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Author: Grant Barringer

Ability Central Announces 2025 Funding Cycle

$1M+ in funding available to nonprofits serving people with disabilities in California

Concord, California – July 9, 2024 – Ability Central, now in its 13th year of grantmaking, announced its 2025 funding year, focused on empowering California nonprofits to implement programs that expand access to communication and information for people who are Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent.

Ability Central revealed two funding priorities for its 2025 annual Communication Access Grants:

  1. Developing and training healthcare professionals in strategies and tools that improve access to care for people with communication disabilities.
  2. Career and leadership development projects for people with communication disabilities.

A total …

Read More Ability Central Announces 2025 Funding Cycle

Ability Central Launches Disability Resource Kit for Media Professionals

Nonprofit celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day by offering free resources for journalists and media outlets to improve digital content accessibility

A visually impaired Black man with close-cropped black hair controls his computer via the keyboard while talking to a Black woman in a pink shirt sitting beside him

Oakland, California – May 14, 2024 – Ability Central, a US-based foundation expanding communication and information access for people with disabilities, is unveiling a new set of free online resources to mark Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 16th. The Journalist’s Guide to Disability in Media: An Overview of Disability Inclusion, Accessibility, and Representation is designed to help media professionals navigate the latest developments in digital accessibility and disability representation.

“This guide is a helpful reminder that as …

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Ability Central Releases 2023 Impact Report

California Nonprofit Showcases Free Disability and Accessibility Resources, Critical Support for Nonprofits, and $1 Million in Grants

Oakland, California – March 22, 2024 – California nonprofit Ability Central announced their annual Impact Report for 2023, sharing statistics and successes from another year of grantmaking, digital access, and nonprofit support. Ability Central offers funding and support for people with communication disabilities, their families and caregivers, and the organizations that serve them.

In 2023, the nonprofit’s 12 grantees reached 33,851 people with disabilities in California and around the world. More than $1,000,000 in funding from Ability Central enabled these organizations to create …

Read More Ability Central Releases 2023 Impact Report

Watch our short film “Everyone Can Communicate”

One in six Americans has or will have a communication disability in their lifetime. So why don’t we know more about these disabilities and hear more about them?

Everyone Can Communicate, a short film from Ability Central Philanthropy, is a conversation with people with communication disabilities. As the only funder working exclusively to address all communications disabilities, Ability Central highlights the fundamental rights to access that are often violated, and the work being done to create awareness and action.

Everyone Can Communicate premiered at Exponent Philanthropy’s Outsized Impact Film Festival in October of 2022.…

Read More Watch our short film “Everyone Can Communicate”

Access:Ability January 2024 Newsletter

The January 2024 edition of the Ability Central monthly e-newsletter, Access:Ability.

Ability Central Philanthropy

Dark blue and green graphic with white text that reads: "Announcing: 2024 Ability Central Grantees. $1 million awarded for healthcare training, leadership and career development, and digital access initiatives."

Ability Central Awards Grants to 12 Organizations Working with Disability Communities

$1 million awarded for healthcare training, leadership and career development, and digital access initiatives.

Oakland, California – January 9, 2024 – Ability Central has awarded more than $1 million 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 priorities for this grant cycle focus on healthcare training, leadership and career development for …

Read More Access:Ability January 2024 Newsletter

Access:Ability January 2024 Newsletter

The January 2024 edition of the Ability Central monthly e-newsletter, Access:Ability.

Ability Central Philanthropy

Dark blue and green graphic with white text that reads: "Announcing: 2024 Ability Central Grantees. $1 million awarded for healthcare training, leadership and career development, and digital access initiatives."

Ability Central Awards Grants to 12 Organizations Working with Disability Communities

$1 million awarded for healthcare training, leadership and career development, and digital access initiatives.

Oakland, California – January 9, 2024 – Ability Central has awarded more than $1 million 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 priorities for this grant cycle focus on healthcare training, leadership and career development for …

Read More Access:Ability January 2024 Newsletter

Ability Central Awards Grants to 12 Organizations Working with Disability Communities

$1 million awarded for healthcare training, leadership and career development, and digital access initiatives.

Oakland, California – January 9, 2024 – Ability Central has awarded more than $1 million 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 priorities for this grant cycle focus on healthcare training, leadership and career development for people with disabilities within nonprofit organizations, and digital accessibility initiatives.

Eleven of the grants awarded were given to empower organizations to develop or expand their …

Read More Ability Central Awards Grants to 12 Organizations Working with Disability Communities

Access:Ability December 2023 Newsletter

The December 2023 edition of the Ability Central monthly e-newsletter, Access:Ability.

Community Event

White text on a modern, blue graphic background that reads: Replay: Ability Central at the Outsized Impact Film Festival. December 14th, 2023 | 2:00pm - 3:00pm ET

Replay: Ability Central at the Outsized Impact Film Festival

Virtual Event | December 14th, 2023 at 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET

Join Ability Central Program Officer Jessie Galloway at a replay of the short film we created for Exponent Philanthropy’s Outsized Impact Film Festival last year.

Exponent Philanthropy hosts the film festival at their Annual Conference, highlighting the work that foundations do. Join us online on December 14th to replay two short films from a past festival, including our submission Everyone Can Communicate.

In this short film, …

Read More Access:Ability December 2023 Newsletter

Access:Ability November 2023 Newsletter

The November 2023 edition of the Ability Central monthly e-newsletter, Access:Ability.

Grantee Highlight

Modern, flat illustration of a team of disabled employees working collaborating effectively, colored in bright greens and oranges.

Disability Cultural Competence Training with Painted Brain

Virtual Event | November 29th and December 6th, 2023

Join Ability Central grantee Painted Brain for a free cultural competency training. The new training promotes understanding and skills for creating welcoming environments for people with disabilities and is open to all behavioral and mental health service providers in California.

It covers:

  • The definition of disability cultural competency.
  • How to recognize different disabilities and their unique requirements.
  • How to appreciate the role of culture in the disability
…
Read More Access:Ability November 2023 Newsletter

Access:Ability October 2023 Newsletter

The October 2023 edition of the Ability Central monthly e-newsletter, Access:Ability.

Grantee Highlight

The letters E.A.A.T. are outlined in blue aside from the second A, representing Access, which is filled in with a bold blue. Under the acronym are the words Experiments in Art, Access & Technology. This text is underlined by sound waves of varying amplitude. Tinged in blue and orange, the waves reverberate and fade into the black background.

Experience Experiments in Art, Access & Technology from Leonardo

New exhibition from Ability Central grantee showcases artistic innovations in accessible technology.

Leonardo is excited to share a groundbreaking exhibition, Experiments in Art, Access, and Technology (E.A.A.T.), showcasing the work of the CripTech Incubator, funded in part by Ability Central. Leonardo’s CripTech Incubator is an art and technology fellowship for disability innovation to engage and remake creative technologies through the lens of accessibility.

The E.A.A.T. exhibition features work by Meesh Fradkin, Carmen Papalia, Josephine Sales, Andy …

Read More Access:Ability October 2023 Newsletter