MOPD All Access

“I always wanted to be an actor since I was probably born,” says Santina Muha in this fun and frank conversation. Santina is a comedian and actor who hosts the series “Rollin’ With My Homies,” featuring conversations with wheelchair users like herself. Santina tells Christina and Lauren that while she doesn’t always think of herself as a disability activist first, she has been advocating for herself since she was 6 years old and se...

In honor of National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (March), the MOPD All Access Podcast welcomes Dani Smith of City Colleges of Chicago to talk about a Transitions program City Colleges has for students with disabilities.  

Dani Smith is the District Director of Comprehensive Transition Programs. In this job, she supports students with disabilities and oversees After 22, a program for students with intellectual and dev...

InfiniTeach is a Chicago-based nonprofit that has been a leader in technology, accessibility, and inclusion for people who are neurodiverse. On the latest episode of the #MOPDAllAccess podcast, we speak to four members of the InfiniTeach team -- co-founders Katie Hench and Lally Daley Hotchkiss and employees Aliyah Rich and Ned Williams -- about how to build a more inclusive world for people who are neurodiverse. Because people who...

In this episode of MOPD’s podcast, All Access, we talk with our first professional athlete guest! Kendall Gretsch is a cross-country skier, paratriathlete and biathlete. She has competed in four Paralympic Games and won seven medals, most recently in Paris in 2024 where she won a silver medal in the paratriathlon, and is a current World Paratriathlon Champion. Kendall grew up playing sports in Downer’s Grove, Illinois and was intro...

On this episode of the MOPD #AllAccess Podcast, we mark National Disability Employment Awareness Month with Emily Ladau, an author, editor, podcaster and disability advocate.  

Ladau, who has Larsen syndrome, began her advocacy career early when she was on several episodes of “Sesame Street” to teach fellow children about having a disability. (She even met Big Bird!) She wants people with disabilities to be able to show up as their...

Did you know that the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities has not one but four American Sign Language interpreters working on staff? These interpreters make up what we call our Communication Access Team. The Communication Access Team provides ASL interpretation for public and private city events and meetings, from the Taste of Chicago stage to the mayor’s press conference on breaking news. The Communication Access Team also...

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) will bring more than 50,000 people to Chicago, from delegates and their families to staff, volunteers and press. It is a great opportunity for Chicago to show visitors that we are the most accessible city in the world!  

In this episode of All Access, Deputy Commissioner Christina McGleam and guest host Training Officer Clare Stanhope speak to Robin Jones, the Accessibility Advisor to the De...

On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law.  

But before that, advocates fought for decades for the rights of people with disabilities to live full and self-determined lives. Disability rights activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins was part of that activism, starting at age six. At age eight, she participated in the landmark Capitol Crawl protest, in which disability rights advocates abandoned their ...

Youth employment is one of Mayor Johnson’s top priorities. To mark the beginning of One Summer Chicago and the summer job season in general, we discuss first jobs and inclusive workplaces with Deputy Mayor Jen Johnson and Tamika Jones of the Mayor’s Office.  

But this show wouldn’t be complete without hearing from some of Chicago’s young adults themselves! At our Inclusive Summer Jobs Expo earlier this year, we spoke to a few young...

There are 52,000 students with disabilities in Chicago Public Schools. Joining the podcast this month is Chief Josh Long of the CPS Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services, the department serving those students across the district, and Principal Stephanie Anderson of Vaughn Occupational High School. They talk about how CPS has expanded its offerings to serve high school aged and young adult students, and how schools are wor...

Looking for a new job in 2024? If you're a Chicago resident with a disability, check out the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities Career Center! Since 2022, the Career Center has been providing job search support and benefits counseling services to the people of Chicago. Any job seeker with a disability who is 16 or older can access these services at no cost. This podcast episode is a great introduction to the MOPD Career Ce...

If you've visited the MOPD Central West Office recently, hopefully you’ve seen the mural installed and dedicated on our walls. We spoke to artist Sam Kirk, who created the mural (titled “We Are Proud,”) and poet Lily Diego-Johnson, whose poem “Disability Pride” appears in it, about creating art that reflects Chicago’s disabled community—and where they get their ideas. Hopefully you’ll be as inspired as we were!  

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In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Christina and Lauren welcome Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to the podcast to talk about creating employment opportunity for Chicagoans and how access and inclusion have been central to his career from the classroom to City Hall. They also ask him about the significance of his sign name, “Mayor Collaboration,” which was given to him by Chicago’s Deaf community.  

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In honor of National Service Dog Month, cohost Christina McGleam and MOPD colleague Carly Englander share their experiences with their service dogs Jade and Hiden. What should people know about getting a service animal? Why do service dog owners also get trained along with their dogs? And how do the service dogs know when it’s time to stop working? 

Later, Lauren and Christina talk to Rolando Zavala about how service animals suppor...

Wednesday, July 26th marked the 33rd anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This civil rights movement included a collaboration of thousands of people working together to increase access for people with disabilities. This episode will highlight aspects of Mike Ervin’s journey as part of ADAPT, which led and organized protests to make CTA buses accessible.  Other voices of the disability community share t...

It is common for people with disabilities to also be a part of a different marginalized community. This episode explores the challenges faced by MOPD Career Center job seeker, Ulysses Williams, as well as the work that Willette Benford, Chicago’s first Director of Re-entry, is doing to break down barriers for returning residents.  

Learn more about Director Benford

Link to YouTube: (ASL Interpreted and Captioned version here) htt...