Jewish professionals, educators, clergy, lay leaders and community members from across the country joined Matan for Closing the Inclusion Gap webinar exploring both the challenges and opportunities facing disability inclusion in the Jewish community. 

Drawing from findings from Matan’s recent report, Executive Director Meredith Polsky shared practical strategies organizations can implement to create lasting change. The discussion focused on building systems to support inclusion beyond one individual, training staff across multiple levels of an organization, creating dedicated budget lines for accessibility, strengthening collaboration between departments and ensuring that people with disabilities are included in the decision  making process.

The conversation continued during a thoughtful Q&A, with participants exploring topics such as measuring inclusion, creating accessible events, embedding inclusion within broader belonging efforts and helping entire communities take responsibility for fostering inclusion. 

The webinar also introduced the Matan Alliance for Disability Inclusion (MADI), a new initiative designed to help organizations move from good intentions to sustainable action through training, assessment tools, resources, and ongoing support.

We were thrilled to see so many Jewish professionals, lay leaders, educators, clergy, and community members come together for this conversation.