On Thursday, July 25th, TASH hosted our third annual Outstanding Leadership in Disability Law Symposium and Awards Dinner. This year’s honoree is Barbara Ransom. It was an enlightening and emotional time to learn from the experts and the experienced, catch up with colleagues and old friends, and to make new connections to foster further progress in the field of disability justice.
The Symposium
The symposium was a time to learn about the causes on which Barbara Ransom has worked so hard. It consisted of three panels:
- Moderator Judith Gran and panelists Theresa Perry, Kris Young and Selene Almazan discussing intersectional perspectives on barriers to education.
- Moderator Tanesha Williams and panelists Honoree Barbara Ransom, Beverley Cush Evans, Taylar Nuevelle and Marlyn Tillman discussing intersectional perspectives on barriers to criminal justice.
- Moderator Ptahra Jeppe and panelists Jennifer Mathis, Mia Ives-Rublee and NaQuran Smithdiscussing intersectional perspectives on barriers to employment and equity.
The three panels were followed by Honoree Barbara Ransom in conversation with Judy Heumann.





The Reception
The Symposium ended at 5:00, leaving an hour before the start of the Awards Dinner for small group conversations, catching up with friends and colleagues, taking posed photographs at the photo station and grabbing a drink before dinner.






The Awards Dinner
After an hour for dinner, the event keynote was Vanita Gupta in conversation with Regina Kline, followed by the presentation of the award to Barbara for her Outstanding Leadership in Disability Law, and some final remarks by Barbara.

![Vanita Gupta and Regina Kline have a discussion during the keynote on the beneficial aspects of intersectionality. Ms. Gupta specifically noted that, "I see these things [being] not so much about leveraging and really is about understanding that you you can work on almost any issue where people with disabilities in all of our communities, there are people with disabilities affected by every one of those issues we work on whether it's racial justice, or LGBTQ rights, or the like. . . There is work to do in the Disability community about recognizing that intersectionality. It means you have to be a friend to have a friend. You have to have a friend to be a friend. We have to show up for a broad range of issues that we work on."](https://tash.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/OLDL201912-1024x683.jpg)
understanding that you you can work on almost any issue where people with disabilities in all of our communities, there are people with disabilities affected by every one of those issues we work on whether it’s racial justice, or LGBTQ rights, or the like. . . There is work to do in the Disability community about recognizing that intersectionality. It means you have to be a friend to have a friend. You have to have a friend to be a friend. We have to show up for a broad range of issues that we work on.”



