In this article, I will briefly discuss the economic inequities that Latinxs and Afro-Latinxs with disabilities face, with the goal of providing recommendations on ways philanthropy and nonprofits can meaningfully and intentionally begin to address those very inequities and move toward actualizing the urgently needed economic justice for our communities.

It is critical to ground this discussion in data, so what do we know? Latinxs currently make up 18.5 percent of the US population. People with disabilities make up 26 percent of the US population. Among those who identify as disabled, 8.9 percent also identify as Latinx and 13.6 percent identify as Black. Additionally, 26.1 percent of disabled working-age people live in poverty, more than double the rate for non-disabled people.

While the data indicate that our communities are out there, this representation is not heavily present in the nonprofit sector—and is especially absent from its leadership. Understanding that representation alone does not equal presence, it is hard to ideate a path toward economic justice where those most affected by inequality (many of whom are disabled Latinx and Afro-Latinx) are not present at decision-making tables or in the room at all. While the disability community centers the philosophy of “Nothing About Us Without Us/Nada Sobre Nosotros Sin Nosotros,” this is not the standard in nonprofit leadership.

While there are many more significant barriers to actualizing justice for many disabled Latinx and Afro-Latinx people, my hope through this article is to begin a broader conversation about concrete initial steps that could be taken by nonprofits that care about equity.

Read the full article about generating equity for Latinxs with disabilities by Adela Ruiz at Nonprofit Quarterly.