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Tune in to episode 14 of the Disability Inclusion: Required podcast.

Connections Between Mental Health and Disability: A Conversation with Dior Vargas

In this episode of Disability Inclusion: Required, host Emily Ladau welcomes mental health activist Dior Vargas for a conversation about the role philanthropy can play in supporting mental health, wellness, and self-care. Dior shares a powerful call to action for accessible and equitable mental health care, highlighting the flaws in the current system and calling for community-based support and trauma-informed care.

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 Guest

A light skinned Latina standing by a royal blue velvet couch. She has highlighted brown and blonde shoulder length hair and is wearing a white blouse, a light pink blazer, a beige belt around her waist, and brown pants.

Dior Vargas

Dior Vargas, MPH, is a mental health activist with over ten years of experience in advocacy. She works with universities and corporations to discuss self-care advocacy, wellness accessibility, and diversity within mental health. She is the creator of the People of Color and Mental Illness Photo Project, a response to the invisibility of BIPOC in the media representation of mental illness. She is also the editor of The Color of My Mind, a book based on the photo project. Dior has received numerous awards, including the White House Champion of Change for Disability Advocacy Across Generations under the Obama Administration. Dior delivers speaking engagements across the country, and her work and insight have been covered in media outlets such as The New York Times, Forbes, Newsweek, and NBC News Latino. She was listed in the City & State Mental Health Power 50 List and was featured in the CBS Special, Essential Heroes: A Momento Latino Event. Dior has a BA in the Study of Women and Gender from Smith College and an MPH from New York University. She was born and raised in New York City and still lives there.