Writer, speaker, and disability advocate Emily Ladau is well-known in the disability community and beyond for her impressive career using storytelling as a tool for social change. What is less well-known is how the American Association of People with Disabilities’ (AAPD) Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leaders Award helped Ladau leverage her skills to change the narrative around disability.
When Ladau received the Hearne Award in 2018, she used the funding to start the Rooted in Writing Fellowship to support disabled writers in telling their stories. As part of the fellowship, two disabled writers wrote a series of blogs for publication on the Rooted in Rights website and developed a long-form article to pitch to mainstream media outlets.
The writers focused on a variety of topics, like voting rights, intersectionality, and transportation access. Ladau guided them throughout the writing process and provided mentorship and networking opportunities.
Ladau credits the Hearne Award with solidifying her role as a storyteller.
“It was really meaningful for me because I had been passionate about storytelling for so long and I wanted to extend that as far as I could, because it’s not my story that I’m concerned with, it’s how do we get as many people as possible into a place where they have the opportunity to tell their story?” Ladau said.
“So getting this award, to me, was kind of confirmation that I could continue to lead the way, along with so many other people, to push the power of storytelling as one of the key ways to shift the narrative and bring about positive change for the disability community,” she continued.
When Jordan Melograna, now the CEO & Creative Director of Block by Block Creative, LLC, ran video and social media storytelling for Rooted in Rights, he knew Ladau was the right choice to lead the program’s new blog.
“She has elevated countless other voices in her work, including people in the disability community who even the disability community often overlooks. Beyond the work Emily did at Rooted in Rights, she has become a leading voice for inclusion,” he said.
“She educates as well as persuades through her writing and public appearances. Emily is a fierce advocate, but a warm soul,” Melograna continued.
Running the Rooted in Writing Fellowship taught Ladau valuable leadership skills.
“I got a really good lesson in how to be a better support and a better leader and a better manager of people, and I learned how to meet people where they are and to understand that everyone has different workflows, different writing processes, different ways of thinking. And so for me, it was just a really strong professional development experience because I had to learn a lot about myself while I was learning a lot about other people,” she said.
AAPD impacted Ladau’s career trajectory even before she received the Hearne Award. In 2013, she participated in the AAPD Summer Internship Program. Her assigned mentor, Day Al-Mohamed, suggested that Ladau start a blog, which helped launch her down the path of using storytelling to advance inclusive narratives about disability.
Ladau interned at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) during the Internship Program. She connected with Rooted in Rights at an AUCD conference, which led to a job and ultimately her application for the Hearne Award.
“There’s a very clear trajectory of how I got to where I am because of AAPD, and even in the years since the Hearne Award, have continued to stay connected with them for various professional opportunities. So I feel like the best way that I can explain it is that once you’re part of that ecosystem, if you continue to stay connected, it pays professionally in dividends, and it pays community-wise in dividends,” Ladau said.
Beyond just elevating her to new heights in her writing work, the award also expanded Ladau’s ideas for future endeavors. Ladau’s experience leading the Rooted in Writing fellowship was one reason she felt confident enough to pursue other writing projects, including her book Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally, published in 2021.
“It gave me the confidence to continue pursuing projects that were so beyond what I kind of dreamed for myself. Getting the award was like a turning point in my career, such that I could point to it and I could say, here’s where my work has been recognized, and I want to continue building on that in the future,” she said.
Since receiving the Hearne Award, Ladau has continued to platform other disabled writers, serving as editor of other publications, like the Voices of Disability Economic Justice Project through the Century Foundation, and Able News.
Kim Knackstedt, Founder and Principal Consultant of Unlock Access, worked with Ladau at the Disability Economic Justice Project. She praised Ladau’s personable and approachable manner to storytelling.
“What’s really important about Emily is she is leading in a way that does actually influence policy, but she influences it by narrative and by elevating voices and perspectives, and she does it where it’s not about self-promotion in any way,” Knackstedt said.
“She does it by really trying to kind of bring stories to life, and that is something that I just don’t see really anyone else doing in quite the way she’s doing,” she continued.
Ladau believes that disability representation in the media is a crucial tool for policy advocacy. She hopes that aspiring disabled writers believe in the power of their own voices.
“Your story has worth because it’s your story, and so if we start from that place of recognizing the worthiness and the power of our own story, and not seeking the validation from others, and not feeling that it belongs to anyone but us, I think that’s where we really draw our power from,” she said.