I was

new to this field. I came to this work very, you know, by happenstance. My other background and things had been sitting, had nothing to do with disability. And it was me coming to the UCEDD, both as really looking for a job while I was working on my master's and that I ended up really becoming passionate about the work. And a lot of that had to do with me learning and understanding and seeing disability as a social justice issue, but as a person of color. And I don't have the lived experience of disability, like I could see that like the disparities and kind of what happens for those who have a disability and also from another marginalized group and people of color, like what those outcomes were looking like. And that ultimately is what led me to stay in this field 15 years later. So my whole disability, like working with the disability community and in the field has been the entire time of me being tied to this network. And so I'm so happy with the growth that I’ve seen, but it doesn't mean the work is done. I want to continue to see more people of color in leadership roles. I want to see disabled people of color in leadership roles across our network. And I think we're continuing to head in that direction. And I'm really excited about the focus we really had as a network on defining what equity means in this disability space for us and how as a network, we can really push the needle on that. And I feel like these conversations we're having through this podcast will help to spur that and feel for folks in their individual centers to not feel like they're alone and that others are also working through this and trying to do better.

Jeiri Flores: This made me think about the first time I went to DPS, cause I didn't get to go to AUCD until I was like a UCEDD staff. Our LEND program would only take our fellows to DPS and I'm not into research. Like that's not what I do. I work in advocacy. So I didn't get to go to AUCD until I worked for the UCEDD, and on my first DPS, it was me and I still wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing in our LEND program, because there is no like set, like, Ooh, these are all the things that you hit. Like, you know, every LEND program is unique. It was a lot of white folks and there's one lady who stood up and she asked them, she's like, what are you going to do to get more black and brown people in the room? And like, no one took her seriously. And she was so upset and she left the rest of the conference. Like I didn't see her the rest of the time there. And then, you know, getting to grow within the network and meeting more people, you start to learn that some of your experiences, not just you, like you, just said, Jacy, like there are other people like you, but it's taken a really long time for me to get there. So I’ve only been around for like maybe five or six years. When we look at our centers and we look at how they're made up, what kind of opportunities can we create for folks who may not necessarily know that they have a space here, right? As you said, you came into this Jacy and you didn't have any experience in disability. So how

has that process for you as you grew, and then your center created a space for you to thrive, and Timotheus it kind of sounded like your center created a space for you to thrive too. So how do we now pay it forward?

Timotheus Gordon: Luckily I am glad you all mentioned paying it forward. And how UCEDD can create opportunities for people of color and especially people of color with disabilities to not only participate in what's going on in UCEDD, both have a strong voice and contribution to the UCEDD. My UCEDD which is on the Institute on disability and human development at UIC gave myself and a colleague of mine, a great opportunity to reach out to disabled people of color. We under their support and blessing, We created a group called the Chicago LEND of disabled people of color coalition, where we gather disabled people of color throughout the Chicago land area, including within city limits, to not only have the safe space to be as existed and to find comfort and to connect with their peers, but to also learn more about their disability pride, it's a section of disability and create campaigns that address all the issues that we face in our communities as well. So that's one example of creating a space for the community to not only connect, but also to thrive and support and be a focal point of providing the service. I take off of my experience. And UCEDD just has the opportunity to connect with you all, connecting with people of color or people with disabilities, or people in the LGBT plus community. The connection alone has been valuable for me. Bringing it in more voices, with training more people to be in our fields, will help us a lot in like strengthening the outreach, strengthening what we can bring to our communities throughout in our UCEDD.

Jacy Farkas: Timotheus I completely agree with you and kind of along the same lines, I think by the nature of what all of our centers are, right? We're in universities and there's this struggle intention to even if those in leadership and within the center have the right intention, they're trying to make it work. And it's maybe within the center, it's the infrastructure and the mindset of a university isn't set up to necessarily support exactly what you're talking about Timotheus. And so finding out ways and working to really change the mindset and advocacy of the other parts of the university and their structures to make it easier to hire people with disabilities that may not have a degree, to hire family members. And that's not just in maybe just an independent contractor type of situation or a small stipend, but like as actual staff and finding creative ways to do that and get the support within the university and then to not become complacent, like you got to find creative ways to make it happen. Even if the university isn't necessary if they're creating the barriers. You know, the other thing that kind of popped up in my mind too, is that Jeiri you asked about, okay, we define it and then what's going to be that challenge or barrier. I would hope that people don't seem like the end goal is the definition. You know that there's got to be action and no complacency and continue to look and find ways that we can keep pushing and we want real conversations. So I'm going to say one of the things we've all struggled with, even in the multicultural council is that there's always a lot of talks and there's a lot of, like, we can share some stories and for lack of maybe commiserate or say what the issues are, but then like, what's the next step? Like, where's the action to it? How can we do more? I mean, telling us stories is important, but then what, and so I would hate for there to not for there to be any kind of complacency that would be kind of my fear is like, okay, we've now defined it. So, and within our mission, so it's good, but it's like, how are we making sure it's operationalized? How are we making sure that people are utilizing the tools that folks are creating across the network? Whether it's the diversity toolkit, the diversity equity inclusion action plan. But again, those are also just some guidelines you've got to do more work to it than that too, right?

Jeiri Flores: No, you are so making sense. I feel so at home in this conversation, I'm just trying to not say the wrong thing. So I don't want to get fired because I feel like I Teeter a line often because I'm very much so am the kind of person that's like, no, we talked about it now. So now it's time to do something. And I'm the person that will keep pushing like until we do something, I don't want to call myself aggressive as a woman of color. I don't think we should have those kinds of words, you know, attributed to us. I'll say that I'm really passionate when people will say, oh, well, we've done this. And now I'm like, okay, so now what, you know what I mean? And I think that Timotheus and Jacy you see when you say like, okay, so I have a degree in sociology. What that really means is that I can tell you about yourself because that's what I learned. I can tell you why you bought your sneakers, you know, what really pushed you to pick that bread or whatever. Like, that's what they taught me to do. I'm not a researcher. You know, that's not my job. Like that's not what I'd know how to do. And as just a person who came in as an advocate for our LEND program and then got hired to be faculty and then got hired on with our UCEDD, pushing for advocacy to be respected for what it does and what it means and what it represents is really, really hard, For folks who work in the academic realm. Because you know, what I know is supported by facts by happenstance. I just got lucky that way. You know what I mean? It just is what it is. And so when you look at this network as a whole, and we look at how advocates work and we look at things like equity, and even if we use AUCD conference as an, I’ve never been invited to present at AUCD. And I firmly believe is, cause I don't have a Ph.D. Because everything that I’ve pushed through has always been a poster. And not that I'm not grateful for having the opportunity to present as a

poster, because that's bg. My family thinks it's important. Cause I get to travel to Washington to talk about it. They might not understand what I'm presenting on, but they'll, you know, they'll get it. I get to do a poster, but how do we shift the narrative of how we look at folks and who is allowed to really speak and who is given this privilege to share their information and their knowledge and what they've learned and how they've grown, you know, it's time for us to take a look inside at the way our network works and how academia has shaped some of that. Academia is not the easiest place to exist when you're a person of color. If we look at Twitter on any given day, we can see someone uses some sort of hashtag to point out how racist and how uncomfortable and how not equitable the process of academia is. So when we look at our network and we think about all the things that we've done and all the growth that we've had for you personally, what has that looked like? And you know, what have your personal challenges kind of been to push through and to create the changes you've created? Like Jacy, you run the multicultural console. And so there's been things and tough that you've had to have within the last two years, but you know, there have been some changes in the feel of the network because of some of the work that you've done and some of the work of other folks in our network. So what are some of those personal challenges that you've kind of just had to push through so that you could stick within this network for 15 years?

Jacy Farkas: First of all, like when I started, I was an office assistant working half time while I was working on my master's. And so I was like the bottom of the totem pole and we're in a new center. So it was right at the very beginning of when that center, our center was created. And there have been times, I mean, where I felt like I'm the only, you know, I'm the only person of color that might be in the room. That's changed in the last several years where we've really made an effort to diversify our center. But, you know, there's times where you're, I also look really young where I didn't feel necessarily like, would I be taken seriously as a woman of color and a young person, whether I was out in the field and talking with people in the community or within our own institution, you know, you always feel like, I feel like I'm preaching to the choir here a little bit. Like, you always feel like you've got to kind of have to sidestep and think about how is this going to be interpreted because of who's in the room. What kind of face do I have to put on today to make sure I get my point across and for it to be taken seriously? How can I have some of these different side conversations with different people to kind of have the support needed to move forward in an initiative or something right? That I couldn't necessarily just do that on my own to be taken seriously. And one of the things that, you know, I’ve been fortunate that through like joining the multicultural council early on and kind of connecting with some key people across the network, and I’ve been lucky to have such a great mentorship to grow more in my agency and feel empowered to speak up and say something.
But even within the last couple of years with everything that's been happening during the pandemic and with black lives matter. And you know, I didn't say this, but I'm African-American and Filipino. I have a black father. And so a lot of the stuff was hitting home really hard for me. And as the only person who was of black descent, like in my center, but I also don't present that way. It was really hard and not knowing how to approach and say anything. And I was conflicted. I had to reach out to other people, how do I go about this? What do I say? I still have those insecurities myself and a lot of work that I do for myself in this area to be confident and to feel like not only did I can say it, and then I'm in the right for saying it but not assuming that it won't be taken seriously. And that shouldn't be the barrier for me for speaking up for anything. And that's taken a long time for me to even get there I would say, I mean, this is even stuff I’ve been dealing with for the last couple years, but still then making the effort to speak to leadership and to kind of step into that brave space because you know, all somebody can do is say no, but if you don't try, nothing's going to happen. And I have to keep reminding myself that.

Jeiri Flores: What kind of advice would you give to someone of color in our network who is coming up the ranks and who is feeling like, no, these are just some hard steps I need to take. You know, what kind of advice would you give to those who are just pushing through to get to that position either at the UCEDD, at the LEND, or even just wanting to grow within our network?

Timotheus Gordon: If anything for anyone of color starting off at AUCD network in any form, whether you are a LEND trainee or start out as a staff member or students or self-advocates, I’ll just go and say that connections are very important, it is key. If you have any questions or if you are looking for someone to connect and collaborate with, or you just want to hang out with somebody from the UCEDD just to know the person and the UCEDD, by all means, connect with people. I think the stronger your network, the further along you'll get it, I think you also have more, I think they would be more smooth sailing.

Jacy Farkas: And to piggyback on what Timotheus says, I'm going to put a shameless plugin, join the multicultural council, whether you're a trainee or a staff member because it's also a great place to network and build some of that community for yourself across the whole, you know, the AUCD network. Any of the other councils are great too. And the same with the SIGs. There's something I feel like for everybody. And I would say that take advantage of the

opportunities that are out there. If you want to get involved, just do it, reach out to somebody, go after that, you know opportunity. Whether it's as an intern, a liaison, or some of the other things that come up from AUCD to be involved so that you get to know folks across the network as well, that may have the same interests as you. Also wearing my data coordinator hat, I am saying, look folks up in mirrors or like go to the AUCD website and look on the directory and find folks who have similar interests as you and reach out you're part of the network. Someone will respond.

Jeiri Flores: There is so much power in that directory. People find me all the time. So if you need me, I am here, I'm always surprised how they found me. And they are like, oh, we looked you up on that thing. I was like, oh, okay, cool. Thank you so much Both of you for being here with us, we really truly appreciate your stories, your voice, your passions, and that's it. That's a wrap for our episode.

Thank you for tuning in to AUCD network narratives. If this story has inspired you to make a change at your center or program, use the link in our show notes for resources and tools to help you lead on. We'd love to connect with you. So visit the AUCD website and click on the submit your story button at the top. We hope to hear from you soon.