Legislative advocacy has been a cornerstone of the Council’s mission since our founding over 70 years ago. Every day, Council staff members work with state and local policymakers to advocate for Wisconsin residents who are blind or low vision on everything from transportation, health care, employment, voting access and more.
But public advocacy is not just a job for the Council team. For many staff members, their advocacy continues after they clock out of work for the day, serving on various local government committees and other bodies to work on many of the same issues the Council focuses on.
Education & Outreach Coordinator Kathleen Callen joined the City of Madison’s Disability Rights Commission (DRC) last year. The DRC is an advisory group, meaning that while they do not write laws, they help inform city officials about different ways they can support people with disabilities. When the city puts on events, the DRC provides feedback on how to make them more accessible. When the city makes changes to their transportation plans, the DRC looks at how those changes affect people with disabilities.
Barriers presented by city policies, practices and events are often due to simple oversights by people who don’t have the lived experience of people with disabilities. That’s why Kathleen wanted to get involved in city government–to give a first-hand account of how policy changes would affect people who are blind or low vision. “Participation in local government is essential, especially for people with disabilities,” Kathleen says. “City officials can read studies and look at data about how something could affect people with vision loss, but stories from real people help to really drive home why these changes are important.”
Access Technology Specialist Jim Denham joined two official advisory groups in the City of Fitchburg in 2024: the Pedestrian and Bicycle Commission and the Community Equity Committee. Both groups give Jim the opportunity to advocate for people with vision loss and other disabilities on a wide range of local issues. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Commission works with the City Council and Transportation Commission to ensure that the city’s streets, sidewalks, and bike and pedestrian paths are safe and accessible to everyone. The Community Equity Committee works with all areas of local government to make sure that Fitchburg is welcoming to all.
“I think I bring a wide array of knowledge and, as a person with vision loss, a different perspective to these groups,” Jim says. “Having that lived experience and being able to give some ideas on things like the accessibility of the city’s website helps make the city better for everyone.”
Executive Director Denise Jess has served on the City of Madison’s Transportation Commission for about four years. The commission writes transportation policy for the city and oversees everything from sidewalks to bikes and buses to streets and automobile travel. The policies written by the commission are then sent to the Madison Common Council to be voted on and implemented. The commission also provides advice and feedback to city alders and other governmental agencies on how to move forward on a variety of transportation issues, developing big-picture plans for how transportation options should evolve in the coming years.
When people think of their local transportation commission, they probably think they are only talking about motor vehicles. But one of Denise’s roles on the commission is to remind people that not everyone drives and that other forms of transportation, such as bikes and feet, need to be supported as well. “All forms of transportation have value,” Denise says. “For people who are blind or low vision, a well-rounded and diverse transportation system is necessary to be able to participate in society.” But advocating for the blind and low vision community is just one part of Denise’s role on the commission. Transportation affects everyone, and Denise is careful to consider all aspects of society when calling for changes in Madison’s transportation system.
While Denise says serving on the Transportation Commission is extremely rewarding, it also shifts her role from private citizen to public servant. Everyone has different opinions about the best way to move forward, and sometimes people unfairly take their frustrations out on committee members. Advocating for your own needs within city government is important, but it’s also important to remember that the more public-facing your position is, the more you may face pushback from the community.
Council staff understand that advocacy is not just part of the job; it part of the formula for empowering people who are blind or low vision to live with dignity and independence in their own communities. Joining a commission, committee, board or other governmental body can be incredibly rewarding and can connect you directly to your local policymakers to bring real change to your own backyard.
