More than $800,000 awarded for leadership and career development and healthcare access training initiatives
Concord, California – January 14, 2025 – Ability Central has awarded $821,062 to 12 nonprofit organizations in California working to expand communication access for Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent communities. Recipient organizations offer a diverse array of support and services to these communities. The funding for Ability Central’s 2025 grant cycle encouraged projects focused on leadership and career development for people with communication disabilities and their employers, and training projects for healthcare professionals to increase accessibility and inclusion for people with communication disabilities.
“At Ability Central, we are committed to fostering a world where everyone can communicate, connect, and thrive,” says Matt Cherry, director of philanthropy at Ability Central. “Our 2025 grant recipients are driving transformative change in communication access and inclusion. Their innovative work reflects our shared vision of breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for people with disabilities to fully participate in their communities.”
To be eligible for a grant from Ability Central, an organization must operate within California, and work to expand communication access for those who are Deaf, disabled, or neurodivergent. Funded projects work on communication access either through direct services or with programs supporting technology or research for these communities. Grants range from $10,000 to $100,000 with up to $1 million awarded annually.
To learn more about Ability Central’s grantmaking in California, visit us online.
2025 Ability Central Grant Recipients
California Policy Center for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Sacramento
$62,656.25
Uncovering Pathways to Accessible Employment
Ability Central funds will support the California Policy Center for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to enhance employment opportunities for individuals with IDD. Funds will be used to further their work with the National Retailers Foundation RISE UP program, including roundtables, resource development, and employer engagement efforts.
The Center for Independent Living, Berkeley
$45,000.00
ACCELERATE: Paid Internship and Leadership Opportunities for People with Disabilities
Ability Central funds will support the Center for Independent Living (CIL) to continue building ACCELERATE, their job readiness, leadership development, paid internship program towards meaningful employment and leadership through two programs in emerging and expanding fields: 1) Emergency Preparedness Peer Ambassador Program; and 2) CODESTARS, an inclusive and emerging technology training program.
Disability Voices United, Los Angeles
$99,853.00
Communication Is Key: Model Training by Self-Advocates for Healthcare Professionals
Ability Central funds will support Disability Voices United to develop a model training for healthcare professionals created and led by self-advocates who are multimodal communicators to improve health outcomes for people with communication disabilities. The trainings will be tested before healthcare professionals, revised based on feedback, and then promoted widely.
Goodwill of Orange County, Santa Ana
$41,700.00
Technology Access to Strengthen Self-Advocacy & Career Development Supports
Ability Central funds will support Goodwill of Orange County’s ATEC program to implement a project on technology supports (i.e. AT/AAC, Artificial Intelligence, etc.) to provide people with disabilities increased access to technology to elevate their career goals, enhance self-advocacy, and job development skills to increase access to competitive employment opportunities.
Hearts for Sight Foundation, Temple City
$42,100.00
Expanding Mental Health Service and Opportunity for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Ability Central funds will support HFS to collaborate with other visually impaired (VI) organizations to create training programs for healthcare professionals, distribute resources on culturally competent care, conduct research on mental health needs, develop targeted services, establish an internship program for aspiring VI therapists, and set up support groups led by trained VI facilitators.
Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower International, Santa Cruz
$100,000.00
Workpower Leadership Training: Skills for Safety and Success in Getting and Keeping Jobs – Expansion
Ability Central funds will support expansion of Kidpower’s 2024 Workpower Program – developed with and for people with disabilities – to provide advocacy and personal safety skills for getting and keeping jobs. With the grant, they will train more paid Workpower presenters; develop new employer training and sexual harassment prevention training programs; and provide workshops throughout California.
Leonardo, The International Society for the Arts, Science, and Technology, Oakland
$100,000.00
CripTech Incubator
Ability Central funds will support Leonardo/ISAST in implementing CripTech Incubator labs focused on haptics and A.I., through participant stipends, fulfilling access needs, educational initiatives, and developing accessible virtual platforms. CripTech Incubator centers disability innovation, creating a platform for disabled artists to remake creative technologies through the lens of access.
Pacific Hearing Connection, Los Altos
$26,500.00
Hearing Heroes: a training and education initiative
Ability Central funds will support Pacific Hearing Connection to provide training and education to those in the community who work directly with the under-served, under-insured, and “forgotten middle” populations affected by hearing loss. They will supply educational outreach and hearing healthcare materials/content to those in high-risk situations and/or have jobs with a danger of hearing loss.
Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, San Diego
$98,068.00
Creating a Family-centered Approach to Hearing Assessment: Leveraging Technology for Inclusive Care
Ability Central funds will support Rady Children’s Hospital’s Audiology Department to 1) Increase hearing testing capability through the acquisition of cortical evoked response testing; 2) Create family-centered protocols for newly assessed deaf and hard of hearing children; and 3) Facilitate training of audiological teams throughout California regarding the technology and test protocols.
Society for the Blind, Sacramento
$72,614.00
BoardABLE: Achieving Board & Leadership Engagement
Ability Central funds will support Society for the Blind to increase representation of people who are blind, have low vision or other communication disabilities in executive management and on nonprofit boards by providing Leadership Development and Board member training through the BoardABLE project.
The Black Deaf Project, Fontana
$34,290.00
Deaf, Brilliant, and College Bound
Ability Central funds will support The Black Deaf Project to expand the number of Black Deaf students, specifically mainstream students, they can fund to attend the Deaf, Brilliant, and College-Bound tour, including covering the cost of food, accommodations, ground transportation, flights, and interpreters, pay Deaf presenters, and conduct a comprehensive program assessment for impact.
World Institute on Disability, Berkeley
$98,281.00
Level 2 Virtual Training Series for a Person-Centered Approach
Ability Central funds will support WID to develop an expanded user-friendly, accessible, inclusive, and self-directed virtual training series building on the current 10-module Introductory Series. Level 2 will be designed to develop the provider skills necessary for person-directed strategies for people with communication disabilities within health and medical services across multiple disciplines.
Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ability Central is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2003. Ability Central is committed to serving as an educator, convener, and resource working to expand communication and information access for individuals who are Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent. Ability Central also offers technical support to other nonprofits working to help people with disabilities and provides online information and resources for people with questions about communication disabilities and accessibility. Since 2010, Ability Central has granted more than $14.3 million to 200+ projects, serving more than half a million people with disabilities.
Contact: Grant Barringer, Communications Manager
gbarringer@abilitycentral.org