About Us
We model our belief in our values from how we do our work to who leads our work; almost all of MDRC’s board and staff, including those in decision-making roles, are people with disabilities.
Our History
Michigan Disability Rights Coalition is a 37-year-old statewide nonprofit collaborative of people with disabilities including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), individuals without disabilities, and groups committed to building inclusive communities.
We believe inclusion of people with disabilities cannot be fully realized without also ending all forms of violence like: racism, xenophobia, classism, sexism, ageism, transphobia, heterosexism and all other forms of oppression.
Our Vision
MDRC envisions a world where people with disabilities:
Live full lives within the community with equal rights, equity and opportunities.
Are valued as essential and vital members of the community.
Can be their full selves, in all their identities, in all aspects of their lives.
Have space for self-discovery, to cultivate community, and to develop pride.
Our mission is to cultivate disability pride and strengthen the disability movement by recognizing disability as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity while collaborating to dismantle all forms of oppression.
Our Strategies
Our Strategies
MDRC envisions a world where people
with disabilities:
MDRC envisions a world where people
with disabilities:
- Build the economic and political capacity of local
groups to effectively participate in communities
of choice and issues advocacy. - Create a state-wide collaborative technology
infrastructure to foster long term communication
between local disability groups. - Sponsor events and activities that promote sharing
of best practice, collaborative planning, and the
building of consensus around policy impact goals. - Find and develop economic and political resources,
independent of the existing government and funding
sources, that can be allocated according to the plans of Michigan's disability community, instead of
bureaucratic priorities. - Mold a staff team, with a long term commitment
to Michigan's disability community as a customer
base—a team capable of working anywhere in the
state, focusing on the uncertain and rapidly evolving
disability policy future, and using collaborative
technologies to supplement face-to-face networking. - Forge a partnership between board, staff and
constituents for strategic development and
strategic priorities.
- Build the economic and political capacity of local groups to effectively participate in communities of choice and issues advocacy.
- Create a state-wide collaborative technology infrastructure to foster long term communication between local disability groups.
- Sponsor events and activities that promote sharing of best practice, collaborative planning, and the building of consensus around policy impact goals.
- Find and develop economic and political resources, independent of the existing government and funding sources, that can be allocated according to the plans of Michigan's disability community, instead of bureaucratic priorities.
- Mold a staff team, with a long term commitment to Michigan's disability community as a customer base—a team capable of working anywhere in the state, focusing on the uncertain and rapidly evolving disability policy future, and using collaborative technologies to supplement face-to-face networking.
- Forge a partnership between board, staff and constituents for strategic development and strategic priorities.
Michigan Assistive Technology Program
MDRC Programs
Michigan Assistive Technology Program
The Michigan Assistive Technology Program (MATP) is a program for people with disabilities, by people with disabilities.
LEAD Program
The LEAD project provides communities of color with increased access to disability education and resources to account for the significance of institutionalized oppression and white supremacy on their outcomes.
Check out MDRC Events!
Discover more about MDRC's work by checking out our events. All of our free and paid events can be found here.
Meet the Team
Creating Community
Our team shapes the organization by ensuring our work is rooted in deepening our commitment to ending all forms of oppression. From Assistive Technology to Racial Equity, our team has a diverse set of interests that move disability pride forward across the state.