Members-Only Workshop – Collective Access Through Disability- and Trans-Inclusive Spaces
Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Time: 1:00 – 3:00 PM ET
What if access was collectively created and shared in our communities? What if philanthropy provided the best possible work environments so that we could all be at our best? As a philanthropic sector, the journey towards more inclusive hiring processes, more accessible events (virtual, hybrid and in person), and more flexible workplaces still has a way to go. We need to embed these practices in our operational departments, our employment policies, and grantmaking.
Building on the Disability Justice principle of Collective Access, this interactive members-only workshop will guide participants on how to embed access into our daily work through learnings from Disability Justice and Trans liberation movements. Participants will transform access from a compliance-based afterthought into a foundational part of their operational and community-building strategy.
This workshop is only available to members of the Disability & Philanthropy Forum. If you work in philanthropy but are not a Forum member, we invite you to apply to become one!
About the Facilitators

Sarah Napoli, Learning Services Director, Disability & Philanthropy Forum
Sarah Napoli is the learning services director at the Disability & Philanthropy Forum. From 2019-2023, she acted as the lead disability inclusion project officer within the people and culture Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity team at Open Society foundations. She has over 20 years of experience teaching and conducting training on social justice and advocacy. She holds two MA degrees in social justice in intercultural relations and applied human rights. She identifies as a proud disabled person and enjoys chatting about Geek culture and her former life as a hip hop researcher and dancer. She has conducted workshops and training all over the USA and around the globe.

Cleopatra Jach Aquaye, Director of Programs, Funders for LGBTQ Issues
Cleopatra Jach Acquaye is a Black Gender Non-Conforming* Queer, born and raised in The Bronx, New York. A first-generation-born child of Ghanaian immigrants, her values deeply center radical storytelling; Cleopatra defines this through transparency, centering lived experiences, and capacity-building. Sir has over a decade of experience in community organizing, organizational development, and team management, which informed her leadership as the Co-Executive Director of The Audre Lorde Project and the Interim Co-Executive Director of Lambda Literary. Jach’s teachers have come from Generative Somatics, Black Organizers for Leadership and Dignity, and Communities for Police Reform. This allowed her to create a foundation for her work based on healing justice, black liberation, and relational organizing. Cleopatra continues to be a part of the Online Training team for Training for Change, instilling the hard skill of facilitation into organizers and changemakers globally while also finding time to volunteer as a conflict mediator and coach at SEEDS Community Resolution Center. To maintain Cleopatra’s imagination levels, Sir incorporates screenwriting, cosplaying, and joke-telling in her spiritual practices. When Sir is not working, you can find her trying to read unread books in her apartment whilst researching new snacks to eat.
Members: log in, then click the button below to register for the workshop!
Not a member? Check your eligibility and apply today!
This content is restricted to site members. If you are an existing user, please log in. New users may register by clicking the link below.