Linked with Mobility International USA, MIUSA, with Access for All: USAID’s Commitment to Accessible Programs, and with Resources for Disabled Travelers.
She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.
Susan Sygall is an internationally recognized expert in leadership programs and international educational exchange for persons with disabilities, with a particular emphasis on women. From her wheelchair, Susan inspires people to achieve more than they–and society–thought possible. She has changed the lives of countless women, often in the most isolated parts of the world. She cofounded Disabled Women’s Coalition, the Berkeley Outreach Recreation Program, and Mobility International USA, where she serves as executive director. She says: « Personally, I’ve been unbelievably fortunate. Amazing things have happened in my life that have allowed me to do work that I’m passionate about and that has made an impact ». (1000peacewomen).
… Ms. Sygall, CEO and co-founder of Mobility International USA, serves as a trainer, presenter and consultant throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia on a variety of topics related to leadership, international exchange, inclusion and services for people with disabilities. Ms. Sygall has conducted leadership trainings with people with disabilities, educators and policy makers in Vietnam, Micronesia, Bosnia, Brazil and Mexico. Most recently, Ms. Sygall co-led MIUSA’s third international Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD), which brought together 30 grassroots women leaders with disabilities from 30 countries. Ms. Sygall has co-authored a long series of publications and materials, including: Building Bridges: A Manual for Including Persons with Disabilities in International Exchange Programs (4th edition), and Building an Inclusive Development Community: A Manual on Including People with Disabilities in International Development Programs and has contributed her extensive experience to the publication Survival Strategies for Going Abroad: A Guide for People with Disabilities … (full Bio).
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Susan Sygall – USA
She works for Mobility International USA, MIUSA, for the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchanges, and for the Disabled Women’s Coalition (named on disability history, see on 1974: Disabled Women’s Coalition founded at UC Berkeley by Susan Sygall and Deborah Kaplan. Other women involved include Kitty Cone, Corbett O’Toole, and Susan Schapiro. The coalition ran support groups, held disabled women’s retreats, wrote for feminist publications, and lectured on women and disability).
Women Who Light the Dark: Michael Krasny speaks with an array of women who are actively and innovatively progressing communities around the world … also with Susan Sygall, CEO and co-founder of Mobility International USA and recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Oct 8, 2007: download the AUDIO on KQED radio.
Building an Inclusive Development Community: A Manual on Including People With Disabilities in International Development Programs; Author(s): Heinicke-motsch, Karen; Sygall, Susan.
She writes:
… The goal is to cultivate leadership among these young people and find ways of broadening their lives, according to Susan Sygall, co-founder of MIUSA. Since 1981, the nonprofit organization has coordinated exchange programs for people with and without disabilities from more than 90 countries …
(full text).
Sports Programs Where a Disability Is No Barrier to Having Fun, Last in a four-part series on life for people with disabilities in the US, April 1, 2007: Download context with windows media player, or Download its pdf-transcript, both in different languages possible, on VOICE ONE … (full text).
Gender, Development, and Diversity, by Caroline Sweetman, 2004, 90 pages;
Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door 2008, by Rick Steves, 2007, 676 pages.
She says also: « I believe that all people with disabilities are members of a global family. Working together across borders is our most powerful way of effecting changes ». (on MIUSA/about).
Find her and her publications on amazon; on SourceWatch; on bookfinder.com; on allBookstores.com; on Bancroft Library, Berkeley; on inauthor Google-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.
… Also on this year’s list of winners is Susan Sygall, a UC Berkeley alumna who is now executive director of Mobility International USA, an organization with a global reach that helps secure rights and opportunities for disabled individuals, especially women. She received her BA from UC Berkeley in 1976 … (full text).
Building a Development Community: A handbook on the inclusion of People with Disabilities Programs for International Development, Heinicke-Motsch, Karen and Susan Sygall, editors, Mobility International USA, 2003 Chapter 4.1. 8 pages … (full text, July 21, 2008).
And she says:… « It really takes everything to build your own self-confidence. The river rafting and the development workshops and the camaraderie all change your conception of what you can do as women with disabilities, » says MIUSA director Susan Sygall, a wheelchair user for almost 30 years. « We selected these participants because they have a commitment to changing the lives of women and girls with disabilities. They’re the ones who will do what they do to push through, who won’t give up, who don’t let the barriers get them down » … (full text, November 2006).
Instructor: Susan Sygall, Executive Director of Mobility International USA – Description: This interactive course will introduce students to 25 grassroots women leaders with disabilities who will be in Eugene participating in MIUSA’s 4th International Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD). Through class readings and discussions led by this international delegation of leaders, students will use a human rights paradigm to examine issues facing people with disabilities, especially women and girls with disabilities, around the world … (full text, June 9, 2008The Global Perspective of Disability).
Mobility International USA (MIUSA) seeks women and men with disabilities from Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua,and Peru to apply for a 21-day leadership exchange program in March 2008, in Eugene, Oregon. The International Leadership, Employment and Disability (I-LEAD) program will focus on expanding opportunities for employment for people with disabilities in Latin America. We are seeking individuals with leadership experience and potential in these areas. All program activities will include Spanish translation, and substantial scholarships are available … (full text, Dec. 06, 2007).
Na sesión Cómo facer as Microfinanzas realmente inclusivas: Chegando a persoas con discapacidade, Anne Leymat e Wanda Muñoz, representantes de Handicap International, presentaron un estudo moi interesante sobre as dificultades que teñen as persoas con discapacidade para acceder a microcréditos. Nesta comunicación salientaron a importancia de traballar para conseguir unha sociedade máis inclusiva que permita ás persoas con discapacidade desenvolver todo o seu potencial. Susan Sygall, co-fundadora e directora executiva de Mobility International, sinalou a dobre discriminación que sofren moitas mulleres con discapacidade e a súa paradoxal experiencia na Conferencia Mundial das Mulleres en Beijing, na que, malia a importancia que se deu á superación do situación de marxinación deste colectivo, as instalacións nas que se celebrou a Conferencia non eran accesibles, nin había intérpretes de signos … (full text, Implicadas no Cumio Mundial do Microcrédito, 14 noviembre 2006).
links:
Disablility World, a web-zine of international disability news and views: current contents;
changing the present/about – About Changing The Present: Welcome to Changing The Present, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit website offering gifts that change the world. Browse our causes to find gifts that make a difference, or search for your favorite nonprofit to make a donation. You can share these gifts with your friends and family, or use them for your own nonprofit giving. Our gifts are a great alternative to that bath set or novelty sweater you were planning to wrap up this holiday season — just choose « Create A Card » from the shopping cart to send a personalized greeting card announcing each gift you donate in a friend’s name;
Bahraini-American Program Concentrates on Helping the Disabled, Disabled students learn to lead, adapt and understand another culture, July 23, 2008;
The Global Perspective of Disability, articles on WELA.net;
Disability and the Life Course, global perspective, edited by Mark Priestley, 18 pdf-pages, 2001;
Aging and Disability Online Service Delivery: A Global Perspective, on allacademic research;
Timeline of Events for Spiritual Autobiography, Year B;
Experience Disability Culture in Costa Rica;
A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities, March 09, 2007.