Congratulations on being a 2024 recipient of the prestigious Henry Viscardi Achievement Award! You’re truly changing the game for the disability community. Can you tell us about the work you do?
LaVant Consulting, Inc. (LCI) is a disability-focused strategy and communications firm that I started in 2018. And I did that because I had a lot of experience with different industries and found that there were some consistencies across sectors. It’s not so much about people not wanting to address disabilities, but that they didn’t want to get it wrong. And my educational background was in public relations, so I’ve always felt the power of communication and diplomacy are really important — meeting people where they are on their journey. I describe what I do as being a “cultural changemaker”. And when I think about what was missing for me growing up as a Black disabled person, it was just needing to see possibilities for myself. So that led to the work we do at LCI, supporting a culture shift to ensure that intersectional disability is a part of people’s work.
What disability rights issue is your biggest advocacy priority right now?
For me, it’s all about making disability more mainstream — anything connected to living a full life and creating a holistic experience. For example, income limits when it comes to Social Security benefits and barriers to getting married. Or transportation. How am I getting to work? Or how am I getting on this plane? How can I go enjoy life?
What wisdom can you share with disabled people who want to make an impact with their advocacy?
You have to know yourself before you can outwardly make an impact. There are a lot of policy people that know sections of laws and statistics, but where I found my power to be was in my story. So, for example, I remember being at a disability roundtable at the White House during the Obama administration and folks were talking about everything from disability in sports, to employment, to health care. And my role was to talk about the intersection between women’s rights and disability rights as it relates to health care. I shared that my big concern was going to the doctor’s office and needing to get a Pap smear but I can’t get on the table, and that was shocking for them to hear. You can share that one in four people have disabilities, but you can make it plain by adding your perspective, how something impacts you directly. So my advice, you know, is just to tell your story to share your perspectives because it adds value. I can tell people I’ve achieved “the American dream” but there have been times when I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning because I didn’t have a personal care attendant to come and get me out of bed. That’s my real life experience.
You continue to accomplish so much! How do you take time to relax and restore?
I recognize that some of the things I’m going to say are because of access to privilege that I have now that I did not have before. Creating space means outsourcing certain things, like a meal delivery or laundry service, so I can be focusing on the things that I’m called to. I have a self-care coach who has helped me, as a Black disabled queer woman, to value and protect myself and my time.
Looking ahead, what’s next in your exciting journey?
When I started LCI, I thought it was just going to be me consulting and then things grew. My greatest joy is the opportunity to employ disabled people, and my dream is to continue to create an environment where people love what they do and they love who they do it with. We continue to grow slowly. It’s a personal mantra of my wife and I: we go slow, we move in flow. So as the team continues to build, and they’re flying beautifully already, it’s about creating more space for me to go and do some other projects I’m passionate about. That’s where I’m headed.