Events

Upcoming Events

Join us on Tuesday, July 22 at 8PM.

The American Association of People with Disabilities, in partnership with the National Council on Independent Living, cordially invite you to join to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Join us as we reflect on the progress of the disability rights movement and recommit to the work ahead to ensure equal opportunity for all disabled Americans. Additional details and special guests will be announced soon.

Have questions? Email us at development@aapd.com.

We hope you’ll join us! You can register here.

Join AAPD’s National Community Event on Wednesday, April 30 2025 at 6:30 PM.

The AAPD National Community Event is rooted in the disability community‘s advocacy and culture: we will bring you engaging conversations with national leaders, hear reports from across the nation about the critical work disabled people are doing across the country, celebrate disability representation in film and the arts, and more! We will also celebrate and learn more about the work of the incredible 2025 Paul G Hearne Emerging Leader Award recipients.

Throughout the evening, we will also connect you to opportunities at the national, state, and local opportunities to advocate for disability equality, accessibility, and inclusion. 

We hope you’ll join us! Open captioning, ASL, and audio description will be provided. The streaming links will be sent out to all who register. You can register here.

Check back to RSVP for future events, or join our email list to stay updated on all of our work.

Past Events

Did you miss an AAPD event? Would you like to revisit a past event? You’re in the right place! Click a video below to load any of our past events.

2024 AAPD ADA Celebration

Join AAPD for our annual ADA Celebration to recognize the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), reflect on the accomplishments of our community, and look towards a future where the goals of the ADA are fully realized. This will be a hybrid event.

July 25, 2024, 5:30-7:30pm ET

Register and get tickets for the ADA Celebration on Eventbrite!

Join us in-person at the Salamander Hotel in Washington, DC. Streaming links will be available closer to the date.

In-Person Accommodations: ASL, CART. AAPD strives to make all of its in-person events fragrance-free. We ask that you arrive as scent and fragrance-free as possible in order to accommodate all guests. Masks will be required except for when eating and drinking. Proof of negative COVID test will be required. Masks and COVID tests will be available upon arrival.
Virtual Accommodations: ASL, CART, and audio described event link.

Need help or other accommodations? Please contact development@aapd.com.

The AAPD National Community Event was held virtually on Tuesday, April 23 at 6:30pm ET.

The 2024 AAPD National Community Event is a virtual gathering for the disability community to come together with business and government leadership to celebrate progress made to expand disability rights and inclusion. This event was previously known as the AAPD Leadership Awards Gala.

The National Community Event provides an opportunity for the disability community to join AAPD and our partners, supporters, colleagues, and friends as we celebrate recent community wins, honor disabled leaders and partners doing great work, and affirm our collective continued support for disability equity, access, and inclusion.

Open captioning, ASL, and audio description will be provided. The streaming links will be provided closer to the event date.

2024 Partnership Opportunities (PDF)
2024 Partnership Opportunities (Plain Text)

Career and Internship Fair

The 2024 Virtual Spring Career and Internship Fair was held on Thursday, April 18 from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m, EST.

Attendees learned:

• Mission and purpose of participating companies
• Job and internship opportunities
• Inclusive practices and ideology of participating companies
• Potential future company-sponsored professional development courses, workshops, or training
• Company representatives’ contact information for post-event follow-up