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Tune in to episode 24 of the Disability Inclusion: Required podcast.

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Disability Inclusion: Required – Episode 24 – Cultivating Disability Solidarity in Philanthropy: A New Path Forward

In this episode, host Justice Shorter welcomes Sandy Ho, Executive Director of the Disability & Philanthropy Forum, and Marcus Walton, President and CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). Sandy and Marcus unpack the need for a powerful and transformative practice of disability solidarity in the philanthropic sector, even in the face of fear and discouragement. Sandy and Marcus emphasize the importance of vulnerability, long-term commitment, and harnessing joy in building authentic collective power between philanthropy and disability movement. Don’t miss this exploration of how philanthropic leaders can share the burden of this moment with disability movement leaders.

Our podcast theme music is by Andre Louis and Precious Perez. Thank you to Recording Artists And Music Professionals With Disabilities (RAMPD) for connecting these talented disabled musicians with the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

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Featured Guests

Photo taken by Adrian O. Walker. Sandy Ho is sitting outside against a wall in a power wheelchair. She’s wearing a long sleeved white shirt, yellow pants, and brown shoes with a silver buckle. She has short dark wavy hair, and she is smiling at the camera.

Sandy Ho

Sandy Ho is the Executive Director of the Disability & Philanthropy Forum. Ho was most recently the program director of the Disability Inclusion Fund at Borealis Philanthropy where she led a grantmaking strategy of $4M for disabled-led organizations across the country. Prior to her role in philanthropy Sandy was a disability policy researcher, and comes to disability community organizing by way of mentoring for youth with disabilities. She was a member of the inaugural Obama Foundation USA Leaders cohort in 2023; and in 2022 Sandy was named a Disability Futures Fellow supported by Ford Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sandy received her Master’s in Public Policy from Brandeis University in 2023. She identifies as a disabled queer Asian American woman, and is an obnoxious Red Sox fan. In her spare time she enjoys birding, being an Auntie, and reading by Lake Merritt.

Marcus Walton, a Black man with salt-and-pepper hair smiles at the camera. He is wearing a suit with a blue jacket, gray vest, and a light blue shirt. His tie is of several shades of brown, with some red accent colors.

Marcus Walton

Marcus F. Walton joins GEO with over a decade of practice in both nonprofit management and the ontological learning model. He specializes in operationalizing conceptual frameworks; racial equity facilitation and training; leadership and management strategy; stakeholder engagement; program development and navigating philanthropy.

In his previous role as Director of Racial Equity Initiatives for Borealis Philanthropy, Marcus lead the Racial Equity Initiatives team and worked in partnership with 18 nationally-networked, philanthropy-serving grantee organizations to move past the “transactional” nature of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to a unified movement which prioritizes strategies that close gaps in access to opportunity, resources and well-being (across all categories of gender, identity, sexual orientation, class and ability). Before that, Marcus served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), where he oversaw its operations, HR and staff development functions, including the overall strategy, conceptualization and administration of racial equity programming. Prior to ABFE, he combined his organizing experience and passion for public service in the role of Program Officer of Community Responsive Grantmaking with the Cleveland Foundation and Sr. Program Officer with Neighborhood Progress, Inc.

Marcus is a Newfield Network-trained ontological coach, with additional training in the Action Learning systems coaching model. He promotes coaching as a tool for personal mastery, racial equity & systems change, social sector excellence and transformation within marginalized communities.

Marcus received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Bowling Green State University and has continued graduate studies in public administration at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Public Policy as well as Rutgers University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration.