Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP) marked ten years as a disability and policy organization with a celebration that felt both intimate and global: a moment to look back on a decade of bridging data and advocacy, and to imagine what inclusion can look like in the years ahead. Almost 70 participants joined the event, including members of our community, partners, associates, and funders, whose collaboration and commitment have shaped CIP’s journey.
Opening the event, Deputy Director Maria Ní Fhlatharta reflected on CIP’s collective spirit:
“We are as geographically spread out as it is possible for a team to be… And here we are so much more than our staff and our associates and our fellows. It takes a village, and we have a pretty large one.”
At a time when advancing human rights grows increasingly complex, she added, “Being able to take time to collectively reflect on our achievements and look forward to the challenges ahead feels important.”
A short video took the audience on a journey through more than 30 countries where CIP has worked to turn evidence into action.
What Has a Decade in the Field Looked Like?
The film set the stage for a fireside chat between Daniel Mont, CIP’s CEO, and Tom Shakespeare, Board Member and Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a conversation that revisited how and why this disability and policy organization came to be.
“The disability movement successfully raised awareness and fought for rights but had little experience with policy analysis,” Mont recalled. “Meanwhile, development agencies were experts in policy analysis but had little understanding of disability. We created CIP to connect both, and drive action.”
Shakespeare smiled: “I think CIP will be around for as long as you want, because we will always want you.”
What Did Partners and Funders Say?
That spirit of collaboration ran through the reflections of CIP’s partners and funders. Gopal Mitra, from UNICEF, noted how CIP’s technical expertise has strengthened the sector: “Whether it is strengthening the care and support system for children with disabilities, promoting disability-inclusive financing, or measuring the cost of disability, the contribution of CIP has been significant.”
From the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Lesley Carson added:
“When our team faced some pretty high pressure moments to both demonstrate the impact of our grant making in advancing disability rights and also to identify where some promising opportunities and policy space to make real advancements were, we turned again and again to CIP, to its research, to its analysis, its field knowledge and credibility.”
What Comes Next?
The discussion then turned to what comes next. Meenakshi Balasubramanian, Senior Associate and budget analysis specialist, shared CIP’s forward-looking vision on that matter: “In all our endeavors, we try to give stakeholders the tools and information they need to build a more inclusive world. Looking ahead, we envision establishing a global budget coalition dedicated to reforming policies and programs, ensuring that persons with disabilities can freely enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with others.”
What Role Does the CIP Fellows Program Play?
The celebration also shone a light on the CIP Fellows Program, which supports emerging researchers with disabilities from LMICs to develop their own research projects based on their local contexts.
Former fellow Alimata Abdul Karimu spoke about how her time with CIP shaped her path: “My engagement with CIP and exposure to global disability policy discourse deepened my understanding of inclusive policy design and strategic implementation. This positioned me to lead the roll out of the United Nations disability inclusion strategy within the United Nations country team in Ghana immediately after my fellowship.”
Participants then joined an interactive Mentimeter poll, identifying priorities and challenges for the decade ahead, from better data and sustainable funding to care systems, aging, and climate change.
The event closed with a collage of many of CIP’s staff, board, and partners, a visual reminder of how far inclusive policy has come, and how much more remains to be done.
