Innovative Entrepreneurship

Innovative Entrepreneurship:

A Different Approach to Disability Employment to Improve Outcomes

Addie Ray and Sandra Conley

About Addie Ray

Ms. Ray is an entrepreneur, speaker, and aspiring researcher and writer who, when she is not working enjoys reading, traveling, and taking her service dog on regular walks. She also lives with Cerebral Palsy and is a full-time wheelchair user. She was born and raised in Mobile and graduated from WP Davidson High School in 2012 after which she immediately started her freshman year at the University of Alabama in their New College Department that Fall. In 2014, persistent health problems related to her disability led to her having to drop out of the University. After taking a few years to recover her health Ms. Ray started her own business, Access For All, LLC in 2017. Since starting her business, Ms. Ray has worked with the City of Mobile and local businesses on a contract-by-contract basis to help ensure that their facilities and programs are up to date with Titles II & III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition, Ms. Ray was appointed to the Mobile Advisory Commission on the Disabled in 2022 and was named Secretary soon after. Her interests in disability inclusion also include the areas of entrepreneurship, incorporating ADA basics into higher education curriculum, and creating career paths for future advocates with disabilities. Through her work, Ms. Ray strives to demonstrate that accessibility and disability inclusion are beneficial to society as a whole and not solely a matter of law.

About Accessforallllc

About Sandra

Sandra Conley was born and raised in Detroit MI, but has lived in Mobile AL, since 2014. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Human Service (2021), an Associate’s degree in Business Administration (2008), and a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy (1987).

Ms. Conley is currently an Intern with The Center for Fair Housing, assisting with housing discrimination issues and housing policies in the metro Mobile AL area.. In 2022, Ms. Conley was a remote summer Intern at the Kelsey (a housing non-profit), based in northern California (sponsored by AAPD). She reviewed new and current federal housing policies to analyze how these policies impact the development and/or rehabilitation of housing for people with disabilities.

Sandra has several years of customer service (working for others as well as for Sandra’s Baked Goods). In addition, she has done advocacy work for Mephibosheth INC (intermittently since 2003) and has acted as a volunteer advocate (including 2 years of AmeriCorps) as needed. She has assessed rental properties for racial/disability discrimination violations as well (since 2014).

Ms. Conley’s interest in advocating for persons with disabilities became more focused during a short-term employment opportunity at Wayne State University’s Developmental Disabilities Institute (1999-2000). While there, Ms. Conley assisted with the administrative duties, as well as with the 1999 Women and Disabilities conference. This internship inspired her to help other people with disabilities become more involved in entrepreneurship and political activism.

Ms. Conley has spent her life succeeding despite society’s lowered expectations for women of color and people with disabilities. Although she was born with unidentified birth defects, she was able to graduate in the top third of her class (780) from a magnet school that was not designated for children with disabilities. She self-funded a home-based baking business as an SSDI recipient living in public housing. Sandra recently completed a Master’s degree at 58 years of age, after her disability forced her to resign from her last job; however, she was able to maintain a 3.5 GPA. Her goal is to be a spokesperson for marginalized people that society has typically dismissed.

Timeline

Addie

2012-2014: Attended University of Alabama
2014-2015: Health issues
2015-2017: Unsuccessful part time job search
2017-Started Access for For All, LLC
2019-2020-Leadership Mobile
2022-Alabama State Walking College

Sandra

2004: Separation from Disability Network
2005: Renaming group Mephibosheth INC
2010: Disbanding of Detroit chapter of Disability Network due to health issues
2014: Founder moved from MI to AL
2021: Founder to re-establish Mephibosheth INC in AL

AIM Statement

In partnership with appropriate agencies , we will decrease the unemployment of people with disabilities by 2030 through entrepreneurship* training and other tools/incentives.

Definitionof entrepreneur according to Google: “The SBA (Small Business Administration) defines an entrepreneur as an individual who initiates, organizes, and operates a small business, assuming the associated risks and reward

Project Objectives

Increase entrepreneurship awareness
Increase employment pathways
(a) Startup funding opportunities for businesses(b) scale up funding for businesses

Success Criteria

Building and maintaining relationships with partner agencies
Serve 40 clients/consumers within 5 years

Description/Deliverables

A program that decreases the unemployment rate of people with disabilities through entrepreneurship training and support for people with disabilities in regards to both startups and established businesses.

Approach

We will begin by building professional relationships with Innovation Portal, as well as, the local chapters of Operation Hope, 4H, and local universities in order that we may obtain the needed space, supports, resources and outreach to launch the program.