Passionate healthcare insiders are ideally positioned to navigate the bureaucracy and use their professional standing and relationships to create and accelerate positive change.

The IDD Advocate Corps is grassroots advocacy: a collaborative community of self-advocates, care partners, and healthcare professionals motivated to improve healthcare for people with disabilities by advocating both within specific organizations and throughout sectors in healthcare.

IEC has organized working groups by category (e.g., insurance, healthcare facilities, clinical education, government, etc.). Groups will identify sector-specific goals (developed, informed, and approved in partnership with disability self-advocates) and IEC will equip members with resources, shared learning, tools, and advocacy training.

Group leaders (who include at least one leader with IDD per group) will recruit members through channels like professional medical societies and disability organizations.

IEC partnered with a founding Advisory Group of over 20 healthcare volunteers and people with IDD to develop overarching goals, core values, a conceptual framework, and a draft charter.

We aim for equal representation for disability self-advocates who have diverse forms of IDD, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and communication needs. Healthcare participants include clinicians, government leaders, insurance executives, medical students, researchers, technology experts, and entrepreneurs.

We are grateful for support from the WITH Foundation. 

1. Identify change agents, allies, champions, influencers, and collaborators.  

2. Bring together advocates in a safe and nourishing community.  

3. Equip advocates with resources, shared learning, peer support, and training. 

4. Co-develop a vision of a healthcare system that is universally designed to equitably support people with IDD.  

5. Co-design the actions we want individuals and organizations in healthcare to take.