Briefly explain what your Staff Organization does/its mission:
The Staff Alliance for Disability Access (SADA) is a collaborative and supportive campus staff organization that addresses the needs of UC Berkeley staff members with disabilities. "Disabilities" may refer to any combination of physical, psychological, learning, and medical disabilities.
How does your Staff Organization benefit UC Berkeley staff?
Promoting a safe, accepting, and welcoming environment on campus for staff with disabilities. Advocating for the recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion of staff members with disabilities. Supporting current disabled staff members as they endeavor to pursue their personal well-being and professional progress on campus Supporting current staff members who wish to pursue on-the-job accommodations, and assisting them in developing strategies essential to their personal wellbeing and professional progress on campus. Recognizing the key roles of our allies in other campus staff organizations, and acting with them in the service of greater campus equity, inclusion, and diversity.
How can UC Berkeley staff find out more about your Staff Organization?
Contact us at our website https://stafforg.berkeley.edu/staff-organizations/sada or email us at sada@berkeley.edu
What kinds of events and/or outreach does your staff organization engage in?
We have hosted such Zoom Webinars as "Working from home for Persons with disabilities," and "Transportation and Event Accessibility safety," among other quarterly webinar SME panels on topics concerning accessibility on campus. Further, we have hosted live events such as "SADA UCB Employment Open House for Jobseekers with Disabilities." This event helps open up employment at UCB to the public disabled community (we have helped 3 persons with disabilities get hired at UCB). Also, we have had in the past (prior-COVID 19) a live event that invites representitives and staff from all the UC campuses to meet at a one-day event to discuss disability access strategies and ideas for issues that all the campuses share when concerning access.
What’s the best part of being in this Staff Organization?
It is a safe space to communicate with like-minded others about issues and the advocacy needed to address these accessibility problems.
Name one thing you learned by being part of this Staff Organization?
The community of the disabled is the largest minority in the world. Disability knows no single ethnic, religious, or gender background. ANYONE, and most of us as we age, will become a member in the community of disabled. So, it is logical to aid the cause of accessibilty, to embetter our community as a whole.
What are your Staff Organization's current and future goals?
Host webinar SME panels on topics concerning accessibility on campus and promote another all-UC campuses accessibility event next year.
