FISA Foundation

We're excited to share this opportunity from New Voices for Reproductive Justice!
Imagining New Worlds is a leadership development cohort for Black women, femmes, and gender-expansive people who are interested in deepening their leadership and advocacy skills.
Applications are due August 14!

Applications are now open for Imagining New Worlds! ✨

Your voice belongs where decisions are made.

Imagining New Worlds is a 7-week leadership development cohort for Black women, femmes, and gender-expansive people who are ready to grow their leadership, better understand public policy, and advocate for meaningful change in their communities.

Together, cohort members will explore the connection between reproductive justice and public policy while building the knowledge, skills, and confidence to advocate for life-affirming legislation.

Participants will receive:

✨ A $500 stipend
✨ Policy and advocacy training
✨ Opportunities to engage directly with legislators
✨ Connections with reproductive justice leaders
✨ Cohort apparel and a certificate of completion

Applicants must be 18 or older and live in the Greater Pittsburgh, Greater Cleveland, or Greater Philadelphia area.

The cohort runs from September 9 through October 21 and concludes with a mandatory in-person advocacy day at the statehouse in Pennsylvania and Ohio. More details will be shared with selected participants.

Ready to strengthen your voice and put your advocacy into action?

Apply HERE by August 14th: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfv6k-BUpw7MACHB36YNf6n_y8w3yA2m4j_V0lzxKPfkqbdzg/viewform

In Case You Missed It: Yesterday was Moms' Equal Pay Day, a reminder that many mothers continue to face significant economic disparities in the workplace. Pay inequities affect financial security, career advancement, and long-term well-being, particularly for mothers of color.

Learn more in this post from the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh:

People with disabilities continue to face significant barriers in prisons and jails—from accessing healthcare and accommodations to receiving essential support services.

This powerful piece from FISA’s grantee partner, Pennsylvania Prison Society, explores these challenges and highlights practical solutions to create more inclusive and equitable systems: https://www.prisonsociety.org/updates/inclusion-rights-and-respect

[Image Description: white text on dark blue background with yellow accents, "Prisons are designed “to be one size fits all, and one size doesn’t fit all when you have a disability. Disabilities require accommodation. Cell doors may need to be widened for wheelchairs. People with vision or hearing loss may need special sensors and light fixtures in their cells. Jails just aren’t built that way.” Kirstin Cornnell, Pennsylvania Prison Society, Family and Community Support Director]

When women and girls are given opportunities to lead and influence decisions that affect their lives, everyone in the community benefits. Yet, many women and girls, especially in historically underserved communities, still face barriers to civic participation and leadership roles.

FISA is proud to highlight our June 2026 grants that support civic engagement and leadership for women and girls through Sisters Saving Ourselves Now/Pittsburgh-Western PA Black Women's Roundtable, Professional Women's Network (PWN), and The Women and Girls Foundation. These programs are creating pathways for women and girls to build leadership skills, engage with their communities, and drive meaningful change.

Read more about these grants and our full June 2026 grants announcement: https://fisafoundation.org/fisa-awards-june-2026-grants-to-improve-the-lives-of-women-girls-and-people-with-disabilities/

[Image Description: Collage of girls and young women, highlighting FISA’s June 2026 grants supporting civic engagement and leadership opportunities for girls and women.]

Safe housing is essential — yet transgender women, especially Black transgender women and transgender women with disabilities, continue to face significant barriers to securing stable, affirming housing.

FISA Foundation is proud to highlight its June 2026 grants supporting trans and q***r women experiencing housing instability, including Proud Haven’s Step Into Stability Program and SisTers PGH ’s Project T Program.

Read more about these grants and the full June 2026 grants announcement here: https://fisafoundation.org/fisa-awards-june-2026-grants-to-improve-the-lives-of-women-girls-and-people-with-disabilities/

[Image Description: Collage featuring a trans rights mural and TLGBQ+ community members, highlighting FISA’s June 2026 grants supporting trans and q***r women experiencing housing instability.]

This past weekend, we celebrated the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a landmark civil rights law that expanded access, opportunity, and protections for millions of people with disabilities. While we celebrate this important milestone, we also recognize that there is still work to be done to achieve full and equitable access, particularly in healthcare.

Through FISA Foundation’s Access to Healthcare Initiative, we are working to advance equitable, accessible healthcare for people with disabilities. Read our latest article, A Shared Commitment to Accessible Healthcare, to learn how healthcare providers, community partners, and disability advocates are collaborating to promote health equity and improve access to care for people with disabilities: https://fisafoundation.org/a-shared-commitment-to-accessible-healthcare/

[Image description: A group of FISA grantee partners and staff at a healthcare access gathering. Grantee partners are arranged in rows, with some using mobility aids including wheelchairs and a cane. The image includes text promoting an article about FISA Foundation’s grantee gathering on accessible healthcare.]

Did you catch this? We're excited to share WESA’s feature on The Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh’s Health Ambassadors program! Through this innovative program, teens with disabilities use their lived experience to help healthcare providers identify barriers, improve accessibility, and create more inclusive care.

The Health Ambassadors program was selected through FISA’s competitive Access to Healthcare initiative grant process.

Check out the story to see how young leaders are driving meaningful change.

Pittsburgh teens with disabilities help shape more accessible healthcare During a mock appointment to a UPMC adolescent health clinic, a group of Pittsburgh teens stood in as patients. They were actually there as accessibility experts as they are also people living with disabilities.

Too often, women are not fully heard by medical professionals — a reality that can lead to worse health outcomes, especially for women of color, immigrant women, and women with low incomes.

FISA is proud to highlight our June 2026 grants to MAYA Organization and The Midwife Center, which support women’s access to safe, culturally responsive, and inclusive healthcare.

Read more about these grants and the full June 2026 grants announcement here: https://fisafoundation.org/fisa-awards-june-2026-grants-to-improve-the-lives-of-women-girls-and-people-with-disabilities/

[Image Description: Collage featuring a mother and baby, a healthcare visit, and a pregnant woman, highlighting FISA’s June 2026 grants supporting access to safe, culturally responsive, and inclusive healthcare.]

Thank you, Tara Fay Coleman, for this powerful essay connecting public health policy to lived experience. Through the story of her parents, Tara reminds us that poverty, race, disability, and access to care have profound impacts on health and well-being. Her piece is an important call for Pittsburgh to confront longstanding inequities and build a community where everyone has access to the healthcare, supports, and opportunities they need to thrive.

My parents’ premature deaths made public health a personal reality Data shows life expectancy, chronic illness, disability and premature mortality remain sharply stratified by race, income and neighborhood.

We’re thrilled to see Southwestern Pennsylvania members of Pennsylvania’s new Disability Commission featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette! This talented group of leaders brings deep experience, advocacy, and community knowledge to the Commission’s work. Congratulations to Monica Albert Still, Chaz Kellem, Hunter Steinitz, former FISA board member Rachel Kallem Whitman, Ondrea Burton, Lori Roberts, and Michelle Walker. Their advocacy and lived expertise will help elevate the voices and priorities of the disability community throughout Pennsylvania.

Read the article to learn more: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2026/07/16/new-disability-commission-pa/stories/202607190017?fbclid=IwY2xjawTHVSpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEwaGUxMmtrTDJNNVN2U0l2c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHgHKb_VEW4b2Ov_nj2a-myjyqsAASoPOG1PsSe-uILVCctFXY6witP1skvVP_aem_1Q3Dz7L2OUO_dw-tR9_Bew

Gov. Josh Shapiro earlier this month announced the creation of a new disability commission tasked with understanding accessibility issues across the state, giving perspectives on living with a disability and recommending policy changes to legislators.

With 28 people appointed to the new Advisory Commission on People with Disabilities, Pennsylvania joins a handful of other states — Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia and New Hampshire among them — in having disability committees to inform policymakers of community needs.

Seven of those appointees are regional: five from Allegheny County and two from Beaver County.

Link in the comments to read more. ⬇️