CTD's 2025 wrapped! 🏛️ At the Capitol This session, our staff participated in hundreds of meetings, work groups, coalition spaces, and public forums to collaboratively strategize and organize around our priority issues. We provided written and oral testimony, met directly with legislators and agency staff, and collaborated with partners to advance policy that serves—or at least does not harm—people with disabilities. Our advocacy spanned a wide range of issues, including Medicaid and attendant care, early childhood intervention, voting access, access to medications and healthcare, education, and community-based services. Our biggest win this session: successfully advocating for a base wage increase to $13 per hour for community attendants. 📣 Grassroots Power: Raise Your Voice! Through Raise Your Voice! (RYV), CTD connected hundreds of Texans with disabilities to the legislative process, to our staff, and to each other. Our grassroots calls created space for learning, sharing concerns, and taking collective action. In 2025, nearly 500 participants from across Texas engaged with RYV between January and October. In addition to discussing legislative issues, RYV became a space to connect around worrisome changes in federal Medicaid policy and other public programs. 🤝 “Coalition” Is in Our Name Collaboration remained central to our work in 2025. CTD continued or built partnerships with more than 40 disability rights, justice, and cross-movement organizations across Texas. We also worked with or served on more than 30 boards, coalitions, and work groups. Working together is essential—not only for successful policy campaigns, but also for supporting our community through a challenging funding and political landscape. 🌱 Growing Leaders This year’s Advocacy Corps interns have been outstanding. From in-district office visits to traveling to Washington, DC to meet with Congressional representatives, participating in press events, and more, they have put in a tremendous amount of work on issues they care deeply about. Our staff has loved getting to know them and supporting their advocacy growth at every stage. This motivated cohort also found genuine connection with one another. If you’ve walked the Capitol halls with us or attended Raise Your Voice, you already know our amazing policy fellows, Cole and Yulissa. They added not only capacity to our advocacy team, but also incredible passion and energy that buoyed CTD through this demanding year. These programs aren’t just professional development—they’re part of CTD’s long-term strategy to increase disability representation in decision-making spaces statewide. 🎬 Art as Advocacy Advocacy doesn’t only happen in hearing rooms. In 2025, CTD again turned to the arts as a tool for connection, joy, and social change. -
Cinema Touching Disability Film Festival returned for its 22nd year, bringing powerful disability-led storytelling to Austin audiences in September. We also hosted five collaborative screenings or series with partners throughout the spring and fall. -
The Lion and Pirate, our virtual inclusive open mic, created monthly space for artists with and without disabilities to share poetry, music, stories, and more in a welcoming community. Together, these programs challenge harmful narratives, elevate disabled creators, and affirm that disability culture is vibrant and essential. That’s it for now! We’ll share more details in our full 2025 Annual + Legislative Report, coming in the new year. |
