I was just beginning my professional life when the ADA became law. Looking back now, I realize how fortunate I was to enter adulthood during a time when the landscape for people with disabilities was beginning to change.
The ADA did not remove every barrier I would face. It did not suddenly eliminate stereotypes or erase the low expectations that society often places on people with disabilities. But it did something incredibly important—it opened doors that had previously been closed.
Because of the ADA, I had greater opportunities to pursue education, seek employment, participate in my community, and advocate for the accommodations I needed to succeed. Opportunities that earlier generations of people with disabilities had to fight for were becoming legal rights rather than special favors.
As those doors opened, so did my confidence.
Each opportunity allowed me to gain experience, build skills, and discover strengths that I did not always recognize in myself. Every workplace challenge, every committee meeting, every advocacy effort, and every leadership role taught me something about influence, perseverance, and the power of using my voice.
Over time, I began to understand something important: leadership is not about having the loudest voice in the room or the highest title on an organizational chart. Leadership is about showing up, contributing ideas, solving problems, and helping move people toward a common goal. The ADA has assisted me in doing this.
For many people with disabilities, these skills are developed long before they ever receive a leadership title.
We learn how to navigate systems that were not designed for us. We learn how to advocate for ourselves when others do not understand our needs. We learn persistence when barriers stand in our way and adaptability when circumstances change unexpectedly. The ADA has been instrumental in my opportunities to evolve as an advocate and service provider.
These experiences become leadership training long before anyone calls us leaders.
Learning to Belong in the Room
One of the greatest gifts the ADA gave me was not simply access—it was the opportunity to belong.
As I entered professional spaces, I often found myself being the only person with a visible disability in the room. At times, I could sense the discomfort of others. Some were unsure how to interact with me. Others questioned my abilities before I had spoken a single word. Occasionally, people focused more on my disability than on my expertise or contributions.
Earlier in life, those reactions might have caused me to shrink back.
Instead, the opportunities created through the ADA helped me develop confidence in my own value and abilities. The more I participated, the more I realized I deserved to be there just as much as anyone else.
I stopped measuring my worth by whether others were comfortable with my presence.
I learned that leadership sometimes means being willing to sit at the table even when you are the only one who looks different. It means speaking up even when your perspective challenges assumptions. It means believing in your own expertise before others fully recognize it.
I understood that my disability did not diminish my leadership—it strengthened it.
Leadership Through Lived Experience
- My disability has required me to develop skills that are invaluable in leadership:
- Persistence when obstacles arise
- Creativity when traditional solutions do not work
- Resilience when circumstances change unexpectedly
- Empathy toward the experiences of others
- Courage to advocate for what is needed
- Confidence to challenge outdated assumptions
These are not simply disability skills. They are leadership skills.
The ADA created opportunities for these strengths to be recognized and utilized. It allowed people with disabilities to participate more fully in society, and in doing so, it revealed the leadership potential that had always existed within our community.
A New Generation of Leaders
Today, I see a new generation of women with disabilities entering schools, workplaces, boardrooms, and community organizations with opportunities that previous generations never had.
They are becoming executives, entrepreneurs, educators, advocates, elected officials, and change-makers.
Yet their greatest contribution may not be the positions they hold.
It is the example they set.
Every time a woman with a disability confidently enters a room, shares her expertise, leads a project, mentors others, or influences change, she expands society's understanding of what leadership looks like.
She makes it easier for the next woman with a disability to see herself as a leader.
My professional journey began at a time when the ADA was opening doors across America. Walking through those doors helped me discover not only new opportunities, but also my own leadership potential.
The ADA gave me access. Experience gave me confidence. And confidence allowed me to lead—not despite my disability, but with the unique perspective and strength that my disability helped me develop.
Today, when I enter a room, I no longer wonder whether I belong there.
I know I do. And that confidence is one of the most powerful forms of leadership there is.