Rising Stars: Meet Gina Griffiths

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Griffiths.

Hi Gina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My very early years shaped the person I am today. I’m the third child (of 4), and when I was born (in Illinois), my mom quit her job to stay home with me. My mom has always needed to be well engaged in the world and to share her talents and skills for the benefit of others. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting at big conference tables with rather formal-looking adults during long, boring meetings (she served on several boards) or volunteering at a local fire station (that was fun!), or holding signs at a protest to ratify the ERA (still an issue!). I went across the state with my mom, watching her volunteer to help others, learning that we all have a responsibility to support each other without judgment or expectation of reward. I have watched my mother continue in volunteer service and giving throughout my life. It’s no wonder I became a social worker. I earned my Bachelor’s in Social Work (BSW) in 1997. I chose social work as a way to help others but with the freedom to work with different populations of marginalized people. I assumed I would burn out and need to switch areas of focus but remain a social worker. Luckily, that has not been the case.

While in my BSW program, I worked as an in-home support professional for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It should look good on my resume. I did not expect to find a passion area that would become a career I love, but it did. In the (many, many) years since, I have done quite a bit, most of it ties back to the field of disabilities. I’ve worked for the State of Arizona/Department of Economic Security/Division of Developmental Disabilities as a Support Coordinator; I’ve volunteered as a special ed advocate; I’ve started various programs (empowering people with developmental disabilities) at amazing nonprofits; I’ve represented disability service providers as an officer for the statewide provider association; I’ve worked with legislators and state agency leadership to advocate for a meaningful habilitative service system. Most importantly, I’ve formed relationships with amazing humans – clients, their families, and other professionals. Many people are working together to ensure our society provides accessible opportunities for everyone to thrive. We do not provide accessible opportunities to all, but a lot of amazing people are working on it all around the world. Somewhere in all of that, I earned my MSW. Social work is very, very cool!

I currently work for the World Institute on Disability (https://wid.org/) or WID as the Assistant Director of Community Inclusion. WID advances the inclusion, rights, and justice of people with disabilities by designing and delivering whole-community solutions. I’m privileged to do this work. We have three areas of focus: Emergency, Disaster, and Climate Resilience Services; Accessibility & Universal Design Services; Community Inclusion Services. All of the work of WID centers individuals with disabilities to achieve a more inclusive world. In layperson’s terms, I work with states on policies and systems to support the employment of people with disabilities. It’s a fantastic job! Like most people, I have more happening than my profession. I’ve been happily married for 26 years. We’re the proud parents of three amazing humans. I’ve got a really big family, and we all love to get together, tell stories, and laugh. I’ve lived in Arizona since 7th grade, so I’ve been incredibly fortunate to develop a strong network of friends like family. My husband and I enjoy camping, road trips, and any form of travel (with any of the people mentioned above). I’m an avid reader – usually of suspenseful fiction to escape reality for a bit. And I volunteer, probably too much.

Some of my volunteer work is related to my professional life. I’m on the Executive Committee of the Arizona Sexual Violence & Disability Network (https://arcarizona.org/get-involved/arizona-sexual-violence-disability-network/). Individuals with disabilities are assaulted at an alarming rate, and the necessary supports and services are often not available, and when they are available, they are not accessible. We have to prevent assaults and learn how to support the best people who have been victimized. Within this group, I also chair our Training & Prevention workgroup. It’s an amazing group working to ensure basic safety and dignified support for everyone.

I am also privileged to be a Board Director for NOAH, a local federally qualified health center with a mission to provide compassionate, quality healthcare for our community (https://noahhelps.org/). Supporting this organization as they support health equity in communities helps me feel like I’m part of the solution to the mess of our national healthcare system. I recently became a Board Director for the Arizona Autism Coalition (https://www.azautism.org/). Our mission is to improve the lives of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families in AZ by sharing resources and affecting autism systems reform through state-wide collaboration and advocacy. I’ve spent my career working with individuals with ASD; one of my children is on the spectrum. I was lucky to have a solid understanding of the “system,” but I am proud to support an organization that helps others understand it.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Professionally, I’ve been blessed to love my work. The hardest thing about my work is seeing the rest of the world, not including those with disabilities – in employment, community, and most aspects of society. But that’s why I love my work – I get to help address that, and slow improvements happen daily. The improvements are too slow, but we’re heading in the right direction. Unfortunately (as described in the COVID question), I had to watch my kids struggle during the pandemic. In reality, the struggles happened at the same time, not because of the pandemic. One of my kiddos had shown signs of depression and anxiety his whole life. It’s not surprising – they both run in my family. It’s the worst feeling in the world to watch your child be in pain and to have absolutely no ability to lessen it. We’ve been fortunate in that my professional experience helped me access treatment and care, probably more quickly than those outside the field. We’re on a much-improved path with counseling and medication. Behavior is as important as medical health, but it is not prioritized in our system and often stigmatized. I’m grateful that my child is embracing help and support.

Another unplanned detour in our family game of life also occurred during the pandemic. One of my children let us know that she is transgender. Please note – this is not a bad thing, just something we hadn’t planned on that took a minute to address appropriately. I was nuts with work during the pandemic. I looked at her and told her I loved her, supported her, and would support her coming out in whatever way she wanted, but that I was super busy with work and couldn’t really do anything at the moment. I suppose that’s not the worst reaction kids get, but it wasn’t the reaction I wanted to give her. I wanted to be 100% present and help her. It all worked out; she wanted that extra time before coming out to the world. She did come out to the world right around the time I quit my job. I knew she needed me. We got involved in advocacy. In collaboration, we started a legislative advocacy online group for trans folks and allies. We participated in civil disobedience and went to jail together – the first time for both of us, and luckily not too bad! We went to a lot of protests and down to the Capitol. She’s now living independently, working hard, living an authentic life. That’s all I want for my kids! We’ve made wonderful connections, and I’m still as active as possible in the fight for equality for trans folks. Having a full-time job gets in the way of all the Good Trouble kinds of fun! The targets placed on the backs of transgender people are unconscionable, and we all need to ensure that trans kids and adults have the right to live and be themselves. Some people call me a groomer cause I love and support my kid, but I’ve never even given her a haircut!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m known for being passionate about equity and inclusion, specifically for individuals with disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community. I do this because they are both openly discriminated against, and that’s not OK. I believe in changing systems and policies to ensure protections for people lacking protections. I’m the girl that tries to get everybody to write their legislator or testify at the capitol. If you want to do that, I’ll teach you. This is how democracy works – we have to pay attention (most people don’t) and participate (most people don’t). I won an MLK Diversity Champion Award from Scottsdale Communities Celebrating Diversity in 2017 (for my advocacy work with people with disabilities), and it is one of the things I am most proud of professionally.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I know it sounds trite, but we all learned to stop and look around, appreciate what we have in front of us, and prioritize the important things – family, friends, and living life instead of working non-stop. I was a Director of Programs for a decent-sized non-profit, and my team and I were responsible for roughly 110 individuals with IDD for whom we provided residential support. In a nutshell, we had to keep medically vulnerable people healthy during an unprecedented global pandemic. To say it was stressful is too gross of an understatement. I gave it everything I had, to the detriment of my children, for a full year, and then I walked away. I quit my job and focused on my kids, who were struggling like others during the pandemic (see previous answer about my kids). When I left that job in March of 2021, I truly (naively) thought that folks would get vaccinated to protect the vulnerable among us who could not. I left right after our clients and staff were vaccinated (those who were medically able). I thought things would settle down. Boy, was I wrong! But my kids needed me, and it was the right decision. I still feel guilty knowing how hard it was for the fantastic team I left behind.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/gina-griffiths-07a98712