The housing industry is large and far-reaching, including nonprofit and market-rate development, architecture, construction, finance, law, philanthropy, research, education, advocacy, policymaking; the list goes on. This field shapes where people live, who can afford homes, how spaces are designed and how our cities and housing include different people. Notwithstanding impact and outcomes in the field, the history of housing policy and practice is steeped in ableism, racism and other forms of oppression. Therefore, it is no surprise that these forces have shaped who does and does not have power across the field.  The discrepancies in power dynamics span across race, gender, sexuality, class, language and disability. This article centers on the strategies for greater participation and leadership of disabled people in housing. The analysis of the needs and all strategy efforts must be addressed through an intersectional lens across disability, race, gender, and other multiply marginalized identities.

As many as 1 in 4 people live with disabilities in the US and the population only continues to grow. Increasing disabled leadership will better ensure the field meets the housing needs of the over 61 million people with disabilities. This article serves as a resource for housing organizations that want to increase the participation and leadership of people with disabilities within their work, as well as a resource for leaders with disabilities who seek to engage in the housing field. 

There are many ways that housing organizations can increase disabled leadership. This ranges from making disability part of your broader equity and inclusion efforts to creating more accessible hiring and recruiting processes.  Here are some actionable ideas to increase Disabled Leadership in your organization:

Statistically, people with disabilities are likely already working within your organization. Workplaces have the responsibility to create a welcoming and inclusive work environment. The more practices are incorporated that center accessibility, the more you will find people empowered to share more of who they are, including disability related experiences.  When disability identity and access is affirmed in the workplace environment, people will be better equipped to affirm disability and center access in the housing work they do as well.

Consider incorporating these prompts as an upcoming meeting agenda icebreaker: Share this prompt during staff meetings and ask that everyone participate: Access needs are needs that people have in order to participate as fully as possible. What are your access needs? What would allow you to participate more fully? If all of your needs are met, state that. (Example answers: if on zoom, I’d love automatic captioning turned on; I may need to turn on and off my camera; I would like extra time to process the materials shared before responding)

When requested,  it is critical for an employer to understand how to support employees who ask for accommodations. A great resource is the Employer page of the Job Accommodation Network.

Housing organizations can make a direct effort to disseminate information about jobs and internships to people with disabilities. Some channels include disability support services at colleges and universities; typically called Offices of Disability Support Services. Researching whether or not colleges in your area have offices of disability services is a great way to connect with potential job seekers. This may increase the number of disabled candidates who apply for these internships, possibly ultimately inspiring college students with disabilities to launch careers in the housing field.

Post job listings on job boards that are specifically targeted to disabled job seekers, like the AAPD Job Board, abilityJOBS and Getting Hired. Housing organizations can also form connections with entities that focus on increasing employment for people with disabilities. For example, housing associations could create a partnership with the local office of the Department of Rehabilitation to assist disabled job seekers in their member organizations, an housing pipeline internship program could partner with a disability-forward vocational program to better include disability in their program, among others.

Another critical consideration to make when trying to create disabled talent in the housing field is to make sure that postings for jobs and internships are accessible. It’s going to be hard to acquire disabled talent if the application information is not accessible. Create clear and jargon-free job descriptions that detail what the role entails and the expectations of the position that are understandable to someone not already in the field. Use plain language wherever possible. Ensure applications are accessible by using accessible websites or forms and including image descriptions. Provide flexible interviewing practices. If a candidate prefers to conduct their interview over zoom, this needs to be taken into consideration. Including a traits-based evaluation for new hires, focusing on what a person can and needs to do more than their education background or existing experience. Using things like education and experience as screeners, may unintentionally push out qualified candidates with disabilities who have non-traditional backgrounds but important skills to contribute to your organization.

Most organizations have programs to support equity and inclusion and affirm diverse identities. But, often those programs completely leave out disability. Including disability in your DEI program should affirm and be embedded within other racial equity programs and DEI initiatives within your organization. There is increasing acknowledgment of the intersectionality of deeply-rooted racism and paternalistic ableism. There are great disabled led organizations whose sole purpose is to support you to become more accessible and inclusive, like LaVant Consulting. 

If a Board of Directors governs your work, consider how disability is represented in that group. Often organizations track their board demographics, but surprisingly many leave out disability as something they consider. Including disabled people in your board is one way to increase representation in your organization and improve lived-experience insights into your work. Board agendas and strategy discussions should also include how your housing work includes people with disabilities and the ways your work is or could be more accessible and inclusive.

Does your organization engage in user testing or other community engagement and advisory efforts? Those efforts can be explicitly more inclusive to disabled people. You also may want to start a specific disability advisory group. This entails forming a group of diverse local disabled advocates who can utilize their lived experiences to better inform the direction of your organization and the housing communities you create. Your organization and your projects will also benefit from diverse perspectives from people with disabilities that are often overlooked, ignored, or never sought out. This group could be long-term or short-term depending on your organization’s needs. When running such a group, an equitable practice would be to ensure compensation for advisors, meaning you provide a stipend for people’s time or other compensation. More information on community engagement like this can be found in the Learn Center in articles such as How to Host Inclusive Community Workshops.

If you desire to engage disabled people in your processes for your team, community outreach, or other programming you also need to make those experiences accessible. This means adding a question about access needs on registration forms for events, including asking if participants have a need for captioning. Additional methods for making your programs accessible include sending materials in advance so people have time to read and process as well as making PDFs and other documents accessible for screen readers.

Another way you can think of the end-user is in the housing you develop. Even if your target population is not people with disabilities, the housing you build, design, fund, or advocate for should include spaces that people with disabilities can live in and visit those communities. Disability-forward design involves thinking about how buildings are planned, how accessibility and inclusion are incorporated and how communities are operated. More about strategies here can be found in the Inclusive Design Standards.

There are many facets of the housing field to consider when searching for jobs if you’re a person with a disability. There are different kinds of organizations in the field and, a good place to start is determining which ones to focus on. Here are the primary types of organizations in the field: 

No matter what kind of organization you consider a role within, following are some strategies to deploy or consider in your career path in the housing field.

The power of internships is undeniable.  Not only do they present an opportunity to gain experience in housing work , but they give you access to valuable connections that can be vital as you continue in the field.  Working hard and making a good impression at an internship can not only create great references you can use later on, but often can lead to positions at organizations one interns at later on.

Some internship programs to consider include:

Mentorship can be critical for anyone who is entering the job market, in any industry.  A mentor may play the role of helping you network or giving you advice for how to get their foot in the door. They can give great insight about career next steps on a desired career path. Finding a mentor in the housing field can start with looking at organizations you admire and reaching out to a member of their team for an informational discussion to learn more about their work. You can also ask peers if they know anyone in the field who’d be willing to share about their career path and their housing experience. Start with asking a potential mentor about themselves, their career, and their impact in the housing industry. Then share your aspirations, ideas, and goals. Those together will help shape how you work together. While discussions with mentors can be somewhat unstructured, you should have an overall plan for what you want to discuss with a potential or existing mentor to make the most out of their time and yours. 

You can’t underestimate keeping up with current knowledge of what is going on in the industry you’re working in.  Knowing the latest trends in any industry, housing included, can be beneficial, and for example, can make you appear more knowledgeable in interviews. Industry publications may also give insight into the job growth or stagnation for certain positions you may be interested in the housing field. In addition, follow your housing organizations of interest on social media and sign up to get their newsletters. If a company offers you an interview for a position, it is always good to research the company beforehand to seem well informed during an interview, which may increase your chances of being offered a position. 

Some good publications to keep up with include:

Being on  LinkedIn is essential for anyone in any field going into, or currently being in the job market. Networking can be a critical factor in moving you to a new position or organization. In previous decades, attending industry functions was the main way people network, but with the advent of the digital age, a lot of networking is now done online through Linkedin, Zoom and/or Eventbrite. You should use Linkedin to not only connect with familiar faces, but also to make connections to new associates that can help propel your next career move.

There are many good housing-focused job boards to look for new roles. Some of these include:

Disabled leadership is under-represented in most fields, and the housing field is no exception. Having leadership in the field that reflects individuals who have historically been excluded or overlooked can improve our field’s ability to innovate new solutions, respond to diverse housing needs and serve more people in need. More intersectional diversity in leadership positions across race, disability, gender identity and sexual orientation will help to create better housing for all people. When thinking specifically about disabled leadership in housing, thinking about the “curb cut effect”, the idea that access for people with disabilities ends up benefiting everyone. If there is more disabled leadership in the housing field, the entire sector will benefit from their diverse solutions, ideas, and perspectives.

Increasing the participation and leadership of disabled people within the housing industry takes all of us, and is an iterative and continuous process. By using these tips and resources, we hope you can join us in increasing in disabled leadership in housing, which will benefit people with and without disabilities alike.