Keri Gray, CEO of Ignite by Keri Gray
Intersectional Leadership in the Disability Justice Movement
In this episode of Disability Rights Now, we speak with Keri Gray—speaker, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker at this year’s NCIL Conference. Keri shares her perspective on the intersection of race and disability, the need for sustained investment in Black disabled leadership, and the importance of centering lived experience in systems change.
We discuss what it takes to build truly inclusive spaces—and why that work must be led by the people most affected. Through her consulting, speaking, and coalition-building, Keri is creating platforms that elevate and empower diverse disabled voices across the country.
You can learn more about Keri’s work at ignitebykerigray.com and see all the other things she’s up to on https://linktr.ee/kerigraygroup.
-
Keri Gray: I think we always have to bring it back to the heartbeat of our movement, and that is our community's desire to be seen as people—and to be seen as worthy. And we deserve it.
2025 is a year that has not come to play with us.
Matt Shedd: Welcome to Disability Rights Now: Inside the Fight for Accessibility, Inclusion, and Independent Living. I'm Matt Shedd.
In this show, I speak with leaders in the disability rights field to explore what matters most right now—and what we need to be thinking about to shape a more equitable future.
Today’s episode is part of our NCIL Conference Preview. The National Council on Independent Living’s annual gathering is happening July 21st–24th in Washington, D.C. In this special series, I’m talking with keynote speakers and organizers from the event—people who are shaping the future of the movement.
My guest today is Keri Gray, an advocate, speaker, entrepreneur, and the founder of the Keri Gray Group, as well as Ignite by Keri Gray. Keri works at the intersection of disability justice, racial equity, and leadership development.
In this conversation, we talk about the importance of practicing your principles, even when funding and politics test them. She also shares why community is a powerful antidote to the isolation and confusion so many advocates are feeling in this political moment—and why now is the time for building coalitions across movements.
This podcast is produced by DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org, a service that helps Centers for Independent Living, Statewide Independent Living Councils, and disability advocacy organizations launch strategic, story-driven podcasts. If your organization wants to use podcasting to build momentum and community, reach out to me, Matt Shedd, on LinkedIn or visit DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org.
Alright—here’s Keri.
Matt Shedd: Thanks so much for joining me for this, Keri. I really appreciate you taking the time. Do you want to start by introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about your advocacy work?Keri Gray: For sure. So, my name is Keri Gray, pronouns she/her. I’m currently based in the Washington, D.C. area, but I’m actually moving back to Texas next month. I was raised in Texas, in the South—and the South is the place that taught me about culture.
My work today exists at the intersections of racial and disability justice, and it’s very much about a love for our people and our community. I see Black folks, and I see beauty. I see disabled folks, and I see worthiness. And the work I do is about fighting against discrimination and opening up doors for our community.
If I give a little background about my advocacy work: for me, advocacy started in college. Shout out to all the college students—young people and college students are often at the forefront of our movement. Unapologetically advocating for what you believe in is so important in that time.
I went through college right when Obama got elected, so there were a lot of racial dynamics happening across campuses during that time. I also experienced, alongside so many others, the murders of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and countless others—and we started to see the buildup of the movement during that timeframe.
Let me tell you, I was always that person who liked to advocate—especially when it came to our people, and particularly around issues affecting Black women. Culture growing up in the South taught me the beauty and the essence of what it means to be a Black woman—but it also taught me what I wasn’t supposed to do as a woman. There were so many limitations on how much we could lead, how much violence we experience. Still to this day, 22% of Black women experience rape, and 40% experience intimate partner violence. So, it’s important for us to figure out how we fight for our community. So there I was, on college campuses, seeing all this happening—the election of Obama, the racial dynamics, and feeling like I was this Black woman who was onto something, who believed in something, but people kept trying to put me in a box. For me, it was all about being a part of the movement and sharing my perspective on how our world and systems need to transform.
That was my racial justice work. On the disability side: I’m a cancer survivor and an amputee. I got my start in disability rights through organizations like NCIL (National Council on Independent Living), Disability:IN, and AAPD (American Association of People with Disabilities). These organizations taught me how to organize young people with disabilities, especially through building mentorship programs, creating opportunities in the workplace, and establishing real, tangible jobs. I worked on job shadowing programs, talent accelerator programs, and convenings around issues that impact people with disabilities.
Even though my advocacy spans both racial and disability justice, I grew up with those two parts of my work being segregated. On one hand, I was doing racial justice work; on the other, I was focused on disability rights and inclusion. So, I have a lot of conflict with the divisions that exist in our community—and I think we’ll get into that more in this discussion.
But what I will say is: today, I feel blessed to get to live and work at those intersections every day. Instead of having to pick and choose—being over here one day and over there the next—now, through our platform, I get to bring those communities together.
I run a consulting firm called Ignite by Keri Gray, and we offer education workshops, presentations, and program-building that center on bringing together these two frameworks—racial justice and disability justice. So that’s a little bit about what I do.Matt Shedd: Amazing. And those numbers that you gave about Black women are just staggering. I think bringing awareness to that is huge. I’m really glad you brought up the NCIL Conference—the National Council on Independent Living. The conference is happening July 21st through the 24th, which is why we’re doing this right now—to preview it and get people excited and hopefully fired up to attend. You’re one of the keynote speakers this year. Could you reflect on the importance of gatherings like these, and this conference in particular?
Keri Gray: Yes! Shout out to NCIL. I love our community—disability advocates across the country representing the Independent Living Movement. This idea, this knowledge, this framework and understanding that people with disabilities are the best experts of our own needs—it’s powerful.
It’s about embodying that truth. It doesn’t matter what type of disability you have or what society says about us. You have the ability to live, work, and be independent. You do not need to be institutionalized. I love this movement, and I’m so thankful that they invited not just me, but three incredible keynote speakers this year—myself, Keely Kat-Wells, and Lydia. I think we each represent something about our generation and our embodiment of the community. And all we want to do is take it further.
I’m so excited. I hope to see y’all there. If you’re not familiar with the Independent Living Movement or the NCIL Conference, you need to plug in. It is such a beautiful and powerful space. These convenings are incredibly important.
You’re going to see people with all kinds of identities and disabilities, from all over the country, unified and passionate about where we’re going—on healthcare, on technology, on policy. There are so many issues that folks are going to be convening around, and that’s organizing. That’s how liberation happens.
I think what’s so significant about these spaces is that they give us the platform to say not just how we’re doing the work individually, but how we’re starting to do it collectively. Because that’s how liberation happens.
I think about everything from the Capitol Crawl, to the protests that led to Section 504, to our elders—some of whom are still with us today—who got together with folks across their communities, across their states, and across the country to push for real change. They didn’t wait around for someone to decide whether our lives mattered. They demanded it. They made it happen.
And I have so much respect for that. I’m a beneficiary of that. And I think these convening spaces are fundamental for advocates and organizers like us—who are trying to figure out how we win in a time that’s incredibly challenging.
I also want to speak to people who are struggling right now with isolation. Because of social media, and especially since COVID, our mental health is taking a hit. Technology has been a powerful tool, but it’s also created distance. And isolation is still a real issue in our community.
So, whether it’s NCIL or another event, online or in-person, I think it’s so important for people to plug into convenings like these. We’ve got to be able to relate to one another through our shared struggles. And if we’re going to win these social and political battles we’re facing, we need each other. I’m excited for what’s ahead, and this is what we’re trying to create—these spaces that restore us and connect us.
Matt Shedd: 100%. I had so many thoughts while you were sharing that. One thing I want to circle back to is the importance of young people and college students. None of the keynote speakers are current college students, but the focus this year is on younger advocates and bridging the gap between generations. Last year, NCIL’s leadership focused more on seasoned leaders in the movement, and this year we’re trying to connect the generations.
What you said about young people made me think of the Freedom Riders in the 1960s and the sacrifices they made to bring justice into the public eye. It was huge. And, like you said, social media can be a useful tool—but there’s no replacement for being in a physical space with people. That energy you get, the complex, nuanced conversations—it’s not the same online.
Keri Gray: The energy! Yes. There’s no replacement for the energizing effect of gathering in person. It reminds me of the Civil Rights Movement—those gatherings in churches, and not just churches but community spaces—where people came together without social media. The emotion, the energy, the planning, the organizing—it was powerful. And we can still draw lessons from that. There’s so much wisdom in our history.
Matt Shedd: Absolutely. So many lessons to reflect on. One quick plug: you mentioned the Capitol Crawl earlier, and that reminded me—SILCGA, the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, made a great documentary about the ADA’s history. People can check it out at silcga.org/documentary. It’s for sale to individuals and nonprofits for around $25, and the proceeds go to support their work. With this being the 35th anniversary of the ADA, it’s a great time to revisit that history. There’s just so much to reflect on—where we’ve been and where we need to go. So many lessons and so much wisdom to draw from. I appreciate you touching on all that.
To keep with the flow of this conversation and everything you’ve been sharing—can you talk a little about what you’re thinking of speaking on in your keynote at NCIL this year? You don’t have to give it all away, but give us a preview.
Keri Gray: Yeah, there are a couple of areas I’m hoping to touch on in the keynote. One area is going to be around “Loving your Black disabled womanhood as a radical practice.” I’m excited to explore what that means—especially in a year like 2025, which is all about examining your principles: what you’re willing to stand behind, and where you may need to grow. That kind of self-reflection and commitment is going to be critical to the fight.
Let me share one moment that inspired me. I was at a disability conference several years ago—similar to what you might expect at NCIL: lots of passionate, energetic disabled advocates. I was speaking with the executive director of a disability organization, and she told me that even in her leadership position, she hadn’t disclosed her disability to her staff. People didn’t know she was disabled.
That really struck me. I thought, “This is supposed to be the safest space for you—and you still don’t feel safe to show up as your full self?” That conversation has stuck with me.
What it reminded me of is that no matter what position someone holds, we’re all still wrestling with internalized stigma and shame. But the heartbeat of our movement is the fight to be seen as people—and to be seen as worthy. And we are worthy. We deserve that recognition.
So in the keynote, I’m going to unpack what that means for me personally—being a Black disabled woman—and how that informs the way I show up. We’re going to laugh, we’re going to get into some real talk, and we’re going to challenge each other to support one another from an intersectional framework. And I also want to talk about what’s happening in 2025. Because let me tell you—2025 did not come to play with us. I know we’ll get into that a bit deeper, but I definitely want to make sure we’re naming and addressing the attacks against our community this year and thinking about how we get through to the other side of it.
Matt Shedd: I’m glad you brought that up. Let’s talk about it now. Honestly, I don’t even know where to start because there are so many threats coming from so many angles. And now we’re hearing about this supposed “Big Beautiful Bill”—or, as Theo Braddy called it, the “Big Ugly Bill.”
What are some of the specific threats you’re seeing right now? Why is intersectionality so critical in this moment? I know that’s a broad question, but maybe you can help us zoom in a bit, because it’s overwhelming trying to track all of this.
Keri Gray: Yeah. What’s interesting is that I started this year feeling amazing. I did my first-ever fast, and I was really focused, really grounded, ready for 2025. But I don’t think any of us were prepared for how chaotic this year was going to get—and how fast.
We’ve seen an unprecedented number of executive orders come down—many of which are direct attacks on what’s called diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). And beyond that, the year has just been overwhelming.
But here’s the thing: I believe a lot of this is a reaction to how successful we were in 2020. That was the first year of the previous administration, and people were organizing—around health equity, around racial justice. We saw the uprisings after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others. There was massive advocacy around public health and safety, and many people—across sectors—were aligned and pushing for change. That movement was powerful, and I don’t think the administration liked it.
Now, they’ve had time to regroup. And they are coming for our communities—trying to redefine what freedom and liberation mean, and trying to roll back everything we fought for.
It’s complicated. It’s chaotic. One of the key conversations I’m having with organizations right now is: Are you going to say it or switch it?
Because these executive orders aren’t just symbolic. People’s funding is being threatened. Organizations are facing the possibility that they might not make it through the year. Sponsors are pulling out. Resources are drying up. And in that environment, organizations are being forced to ask: Are we still who we say we are?
Are we going to stand by our principles—that we support initiatives to uplift people with disabilities, to support Black communities, to fight for equity? Or are we going to change who we are to survive?
That’s the real conversation. And it’s happening everywhere. Some organizations are holding the line. Others are compromising. And it’s painful to watch.
Which brings us back to intersectionality. We cannot do this work in silos. My early advocacy was completely siloed—I was doing racial justice work in one space, disability rights in another. But in this moment, we don’t have that luxury. These attacks aren’t just against one community—they’re coming after all of us.
The Black community, LGBTQ+ folks, trans people, disabled people, women—we are all being targeted. And so we have to build coalitions across these communities. If we’re fighting for Medicaid, we cannot just show up as the disability community. We need to be in coalition with racial justice groups, with reproductive rights advocates, with trans organizers. We need to build deeper relationships, show up in each other’s spaces, learn about each other’s issues.
That’s how we survive this moment—and how we build something stronger
Matt Shedd: That’s wonderful. I really appreciate how you tied all of that back to intersectionality. It’s just such a critical time to be reevaluating our strategies and making sure we’re unified—not only within movements but across movements and generations, too.That reminds me of something Theo Braddy talked about: the focus this year at NCIL on bringing in younger leaders. Last year, the emphasis was on seasoned advocates. This year, it’s about bridging that generational divide. So building that connection between elders in the movement and emerging leaders feels more urgent than ever.
Let’s talk about the future. I know you don’t have a crystal ball, but what are some key developments or opportunities coming up that you think advocates should be aware of? What might advocacy look like in the near future?
Keri Gray: You know, that reminds me of a conversation I had a few years ago—maybe around the 25th anniversary of the ADA—with the Honorable Tony Coelho. I asked him to take me back to the time when the ADA was being passed and reflect on how that compares to today.
He told me that, originally, the ADA was written with only people with physical disabilities in mind. But then the community spoke up, and they had to revise it—had to make it more holistic and inclusive. That moment taught me that even our strongest legislative wins can be incomplete, and we have to keep pushing.
Right now, I’m worried about how the current administration is trying to set us back. There are real concerns about our ability to file for discrimination under this administration. Just look at earlier this year—when Trump made comments about disabled people being the reason for plane crashes at DC airports. That kind of rhetoric is not only inaccurate, it’s discriminatory and dangerous.
It contributes to stigma. It chips away at our protections. It makes it harder for people to believe that discrimination is real, and even harder to get justice. And you know, I think life moves like that, right? We take steps forward, and then we get hit with setbacks. That’s true for our movement, and it’s true for our bodies. I’m disabled—I’ve got a prosthetic limb, and there are days when my body regresses, and then it moves forward again.
But that doesn’t mean we give up. That’s just part of the process. We are in a moment right now where we are being pushed back. And that means it’s time to rebuild. Not to rebuild back to where we were—because even the status quo wasn’t good enough—but to rebuild toward something more imaginative, more inclusive.
Toward a future where discrimination and stigma—whether because of my race, my gender, my disability—don’t hold power over us anymore.
And that’s why spaces like the NCIL Conference are so important. Because if we’re going to get there, we’ve got to organize.
Matt Shedd: That’s right. We’ve got to organize—and we’ve got to do it in real life.
Keri Gray: Yes. In real life.
Matt Shedd: I want to pivot just a little here. You mentioned the 25th anniversary of the ADA earlier, but we’re celebrating the 35th anniversary this July. As we wrap up, could you reflect on the significance of the ADA, especially now?
Keri Gray: I feel so grateful. The ADA was passed in 1990—the year I was born. So, my generation—the keynote speakers this year are mostly millennials—we grew up under the ADA. There are things I didn’t even have to fight for because of the people who came before me. Praise the Lord for Judy Heumann and so many others who paved the way.
The ADA is one of our landmark civil rights laws. It protects people with disabilities from discrimination. But even more than that, it humanizes the disability experience. It says: You have a right to live, to work, to go to school, to access the world around you.
You don’t need to earn that. It’s yours by right.
And I don’t care whether or not you identify as disabled. I would love for more people to claim that identity—welcome to the community, it’s beautiful over here—but even if you don’t, the ADA is still for you. If you have asthma, if you have a prosthetic limb, if you’re bipolar, whatever your condition may be—you are protected.
And that’s huge. Because there are so many times when being disabled, or being a Black woman, you can feel powerless. Like the world is just coming at you from every angle. The ADA is not perfect, but it gives us a legal foundation to say: You cannot treat me like that. You are required by law to do better. And that matters. That really matters.
Matt Shedd: I love that. Cheers to the ADA.
Keri Gray: Cheers to the ADA.
Matt Shedd: Alright, so I figured we’d use up all our time today—I had a feeling after our first conversation! So let me close with this: If you could pass on one thing to other advocates listening, from your years of experience in this movement, what would it be?
Keri Gray: Well, I’m gonna cheat a little and say two things.
First: Go on an active journey of your principles. Be clear on what disability justice means to you. What racial justice means. Know your practice. For me, loving my Black disabled womanhood is a radical practice—and that means something different depending on what’s going on in the world.
But when things get chaotic—and they are chaotic—your principles can give you clarity. If you’re grounded in your values, you can move through uncertainty with confidence. And that’s what our movement needs right now. Second: Get involved. But also—recognize your seasons. Sometimes we need rest. And that’s okay. Don’t burn out. Don’t give until there’s nothing left and now you don’t just need rest, you need help. Know when you need to rest, and know when you’re ready to move.
And for those who are ready—get plugged in. Whether it’s your college campus, economic justice work, something like the boycott against Target, or national campaigns like the State of the People tour—find your lane and show up. The power of 2020 and the legacy of the 1960s can’t stay in the past. They live in us now—if we choose to act.
Matt Shedd: Yes! Get moving—but don’t forget to rest.
Keri Gray: That’s right.
Matt Shedd: Even just from a practical standpoint—rest prevents burnout. Burnout takes way more time and energy to recover from than simply resting in the first place.
Keri Gray: Yes. Absolutely.
Matt Shedd: This has been such a great conversation. Anything else you want to plug before we wrap up?
Keri Gray: Yes! Please support our platform, Ignite by Keri Gray. We work with organizations on disability inclusion from an intersectional lens. We do workshops, presentations, build programs—everything from storytelling to mental health to racial justice within your teams.
Also check out our Accessible Plus program. Every year we bring a group of BIPOC disabled people to Coachella—it’s about empowering the next generation of disabled creatives entering the live events and entertainment space. Applications start in January for the April event.
You can follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, or just visit ignitebykerigray.com to learn more.
Matt Shedd: Definitely worth following—you’re such a strong, grounded voice. And I can’t wait to see you at NCIL in just a couple weeks!
Keri Gray: Same here. It’s coming up fast!
