Self Advocates Becoming Empowered and ACL's Administration on Disabilities are pleased to announce the 2023-2024 Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SAR-TAC) Award Fellows.
Six Fellows were chosen based on the policy or leadership project they wanted to do to help the self advocacy movement. Fellows are listed below with their hometown, host organization, and project summary.
To learn more about SAR-TAC, visit: selfadvocacyinfo.org. To learn more about the winners and the past Fellows, visit: selfadvocacyinfo.org/fellows.
2023-2024 SARTAC Fellows:
Dora Martinez
Reno, NV
Fellowship Project: Leadership Academy
Host: Catherine Nielsen, Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities
SARTAC Project: Leadership Academy will train people with disabilities on their rights and help them to advocate for themselves.
CG Matovina
Worcester, MA
Fellowship Project: Disability Justice in Action
Host and Name: Shulamith Jacobi, The Transformation Center DBA KIVA Centers
SARTAC Project: Disability Justice in Action will create training and resources to teach the 10 Principles of Disability Justice. The training and resources will focus on listening to the voices of people who feel left out. They will build a community to support each other with self-advocacy, self-determination, and decision-making.
Anna Montaldo
St. Louis, MO
Fellowship Project: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Host: Leigh Anne Haun, Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council
SARTAC Project: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work will create a course that teaches people with intellectual disabilities basic leadership skills and etiquette or good manners in speaking and working together with influential people (such as legislators) and how to behave professionally. Videos with speech should make the content engaging, understandable, and easy to remember.
Ocean Poet
St. Paul, MN
Fellowship Project: The Self-Advocate Artistic Movement
Host: Brittanie Hernandez-Wilson, The Arc Minnesota
SARTAC Project: The Self-Advocate Artistic Movement will focus on bringing people with disabilities together in the community to learn about self-advocacy and self-expression through art. This project will help elevate a community that is often marginalized or left out and whose history gets erased, but has always existed.
Deziree Tacub
Lihue, HI
Fellowship Project: The Video Guide to Employment
Host: Amelia Kyewich-Kaneholani, Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities
SARTAC Project: The Video Guide to Employment videos the Fellows and Host will help other people get jobs. The videos will be small, short videos, each on a different topic. The videos will go on YouTube and social media so people with developmental disabilities anywhere can watch them. She believes employment for individuals with developmental disabilities is important and advocates for equal rights.
Kelsi Weaver
Ferry, OH
Fellowship Project: ‘Liberty and Justice for All Mean All!’ - A Look into ‘Disabled Women and Girls’ Involvement with Civic Engagement
Host: Sophie Poost, Disability EmpowHer Network
SARTAC Project: ‘Liberty and Justice for All Mean All!’ - A Look into ‘Disabled Women and Girls’ Involvement with Civic Engagement will create a guide that empowers disabled women and girls to take the next step in getting involved, from voting to running for office!
SAR-TAC was created to share self advocacy ideas and help others across the country. It operates with support from ACL. To learn more about the fellowship and the previous classes of fellows, visit: selfadvocacyinfo.org/fellows