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What is the ND23 Project?
ND23 unifies neurodivergent* (ND) individuals and our allies to develop a global agenda improving the lives of ALL* of our community members. We:
• Engage the ND community, our allies, and organizations;
• Educate the global community to address bias and misinformation;
• Create plan through an intersectional lens representative of ALL* community members;
• Challenge perspectives to promote growth and sustainability.

*A neurodivergent (ND) person is someone who has one or more co-occurring neurological conditions that may cause disability when interacting with or moving through their environment or in relationship to other people.

 *ALL - We address the barriers faced by neurodivergent individuals and come up with solutions to eliminate those barriers. We seek to raise the voices of ALL neurodivergent individuals, of all backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicities, cultures, religions, genders, sizes, and abilities, whilst working alongside our allies in creating meaningful change.

#ND23: An Agenda for Action & Change
 
ND23 is an Umbrella Alliance Project dedicated to bringing neurodivergent self-advocates and allies together to engage in meaningful and action-oriented conversations which identify sytemic barriers to our success so we can:

develop action plans for sustainable change for ALL* members of the ND community and

engage organizations and the global community in taking action toward that change.

Our Vision:
We are an informed and connected global community that understands, accepts, and supports neurodiversity.

Our Mission:
To provide a platform for ND community members, allies, and organizations to join together, create, and implement actionable and sustainable change for the ND community.
 
The ultimate goal of #ND23 is to, as a global community, work—present-focused and future-centered—to move forward together with an engaged and cohesive presence. 

What is the ND Global Agenda?
This is an achievable and measurable action plan to align policy with the collective needs of the ND community.

Why is this important?

Nearly 75% of our community members experience economic insecurity. This means that many of us regularly do not have access to resources to meet our basic needs.
It is important to note that our community is embedded with layers of intersectionality and diversity. Our neurology is one of many intersections, including (and not limited to), skin color, citizenship, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, sexual identity, age, disability, belief systems, socioeconomic status, education, body size, mental health status, language, and any other individual quality that can be used to gain or be denied power and privilege.

Check out this quote from the Harvard Gazette.  "The typical white American family has roughly 10 times as much wealth as the typical African American family and the typical Latino family. In other words, while the median white household has about $100,000-$200,000 net worth, Blacks and Latinos have $10,000-$20,000 net worth."

This means that of the approximately—only—25% of our population that does experience security, nearly every one of them is white. For Black and Global Majority individuals, access to resources in education, employment, healthcare, and social protections is limited because of extensive racial bias by providers. Ultimately, research statistics carry gross misinformation since too many members of our community are not diagnosed and/or do not feel safe in disclosing diagnosis. 

We  must act, collectively, understanding all of this and devise a strategic plan representative of the challenges faced by every member of our community. Whether you are an ND individual, an ally, an advocate, or an accomplice, our power lies in the realization that we have strength and influence in numbers and, even more, that those with privilege have a responsibility to use it toward creating a sustainable future to each and every member of our community.
 
In this, we will be able to target important issues, rather than scrambling with limited resources, and an external audience that is far too often tokenistic, or, perhaps, well-intentioned but lacking the clarity and unity of purpose to move forward in ways that bring about the true depths of change. Together we can create spaces where it is not about who shouts the loudest, but rather ensuring that all voices are heard.

With the right focus and presence, we can finally move away from broken platforms where others speak for and about us, of overwhelmingly biased and narrowly-focused media representation, employment, education, healthcare policies, and social protections practices that aren’t fit for purpose, and research that perpetuates a deficit-based medical model, seeing us as a problem to be solved rather than a community to be understood, accepted, and supported.
 
How will #ND23 decide what needs to be addressed?

• Phase 1 is complete. This meeting, held in June 2022, included nearly 200 members of the ND Community around the world. During this initial Roundtable session, 3 themes emerged as a focus for the #ND23 Agenda. These were: 

  • Education

  • Employment

  • Healthcare

  • Additional conversations after the roundtable led to creation of the 4th cohort - Social Protections

• Phase 2 begins April 17, 2023 with our Kickoff Event. Cohorts for each theme will be created. Each cohort will begin work to identify change that needs to happen within its chosen theme.

• Phase 3 begins May 9, 2023 and will engage focused cohorts within each theme to collectively devise action plans for change. 

  • As the cohorts identify local needs, communities of practice will be established to create localized action plans and continue the conversations through monthly meetings and regular, targeted discussion and problem solving in the private community Discord server. 

  • Community Based Participatory Research Projects will be developed and plans put in place for acquiring resources and funding and establishing local partnerships to complete the projects and create much needed action in communities across the globe.

• Phase 4 will be a public campaign and call to action beginning in 2024.

Visit our website
https://umbrellaalliance.org/nd23

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