NorCal SCI participates in Dec. 3 #ThriveWorldwide event in SF

NorCal SCI co-founder, Franklin Elieh, was invited to participate in a panel discussion at the Dec. 3rd #ThriveWorldwide event held in San Francisco.

As we have reported in the past about AbleThrive and its always-positive founder, Brittany Dejean, ThriveWorldwide was truly a global event marking the annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities which was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly. It aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. 

From left to right: Tiffany, Danh, Brittany and Franklin

AbleThrive's community from 28 meetups representing 15 countries celebrated the event in their own unique way and the San Francisco event was designed to feature a panel of four individuals with different types of disabilities:  Tiffany Yu, founder of Diversability with brachial plexus palsy; Danh Trang, an amazing athlete born with a form of dwarfism, Brittany whose father suffered a cervical spinal cord injury, and Franklin with a C-6 SCI.

The meetup featured an audience of about 30 people who came to hear the stories of struggle and triumph that each of the panelists went through due to their disability and talk about the importance of inclusion of the disabled in the society and how to advocate for a greater acceptance of the role the disabled play in the society.

This was the first attempt at such a gathering and judging by the meet+greet session that was held afterwards, it gave the audience a better sense of the role they can play in advocating for inclusion as well as the importance of it.

We're proud of all your hard work, Brittany.  It was truly an honor to be with the three panelists and learn about their accomplishments and to reinforce that anything is possible and that yes, you can thrive with a disability.  #ThriveWorldwide.