The Disabilities MIG received a grant from NCHPAD (National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability) to provide an Affiliate Speaker Grant Program for affiliates who are interested in a speaker and exhibit concerning disabilities at their annual meetings held in person or virtually that conclude on or before July 31, 2024.
We plan to select 5 Affiliates based primarily on their rationale and plans to conduct a conference that is accessible for people with disabilities based on the "Accessible Meetings, Events & Conferences Guide" available online at https://www.adainfo.org/hospitality/accessible-meetings-events-conferences-guide/.
The Disabilities MIG will create its own Speakers Bureau to identify speakers who are RDs or DTRs, members of the Disabilities MIG, have speaking experience, are employed or have been employed in dietetics, are able to provide presentation(s) in person and/or virtually, and the disability topic(s) on which they can speak.
Affiliates will indicate their top three choices for speakers and topics from our Speakers Bureau.
This program will help to educate Affiliates about providing accessible meetings, events, and conferences.
We are in the process of getting the applications (for both the Speakers Bureau and the Affiliate Speaker Grant Program) approved by Academy staff so we can make them available.
Both applications will be available on the Disabilities MIG website (https://www.disabilitiesmig.org/home) and announced on our online Discussion Board, to our Facebook group, and hopefully by email blast.
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Suzi Domel Baxter, PhD, RD, LD, FADA, FAND
Co-Founder and Chair of the Disabilities in Nutrition and Dietetics MIG (aka "Disabilities MIG")
Treasurer of the Cultures of Gender and Age MIG (COGA MIG)
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