Some people are born with disabilities and others acquire them later in life. Tiffany Yu is an advocate within the disability field, but it took her a long time to come to grips with having developed a disability of her own.
“I've only just recently started talking about the fact that for the first 12 years of being disabled, I had internalized shame and ableism to hide it. I wear long sleeves all the time, choose not to tell anyone abou it or about what had happened.”
Yu is the CEO and founder of Diversability, a company that’s taglines–rebranding disability through community, and elevating disability pride, together – are a product of the San Francisco-based entrepreneur’s own winding road. From Georgetown student, to Wall Street Intern she is now a prominent business leader and public speaker.
“Honestly, I call myself an accidental disability advocate. I call myself an accidental community builder, [and] an accidental entrepreneur.”
At Georgetown, Yu founded a student group that would grow to become her company. It wasn’t until she started in the financial industry that she began to dive deeper into her experiences as an Asian disabled person.
“Those couple of internships working on Wall Street were the beginning of me exploring a disability identity. Working in a very white, male-dominated industry forced me to focus on parts of my identity.”
Culture and intersectionality
For Yu, whether that difference-making is done in-person or digitally, it has to be intersectional.
“Intersectionality refers to the way my disability experience is shaped by my intersecting identities, particularly as an Asian woman.”
Tiffany Yu spent 12 years in silence after a car accident that left her with a disability.
“One of the reasons I internalized this issue was because I learned from my Asian cultural background that we should not bring attention to anything that would shame myself, or my family. Whether that's the car accident, my dad passing away, or the fact that I have now an apparent disability.”
Divisability runs a monthly event series called Disability Unplugged. Yu says that to develop this program, she had to engage with her own capacity to be an ally in the disability community as well as welcome people in who may otherwise avoid the disability community.
Diversability’s D-30 Disability Impact List
She would go on to co-found a disability employee resource group at Bloomberg, an ethos that she’s carried into Diversability, calling it “a disability employee resource group for the world, or that exists outside of a company” The company produces, among other offerings, the D-30 Disability Impact list.
According to the selection committee members, the award is intended to recognize people with disabilities who are making a difference around the world. There have been nearly 700 nominations this year alone. The annual process has produced close to 700 nominations and is meant, according to the selection committee members, to be part of “honoring people with disabilities globally who are making a difference.”
Developing disability allies
Diversability will be a disability-centered organization providing paths to leadership for all employees, including those with disabilities. However, cultivating allies within the disability community is important.
“If we have nondisabled people wanting to learn and be supportive allies, we’re going to make space for them. I feel that, unfortunately, some disability centered activism spaces have polarized people.”
According to Yu, working collectively means avoiding making assumptions about how disability activism can look.
“Intersectionality and allyship within the disability community is about honoring and appreciating nuance.”
Yu recognizes that her visibility is a win for other people who see mirrors of themselves in her story. The lessons she has learned have inspired her to find ways to help lift up others and engage them in disability services.
Find more information about Diversability at https://mydiversability.com/about
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