Rebecca Cokley On Being A Disability Rights Activist
Always Looking Up
06/21/21
•65m
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This week I am sitting down with Rebecca Cokley, someone I have always looked up to in the little person and disabled communities. Rebecca is currently serving as a program officer in the President’s Office of the Ford Foundation, a global grant-making philanthropy that challenges inequality, where she is developing the U.S. disability rights program strategy. Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, Rebecca was the co-founder of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress, the executive director of the National Council on Disability, and a presidential appointee under President Obama where she worked in the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. We discuss her career, what it means to be a disabled advocate in 2021, and the changes she wants to see and make in the world.
Follow Rebecca: Twitter: @RebeccaCokley
Ford Foundation: https://www.fordfoundation.org
Follow me: Instagram: @jill_ilana ; @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.com This episode was edited by Benjamin Curwin
Previous Episode
In this week’s episode I am sitting down with Shelby Holloway. We met at the LPA national convention in Brooklyn twelve years ago and she instantly became a best friend and big sister. Though she lives 3,000 miles away, she has always been there for me through times of laughter, tears, and everything in between. Today we are discussing Little People Of America- what it is, what it means to us, and what happens when the little person community comes together for a week or weekend.
Follow Shelby: Instagram: @shelbyhollowayy TikTok: @shelby_holloway
Follow me: Instagram: @jill_ilana ; @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: www.jillianilana.com This episode was edited by Benjamin Curwin
Next Episode
Michaela Healy On Living With Hydrocephalus
June 28, 2021
•16m
In this week’s episode I am talking to Michaela Healy. Ever since being diagnosed with hydrocephalus, water on the brain, at the age of one, she has been giving Wonder Woman a run for her money. Simply put, she is the strongest person I know and, through a series of very fortunate events we became best friends. She has survived over 300 surgeries, the halls of Washington Township High School, and crazy adventures with me, all with the biggest smile on her face and the occasional middle finger in the air. Though she is not a little person, I knew when starting this podcast that I wanted to have her on and tell her story. We discuss her medical and personal journeys, her constant positive outlook on life, and how she never stops defying everyone’s expectations.
Follow me: Instagram: @jill_ilana ; @alwayslookingup.podcast
Website: https://www.jillianilana.com This episode was edited by Benjamin Curwin
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