Care Work with Alida Miranda-Wolff

How can we design inclusive spaces—physically and virtually—that support neurodiversity?

The Disability Justice movement is increasing the recognition and adoption of inclusive spaces and accessible interaction for people who are neurodivergent and on the autism spectrum. It continues, however, to rely largely on individuals to disclose their diagnoses in spaces where they may initially be uncertain of support. 

In this episode, María Emilia Lasso de la Vega, the Training and Programs Facilitator and Technical Facilitation Manager at Ethos, speaks with Alida about her holistically inclusive approach to taking care of others. She incorporates inclusive design practices to erect both physical and digital spaces that accommodate every person, regardless of where they fall under the neurodiversity umbrella. 

Learn to meet every person’s unique needs by:

• Leading with genuine interest to discover the needs of every person in your care
• Considering inclusivity from the start when creating any program
• Incorporating the seven principles of inclusive design

Important resources from this episode:

• The 7 Principles of Universal Design

Connect with María Emilia: 

• Reach out to María Emilia - [email protected]
• Connect with María Emilia 

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn 
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! 
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff 

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/

How can we show everyone the benefits of inclusive educational spaces?

Tim Villegas is the Director of Communications at the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education. His work centers around helping school systems build support for more inclusive classroom environments, and he sees firsthand the value of spaces where children with different learning styles learn together. These classrooms benefit not only children with disabilities but also typically developing children and their educators.

Tim’s journey to inclusivity advocate has so much to teach us all, including how to:

• View disability advocacy as support, not salvation
• Work with children with disabilities highlights the need for classroom equity
• Address the ongoing pushback against inclusive classrooms
• Acknowledge the authentic benefits inclusivity offers every person

Important resources from this episode:

• The Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education - https://mcie.org/
• The MCIE on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/think_inclusive/
• A summary on the Evidence of Inclusive Education whitepaper - https://alana.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/A_Summary_of_the_evidence_on_inclusive_education.pdf

Connect with Tim Villegas: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyvillegas/ 
• Website: https://www.timvillegas.com/ 

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/

In the most recent episode arc, the Care Work podcast explores educational equity with guests who are experts in impactful social education for teens, supportive higher education spaces, and inclusive literacy. In this reflective episode, Alida Miranda-Wolff investigates the parallel themes that emerged throughout these episodes to reveal a multi-faceted definition of educational equity and how its integration could create safer spaces for learners of every age.

Reflect with Alida on the finer points of this essential topic:

• The nuances and intricacies in defining educational equity
• Practical application that will help these theories succeed in the real world
• The responsibility of policies, government, and educators in realizing educational equity
• Complications that require that these practices be implemented with great care and attention

Important resources from this episode:

• Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey 
• Tiny Humans, Big Emotions by Alyssa Blask Campbell and Lauren Elizabeth Stauble
• The End of Burnout by Jonathan Malesic 
• A Life of One’s Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again by Joanna Biggs
• Hbomber’s YouTube Video on Plagiarism  
• National Equity Project 
• Prismatic                       
• Episode 9 with Mariam Cherbib
• Episode 20 with Debra Giunta
• Episode 21 with Johnnie Campbell
• Episode 22 with Ken Bigger
• Neapolitan novels mentioned in episode

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/

When you think of literacy, what comes to mind? Is it reading, writing, or something else?  Our definition of literacy is often oversimplified, much like the limits often placed on the question of who is and who is not “literate”. In this episode, Alida discusses literacy equity with Ken Bigger, the Director of Thought Leadership at the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. 

A vital figure in the movement to improve and facilitate conversations around the future of literacy in the U.S., Ken’s perspective on his field is one built on a deep understanding of human nature and a profound hopefulness for change.

Dig deeper into literacy with Alida and Ken as they explore:

• The difference between literacy and literacy equity
• The pitfalls of approaching literacy from the perspective of saviorism
• Civic fluency and inviting inclusive conversations
• Why education needs to incorporate literacy in all its forms

Important resources from this episode:

• The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour - https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/2505-the-twittering-machine
• The Color of Mind: Why the Origins of the Achievement Gap Matter for Justice by Derrick Darby - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-color-of-mind-why-the-origins-of-the-achievement-gap-matter-for-justice-derrick-darby/8296031?ean=9780226525358
• Language at the Speed of Sight by Mark Seidenberg - https://bookshop.org/p/books/language-at-the-speed-of-sight-how-we-read-why-so-many-can-t-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-mark-seidenberg/12785604?ean=9781541617155
• Proust and the Squid - https://www.amazon.com/Proust-Squid-Story-Science-Reading/dp/0060933844/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=671372748842&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9001601&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=6153848402677488693&hvtargid=kwd-508007502232&hydadcr=22459_13497880&keywords=the+proust+and+the+squid&qid=1702352754&sr=8-1
• The Science of Reading by Adrian Johns - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-science-of-reading-information-media-and-mind-in-modern-america/18891973?ean=9780226821481
• The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-knowledge-gap-the-hidden-cause-of-america-s-broken-education-system-and-how-to-fix-it-natalie-wexler/12471984?ean=9780735213562
• How to Educate a Citizen by E.D. Hirsch - https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-educate-a-citizen-the-power-of-shared-knowledge-to-unify-a-nation-e-d-hirsch/13705054?ean=9781799940722

Connect With Ken Bigger:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbiggera40pub 

Connect With Alida:

• Shar

How can educators create unifying classroom spaces where resistance skills can be safely practiced and cultivated?

This is the “freedom dreaming” Johnnie Campbell and Alida Miranda-Wolff do together in this episode of Care Work. As a resistance scholar, educator, and PhD candidate, Johnnie Campbell is putting in the work to build danger-free, liberatory spaces and explore the way Black young adults experience college. He doesn’t strive to merely observe and record them; rather, he plans to use these learnings to tear down damaging higher education structures and policies and rebuild them. In his vision, higher education institutions will go on to center the experiences of young Black people and remove the arbitrary barriers that cause them to be left out.

Discover groundbreaking strategies that could reshape the college experience:

• Creating danger-free education spaces where students can show up fully
• The impact of power dynamics on collaborative learning
• The potential future of a higher education system that centers equality in the discussion
• How to prioritize self-care while you’re building communities of resistance

Important resources from this episode:

• TJ Stewarts: “Where We Are, Resistance Lives”: Black Women, Social Media, and Everyday Resistance in Higher Education - https://www.jstor.org/stable/48645354 
• The Resistance Roundtables website - https://www.theresistanceroundtables.com/
• The Resistance Roundtables Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheResistanceRoundtables/

Connect with Johnnie Campbell: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnie-l-campbell/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jlcampbell_7/ 

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/

What supports would have helped ease your transition to adulthood?

Growing up is hard, and young people are repeatedly faced with circumstances they are expected to understand despite their lack of life experience. Then, in these tedious and confusing scenarios, the choices they make follow them throughout their early academic years.

Debra Giunta is the founder of Prismatic, a youth career development program with a soft-skills twist. She is always seeking ways to close the gap between what we expect of our youth and the supports in place to get them there. Her insights into the most effective ways to set students up for success are transforming the lives of kids.

Debra and Alida explore tools that can improve the experience of growing up:

• Addressing the ongoing controversy around social and emotional learning
• Tempering the tendency to expect our youth to be both children and adults 
• Allowing both accountability and fluidity in teen behavior
• Uncovering the questions young people are really asking

Important resources from this episode:

• The Brainchild Collective - https://www.brainchildcollective.co/
• Prismatic - https://www.prismaticmovement.org/ 
• Design Dance - https://www.designdance.net/ 
• Positive Discipline by Jane Nelson - https://bookshop.org/p/books/positive-discipline-the-classic-guide-to-helping-children-develop-self-discipline-responsibility-cooperation-and-problem-solving-skills-jane-nelsen/6860679?ean=9780345487674 
• Tiny Humans: Big Emotions by Lauren Elizabeth Stauble & Alyssa Blask Campbell - https://bookshop.org/p/books/tiny-humans-big-emotions-how-to-navigate-tantrums-meltdowns-and-defiance-to-raise-emotionally-intelligent-children-alyssa-gloria-campbell/19665944?ean=9780063306264

Connect with Debra Giunta:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-giunta-161b5628
• Website: https://www.debragiunta.com/

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/

How do we even start to tackle the challenges of caring for underserved youth? When you consider the sheer number of young people who are entangled in poor home environments, gang initiations, judiciary systems, and more, it’s easy to feel like the situation is verging on hopeless. 

In this episode, Alida Miranda-Wolff asks listeners to remember the benefits of smaller steps. You might not be able to shut down all the youth detention centers in your state tomorrow, but you can hand a homemade lunch to a neighborhood child with an empty backpack. Small impacts from many people add up over time to have a significant impact. Maybe the less overwhelming question is: What can you do today to help one child?

Alida presents excellent questions and deeply considered insights:

• How the rearing of young by different bird species reflects our own caregiving approaches
• Why everyone needs to decide if they love everyone or just their own people
• Why you should never underestimate the beauty of smallness 
• What steps you can take to start making a difference in the lives of youth, right now

Important resources from this episode:

• Neapolitan novels #1 - https://bookshop.org/p/books/my-brilliant-friend-elena-ferrante/586427?ean=9781609450786 
• Carvell Wallace -Trying to Parent My Black Teenagers Through Pandemic and Protest - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/magazine/parenting-black-teens.html 
• Sarah Ruhl - 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write: On Umbrellas and Sword Fights, Parades and Dogs, Fire Alarms, Children, and Theater - https://bookshop.org/p/books/100-essays-i-don-t-have-time-to-write-on-umbrellas-and-sword-fights-parades-and-dogs-fire-alarms-children-and-theater-sarah-ruhl/8483584?ean=9780374535674
• Brené Brown: https://brenebrown.com/ 
• Care Work EP 16 - Minisode #3 - Loneliness, Burnout, and Meeting One Another’s Needs - https://alidamirandawolff.com/podcast/loneliness-burnout-and-meeting-one-anothers-needs/ 

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/

How do we care for people trapped in a broken system and still take care of ourselves? This is the question Alida poses to Jennifer Soble, a former public defender, lawyer, and the founder of the Illinois Prison Project. Jennifer’s organization is striving to update the outdated and oppressive laws that govern the U.S. prison system, helping prisoners serving long-term sentences who deserve freedom. 

Jennifer shares how care work for a hidden population can affect the self and the system as a whole:

• Questioning the factors that have kept our laws archaic
• Assisting prisoners for whom legal council has been largely inaccessible
• Addressing the secondary trauma in helping people who have experienced violence
• Challenging the strategic design of a system built to keep people in, not help them leave

Important resources from this episode:

• Illinois Prison Project website - https://www.illinoisprisonproject.org/ 
• Learn about and support IPP’s projects -https://www.ippaction.org/  
• Illinois Prison Project on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ILPrisonProject   
• Illinois Prison Project on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ilprisonproject/ 
• Illinois Prison Project on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ILPrisonProject
• Illinois Prison Project on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/ilprisonproject/ 
• Dr. Levin’s Study: Secondary Trauma and Burnout in Attorneys: Effects of Work with Clients Who are Victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse - https://www.mnlcl.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Secondary_Trauma_and_Burnout_in_Attorneys_-_Effects_of_Work_with_Clients_Who_are_Victims_of_Domestic_Violence_and_Abuse_Levin_2007.pdf 

Connect with Jennifer: 

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jsoble1

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/

Why are we so good at finding problems, but so poor at solving them? This is the question Alida Miranda-Wolff puts to Chicago Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood and the conversation that spans juvenile justice reform and implementation disconnects to real-life examples from the world of cannabis legalization. 

You’ll be inspired by Garien’s insights, gleaned from years of working on the frontlines of marginalized community care:

• The practices that open doors that have long been closed to Black individuals
• The consequences of prioritizing personal convenience over equity for all
• The need for practical implementation support over problem-finding and recommendations 
• The assumptions and stigmas that keep real change from taking shape

Important resources from this episode:

• Illinois Justice Project - https://www.iljp.org/ 
• Southern Poverty Law Center - https://www.splcenter.org/

Connect with Garien: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garien-gatewood 
• Twitter X: https://twitter.com/GarienGatewood 

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/

How does loneliness affect your ability to care for others? Loneliness and burnout are endemic in American society these days, and their impact on care workers and, by extension, the people they care for, is significant. 

In this episode, Alida Miranda-Wolff questions the widespread belief that creators, specifically, are unable to form meaningful relationships. She expands this concept to explore the detrimental effects of loneliness and offers actionable recommendations for developing belonging and community that will enhance our personal and professional relationships.

Start to feel a little less alone as you learn from Alida’s insights:

• Why millions of Americans report severe loneliness and a lack of close friendships
• What causes us to “use up” relationships and abandon them in the long term
• How loneliness directly impacts our ability to show up at work
• How self-leadership and other tools can help us deal with the symptoms and impacts of burnout

Important resources from this episode:

• Liquid Love by Zygmunt Bauman - https://bookshop.org/p/books/liquid-love-on-the-frailty-of-human-bonds-zygmunt-bauman/11008429 
• Dr. Christina Maslach’s research into burnout - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911781/ 
• The End of Burnout by Jonathan Malesic - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-end-of-burnout-why-work-drains-us-and-how-to-build-better-lives-jonathan-malesic/18197214
• Work Won’t Love You Back by Sarah Jaffe - https://bookshop.org/p/books/work-won-t-love-you-back-how-devotion-to-our-jobs-keeps-us-exploited-exhausted-and-alone-sarah-jaffe/14597284?ean=9781568589374 
• Care Work Podcast Episode #1: Mickey ScottBey Jones - ​​https://alidamirandawolff.com/podcast/episode-1-micky-scottbey-jones/
• Brene Brown’s website - https://brenebrown.com/ 

Connect With Alida:

• Share your feedback on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidamw
• Order Alida’s book “Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations That Last” and gain exclusive access to bonus content! - https://bookshop.org/p/books/cultures-of-belonging-building-inclusive-organizations-that-last-alida-miranda-wolff/17372555?ean=9781400229253
• Learn more about Alida Miranda-Wolff - https://alidamirandawolff.com/

Advocate for underrepresented and underserved groups in organizations with Ethos - https://www.ethostalent.com/