In 2003, Alison Hillman was working for Mental Disability Rights International, now known as Disability Rights International,when her colleague recommended that she apply for the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)’s Paul G. Hearne Award to highlight the work of Smock and her colleagues at the organization.
“I hadn’t heard of AAPD before then, and hadn’t really been part of the national disability rights movement, and I thought it looked really interesting,” she said. “[My colleague] thought we could highlight the work of the organization. I thought that would be a good reason to apply, but also to just become more knowledgeable about the national disability rights movement.”
After winning the award in 2003, Hillman used the money to support Disability Rights International, specifically using it towards documenting conditions in locked institutions in Latin America. The initiatives that Hillman created with the money from the Hearne Award have led to lasting change in issues like mental health reform. Specifically, the award money was used for litigation that the organization was doing against a government institution for abuses in a psychiatric institution.
“This was an institution where there were close to 500 people that were detained in locked conditions, many of them without clothing, without access to clean bathrooms,” she said. “We took what’s called a precautionary measures petition, or a petition for emergency relief, to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, and began to help transform that system.”
The Hearne Award had a tremendous impact on Hillman’s leadership. She noted that getting to connect with then-President and CEO of AAPD, Andy Imparato was transformative. A few years after winning the award, Imparato invited Hillman to join the AAPD Board of Directors. From there, she was able to meet more leaders in the disability rights community and became plugged into the national disability rights movement.
“This really, I think, supported my individual growth, my understanding of the movement and the issues, and my ability to connect with folks,” she said.
In reflecting on the future of the disability rights movement, Hillman said she hopes to see it “continue to connect across movements and really build a powerful force for implementing the rights of people with disabilities and getting disability into spaces where, historically, it might not have been reflected or present.” She also encourages the next generation of leaders to be bold while engaging in the movement.
“My advice would be to be bold, to be loud and proud, and fight for what you believe in, for what you need, for your rights,” she said.