The most effective way to create change that benefits humans above the bottom line is to combine social change efforts with the profit motive under the umbrella of a multinational corporation.
So writes Timothy J. Mohin in his new book Changing Business From the Inside Out: A Treehugger's Guide to Working in Corporations. And with an eighteen-year career in the field known as corporate responsibility (CR), he provides a wealth of knowledge to back up his claim.
Read the full article on Philanthropy News Digest, a Foundation Center blog, by clicking here.
A coalition of 79 groups has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case, Florida v. HHS (United States Department of Health and Human Services).
The amicus brief, or “friend of the court” brief, is a response to the State of Florida’s lawsuit that seeks to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The document says the Supreme Court’s challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid eligibility will endanger a range of federal-state programs.
Advocates for people with disabilities are having mixed reactions to the New York State Executive Budget for 2012-13, released by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on January 17th.
The Center for Disability Rights, Inc. (CDR) issued a statement supporting the budget’s proposed reinvestment of Medicaid savings from hospital and nursing home closures or bed de-certifications toward housing but specified that the funds should support inclusive housing.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal the Community Living Assistance Service and Support (CLASS) Act but the bill remains in limbo.
The CLASS Act, a long-term care insurance program that is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was intended to provide payment assistance for people who develop physical disabilities to live independently.
Cathryn Bonnette has won her first legal battle: earning the right to practice law in Washington, D.C.
On July 13th, Bonnette won her case against the D.C. Court of Appeals and the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), earning the right to take the exam with her chosen form of technology. She then passed the test, according to the Memorandum Opinion for the case that she filed with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Bonnette is a legally blind law school graduate in Arlington, Virginia who sought to take the Multistate Bar Exam in July using a computer with the accessible screen-reading program Job Access With Speech (JAWS), according to the decision filed by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
The first Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities has died.
Matthew Sapolin, 41, passed away on November 29th. The cause of death was cancer, which he had battled since childhood.
Sapolin was born in Islip, New York. He became blind at age five from bilateral retinoblastoma, a cancer affecting the optic nerve.
He held a BA in Philosophy from New York University (NYU), where he was co-captain of the wrestling team. Sapolin earned the University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week honor three times and received the President's Service Award for Volunteerism and Community Service upon graduating. He also held an MA in Public Health Administration from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service.
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is weighing in on the accessible taxi debate in New York City.
Harkin held a hearing called “The Americans with Disabilities Act and Accessible Transportation: Challenges and Opportunities” November 17th to reflect on recent developments including a class action discrimination lawsuit by the Taxis For All Campaign against the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).
The Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee sponsored the hearing where experts in the field were invited to speak.
Members and supporters of Disabled in Action (DIA) joined the Occupy Wall Street movement, gathering at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan on October 16th.
Pat Walls, who attended the event with her husband Phillip Walls, said Occupy Wall Street reminds her of her college days as she spoke out against government service cuts.
“Specifically, I am really afraid of the cuts to homecare services because I am really dependent on my home attendant,” said Walls. She also criticized a new limit for physical and occupational therapy to twenty visits a year, which restricts her ability to receive care for her leg problems.
An upstate New York judge has ruled that a man with physical and emotional impairments can be denied disability benefits because his condition allegedly resulted from alcohol and opioid dependence.
Judge Richard J. Arcara of the United States District Court of the Western District of New York said that the plaintiff, Charles L. Cutler, is not disabled under the Social Security Act because alcohol and substance use are a significant factor of his disability and that the plaintiff would no longer be disabled if he stopped his alleged substance use.
The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) unanimously approved a regulation change to allow wheelchair users to sit in the front of taxi and livery vehicles, paving the way for the industry to purchase MV-1 vehicles.
The MV-1, which is manufactured with a ramp at production, is considered more durable than vehicles that are retrofitted to become accessible later.
Production of the MV-1 began several weeks ago and there is already a back order of 4,000 vehicles, with the first 1,000 sold out. Fred Drasner, chair of the Vehicle Production Group that makes the MV-1 said the company plans to sell 12,000 vehicles next year. The MV-1 sells for about $39,000 and Drasner said the vehicle’s fuel efficiency and natural gas incentives from the government will help offset the cost.
