Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariana Ortiz-Padilla.
Hi Mariana, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in Atlanta by two awesome Mexican parents and I am the oldest of three girls. My culture and developing my language skill in Spanish is something I am very proud of as it has allowed many opportunities to be open to me. I have a younger sister with developmental disabilities and she is really the reason I developed a passion for disability rights and advocacy.
Once I got to college, I realized how few Spanish-speaking families had resources presented to them about how to help their children with disabilities. No one told them how to advocate for their child or that they even had that right. I noticed this gap in aid and I wanted to do something about it. I am very grateful for Georgia State University as it allowed me the space to help in parent support groups for these families and provide resources and learn more about the disability community in Georgia. Eventually, I was able to branch off into more one-on-one consulting with families to help with educational and medical needs, along with transitioning into adulthood. I was also working for more accessible civic engagement and other disability issues that are pressing in Georgia.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the challenges that I have seen is the lack of willingness of organizations to realize that there is a gap in that resources they are providing. Most are not willing to admit that they are missing something or that if they do then it means they are insufficient. It would be easier to build partnerships if they recognized this and more families would benefit. Along with this, there are so few people that are wanting to focus on bilingual/monolingual/immigrant families that there is so much work to be done and not enough people to do it that it can become overwhelming. However, families are so enthusiastic about learning, growing, and leading that it makes it worth it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I currently work as a policy analyst but my main goal and passion is starting and running my non-profit, Latinx Disability Association.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
As someone who is starting out themselves, something that many people have told me is to be able to take care of yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup. It is also important to surround with people who love and support as they will always want to see you succeed and it matters a lot on your bad days.
