Sometimes the opportunities we have today exist because someone else refused to accept the world as it was.

For many women with disabilities, that someone was Judy Heumann.

Judy was a disability rights activist who fought tirelessly for accessibility and equality. In the 1970s, she and other disability advocates organized protests and a historic sit-in in San Francisco to demand enforcement of disability rights laws. Their actions helped shape the future of disability rights in the United States.

Because of their courage, generations of people with disabilities gained access to education, employment, and public life in ways that had never existed before.

But advocacy doesn’t only happen in government buildings or protests. Sometimes it happens quietly in classrooms.

When I was younger, I had a teacher with cerebral palsy from fourth through sixth grade. Seeing her stand in front of the classroom every day showed me something I had never seen before — a woman with cerebral palsy living her life fully and confidently.

She may not have realized it, but she was showing me what was possible.

Representation matters.

Seeing women with disabilities living, working, teaching, and advocating helped me understand that my disability didn’t limit my future. It simply meant my path might look different.

Today I’m grateful for the women who came before me.
The activists who fought for our rights.
The teachers who quietly showed us our potential.

Because of them, women like me can imagine bigger futures.

And now it’s our turn to continue that path.