New Disabled South is a left-of-center disability organization that focuses on research, education, and advocacy at the state and local levels across 14 southern states in the United States. It was founded by Dom Kelly and Kehsi Iman Wilson, who were former staff members of Democrat Stacey Abrams’ 2022 campaign for governor of Georgia. ¹

New Disabled South claims that those that identify as disabled are impacted by “ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy.” ^{2 3} The group has received funding from left-of-center organizations including the Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations (OSF). ^{4 5}

Background

New Disabled South is a coalition of left-wing disability activists across 14 states advocating on policy at the state and local level. ⁶ It was co-founded by Dom Kelly and Kehsi Iman Wilson, former staff members of Democrat Stacey Abrams’ 2022 campaign for governor of Georgia. Kelly was the former fundraising director and senior advisor, while Wilson was the former human resources director. ¹ Kelly refers to New Disabled South as “a progressive organization fighting for disability rights and disability justice in the region.” ⁷

In March 2023, New Disabled South announced the launch of its policy and electoral advocacy arm, New Disabled South Rising. ⁸

New Disabled South supports the 10 Principles of Disability Justice, a set of documents claiming that disabled persons within the United States are impacted by “ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy.” ^{3 9}

Priorities and Work Areas

New Disabled South focuses on research and policy advocacy in three “priority policy buckets.” New Disabled South claims that those that identify as disabled are impacted by “ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy.” ^{2 3}

New Disabled South advocates for Medicaid expansions, raising the pay of home care providers, and expanding the funding for home and community-based services for those with disabilities. ⁸ In 2023 it partnered with the Southern Economic Advancement Project claiming to assist in research towards home and community-based funding. ¹⁰

Funding

For its first partial year of 2022, New Disabled South filed a 990-EZ tax return, ¹¹ which is used for organizations that have less than $200,000 in gross receipts and less than $500,000 in total assets. ¹²

It relies on individual donors and left-of-center foundation support. The Awesome Foundation provided initial startup support. ¹³ It received funding from left-of-center organizations in 2023 and 2024 including Borealis Philanthropy, the J. M. Kaplan Fund, Levi Strauss Foundation, Libra Foundation, the Movement Voter Project, New Media Ventures, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Liberty Hill Foundation and the American Association of People with Disabilities. ^{14 6}

The Ford Foundation donated a $520,000 grant to the group in January 2023 for general support and another $50,000 in April 2024 for “building a cross-movement response to rising criminalization.” ⁴ In 2023, the group received a $300,000 grant from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF). ⁵

Leadership

Dom Kelly is co-founder and president and CEO. He was born with cerebral palsy. He earned a master’s in nonprofit leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2021 he was a New Leaders Council fellow. He also had senior positions at Fair Fight Action before joining the campaign team for Stacey Abrams for governor of Georgia. He founded New Disabled South in November 2022 and New Disabled South Rising in February 2023. In January 2024 he also became a Rockwood Leadership Institute fellow. ¹⁵

Kehsi Iman Wilson is co-founder and chief operating officer of New Disabled South. She identifies as disabled due to depression and chronic fatigue. ¹⁶ She earned a master’s in education from the University of South Florida and spent several years in the education system. In 2020 she was human resources and communications director for the Groundswell Fund. She then joined the campaign team for Stacey Abrams for governor of Georgia as its human resources director. ¹⁷

The organization is overseen by a 12-member advocacy council and led by a 10-member board of directors. Every member of the board and the staff identifies as having a disability of some kind. Five out of 12 advisory council members claim to be disabled. ⁸

The board chair is Mia Ives-Rublee, who is senior director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress. ^{18 19}

The Advisory Council includes Democrat Party politician activist Stacey Abrams, executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance Ai-jen Poo, president and CEO of American Association of People with Disabilities Maria Town, and board chair of the Promise of Justice Initiative Sara Totonchi. ¹⁸

1. Donovan J. Thomas. “The South has a new disability rights group with Georgia roots.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. April 18, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.ajc.com/news/the-south-has-a-new-disability-rights-group-with-georgia-roots/2BOYZQYLXZH3PN3PILG3LC74OA/
2. “About.” New Disabled South. Accessed October 11, 2024. https://www.newdisabledsouth.org/about
3. “10 Principles of Disability Justice.” Sins Invalid. September 17, 2015. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/10-principles-of-disability-justice
4. “Grants Database.” Ford Foundation – search New Disabled South. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?search=new+disabled+south
5. “New Disabled South.” Open Society Foundations – Awarded Grants. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?grant_id=OR2023-91622
6. New Disabled South website. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.newdisabledsouth.org/
7. “A New Disabled South.” Ford Foundation. April 3, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/a-new-disabled-south/
8. Andrew Pulrang. “A Disability Advocacy Startup Strives To Model Its Own Mission.” Forbes. February 20, 2023. Updated March 13, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2023/02/20/a-disability-advocacy-startup-strives-to-model-its-own-mission/
9. “New Disabled South.” Idealist. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/c44ca831114d4f8084dabb0c56981ffb-new-disabled-south-atlanta
10. New Disabled South 2023 Impact Report. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HIi1lhclebxDNJhxxfr6RM4IWHNNlReT/view
11. New Disabled South. Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990EZ – Part I). 2022.
12. “Instructions for Form 990EZ.” IRS.gov. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i990ez.
13. “New Disabled South.” The Awesome Foundation – Projects. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.awesomefoundation.org/en/projects/203513-new-disabled-south
14. ProPubica Nonprofit Explorer search.””882606879.” Accessed October 10, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?q=88-2606879
15. LinkedIn – Dom Kelly. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominic-edward-kelly/details/experience/
16. “Disability activists fight for equality in the South.” Delaware Public Media. March 27, 2023. Accessed October 11, 2024. https://www.delawarepublic.org/2023-03-27/disability-activists-fight-for-equality-in-the-south
17. LinkedIn – Kehsi Iman Wilson. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kehsiiman/details/experience/
18. “Our Team.” New Disabled South. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.newdisabledsouth.org/team
19. “Staff.” Center for American Progress. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://www.americanprogress.org/about-us/staff/