Empowered Cities
Supporting Housing, Employment and Financial Capability for People with Disabilities
Empowered Cities is a landmark initiative to advance financial inclusion and economic opportunity for lower-income people with disabilities. Empowered Cities catalyzes municipal efforts to advance economic opportunity for people with disabilities
Empowered Cities has expanded to include the Municipal Offices of Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco – under the leadership of NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. Citi Community Development is the Founding Corporate Partner of Empowered Cities and National Disability Institute is the Founding Financial Capability Partner
Webinars
Visit the Empowered Cities webinar page to register for upcoming webinars and access archived webinars.
Tools
Download Empowered Cities materials, including briefs, tools and resources.
Supporting Housing, Employment and Financial Capability for People with Disabilities
Empowered Cities is a landmark initiative to advance financial inclusion and economic opportunity for lower-income people with disabilities. Empowered Cities catalyzes municipal efforts to advance economic opportunity for people with disabilities
Empowered Cities has expanded to include the Municipal Offices of Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco – under the leadership of NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. Citi Community Development is the Founding Corporate Partner of Empowered Cities and National Disability Institute is the Founding Financial Capability Partner
Webinars
Visit the Empowered Cities webinar page to register for upcoming webinars and access archived webinars.
Tools
Download Empowered Cities materials, including briefs, tools and resources.
4 Key Principles
Led by people with disabilities
Fosters locally responsive solutions
Catalyzes new resources
Elevates the collective influence, work and voice of local leaders
In 2020, each participating city will design a “Roadmap to Economic Inclusion”, with technical expertise and guidance from National Disability Institute and other partners. The Roadmaps will include a landscape analysis of existing capacity, assets, and gaps across housing, employment, and financial empowerment for people with disabilities. The Roadmaps will recommend opportunities and solutions that each municipality can lead. In addition, program collaborators will also organize and participate in national convenings to share best practices, and inform policy and advocacy efforts.
Meet the Empowered Cities
New York
The NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), in operation since 1972, works to ensure that New Yorkers with disabilities can lead happy, healthy and productive lives and works hand-in-hand with other City offices and over 50 agencies to ensure that the voice of the disabled community is represented and that City programs and policies address the needs of the nearly one million New Yorkers with disabilities and the 6.8 million people with disabilities visiting New York City every year. In addition, the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities works with organizations on specific issues affecting people with disabilities, and aims to bring about dialogue that leads to meaningful outcomes for those living with disabilities. MOPD strives to make NYC the most accessible city in the world.
The first local program of Empowered Cities, EmpoweredNYC focuses on enabling New Yorkers with disabilities across the five boroughs to improve their financial stability. Using a three-tier approach, the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and EmpoweredNYC partners advances financial capability through broad engagement and education, tailored one-on-one financial counseling enhanced with new expertise, outreach and tools, and specialized benefits support services.
EmpoweredNYC Webinars
Visit the EmpoweredNYC webinar page to view webinar archives.
Boston
The mission of the Commission for Persons with Disabilities is to increase opportunities for people with disabilities by facilitating full and equal participation in all aspects of life within the city of Boston. This includes reducing architectural, procedural, attitudinal, and communication barriers as well as promoting equity in housing, employment and civic activities. The office oversees the City of Boston’s compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The services we provide include information and referral, architectural access review, accessible parking program, and advocacy on disability issues.
Chicago
The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) promotes total access, full participation and equal opportunity for people with disabilities of all ages in all aspects of life. It seeks to accomplish this mission through a multi-faceted approach that includes systemic change, education and training, advocacy and direct services. MOPD works to meet the diverse needs of the more than 600,000 individuals with disabilities who live and work in Chicago, and make Chicago the most accessible city in the nation.
Los Angeles
Since its founding in 1998, the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability (DOD) has been the municipality’s lead agency responsible for ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment, programs, activities, services and facilities as articulated in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related federal and state laws. The DOD accomplishes this by strategically developing and managing partnerships with policy makers, educational institutions, employers, business associations and advocacy groups. Through various initiatives, DOD has consistently worked to make Los Angeles the most accessible big city in America.
San Francisco
Serving as the City and County of San Francisco’s overall ADA Coordinator, the mission of the Mayor’s Office on Disability is to ensure that every program, service, benefit, activity and facility operated or funded by the City and County of San Francisco is fully accessible to, and useable by, people with disabilities. In addition, the Mayor’s Office on Disability supports San Francisco’s Emergency Management efforts, the members of the Mayor’s Disability Council, and works to connect San Francisco’s 94,000 residents with disabilities to local resources and support.
Featured Resource
Quick Reference Guide: Identifying Disability Partners in Your Community
The disability community is a diverse community, so there are many organizations that support individuals with different types of disabilities. Bringing these groups together can assist in the design and implementation of financial inclusion programs for people with disabilities. This guide will help you identify disability partners in your area and provide a brief list of potential groups for engagement.
Stay Connected
Sign up for the Empowered Cities email list to learn about upcoming webinars, as well as new tools and resources.
Questions?
National Disability Institute works to improve the financial health and well-being of people across the spectrum of disability.
If you have questions or want more information about our projects, please call (202) 296-2040 or email ask@ndi-inc.org.
