By Zara Todd, equity and inclusion expert.
As a disabled woman who uses a wheelchair when I go to sector events my heart sinks if I see a photographer because I know the likelihood of me being photographed is very high not because of my outfit or my importance but because I diversify the image.
My whole life I have been used to getting attention for existing in spaces and places where I’m not expected. Unfortunately, being in the charity sector as an employee, not a beneficiary, is no different.
A picture without a platform doesn’t demonstrate or celebrate diversity. To be photographed doesn’t mean you have any power or a voice. The inevitable photo at an event doesn’t articulate the hours that I have spent asking accessibility questions to see whether I get in, it doesn’t acknowledge the fact that I may have had to go through a side door or haul myself up a flight of stairs to be in the room, or that being present in that moment may cost me the rest of the week because of fatigue.
I once arrived at an event on diversity to find a flight of stairs and no one to flag for help. After half an hour of trying to find a way in and calling every contact number I had, I ended up being rescued by Twitter: one of the other speakers saw my tweet about being stuck outside and sent a rescue party.
Being out and vocal about disability issues in the sector I am often approached by people working in the sector who are not ‘out’ as disabled. Some of the Hidden Leaders interviewees raised similar concerns around the fear of disclosing disability and how that impacts people’s perception of you as a leader or potential leader. It’s a vicious circle: without more visibility of the disability community in the sector, it is more difficult to become visible. Without disability leadership being normalised, disclosing disability publicly or identifying as disabled you inevitably open yourself up more to the possibility of being tokenised or discriminated against.
Working on the Hidden Leaders report was a privilege as I got to spend time listening to disabled CEOs telling me about their experiences which had often been hidden. Since the publication of the report, I have been contacted by many more leaders identifying with the stories and experiences articulated in the report who have used the confidence of knowing that they are not alone in their experience to start having conversations and talking openly about their needs, skills and talents as disabled people.
Disabled leaders’ stories are powerful but sharing them can’t be tokenistic if we want to sustain long-term change. International Day of Persons with Disabilities and Disability History Month provide great opportunities to showcase disability talent but celebrating the contribution of disabled people should be more than a picture or an article once a year.
