“Towards a Better Equity Agenda: Undoing Ableism and Challenging the Erasure of Disability” with Kristy Trautmann, Executive Director, FISA Foundation

We’re learning to speak more directly and comfortably about many justice and equity issues, but conversations about diversity often omit people with disabilities. Every one of us knows someone who is disabled, but we still stigmatize this very common human experience. What would happen if we recognized that ableism, like racism and homophobia, is learned and can be unlearned? What if we viewed access as an expression of hospitality and welcome?

Kristy Trautmann has served as executive director of FISA Foundation since 2010. FISA is a charitable grantmaking foundation that provides grants to nonprofit organizations in southwestern Pennsylvania to improve the lives of women, girls, and people with disabilities. Under Trautmann’s leadership, FISA has undertaken regional initiatives to end cycles of domestic and sexual violence, empower girls (particularly girls of color) to reach their full potential, promote accessibility among arts and cultural organizations, and improve access to health care for people with disabilities.

The FISA Foundation’s Southwest PA Says No More initiative specifically works to interrupt cycles of domestic and sexual violence. Through FISA, Kristy also helped start the Girls Coalition of Southwestern PA and Standing Firm, an initiative which works with companies to address partner violence when one of the partners is an employee. That effort has also expanded into efforts that arm other role models with strategies to prevent domestic violence, and strategies to intervene when athletes see or hear behaviors that can be abusive – including the Coaching Boys into Men which started here in Pittsburgh (and has been implemented at Chatham). A native Pittsburgher, Kristy worked at Pittsburgh Action Against Rape and the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh. She also serves on the board of 21 and Able (a United Way initiative focused on improving the transition to adulthood and employment for young adults with disabilities), UPMC’s Disability Resource Center, and the Finance Committee for Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania.