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Remarkable World Commentary Episode #80: Ask Advocate Donna
🎙️ Remarkable World Commentary Episode #80: Ask Advocate Donna | Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA https://donnajodhan.com/rwc-03-02-2026/
In this empowering episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan invites listeners into her "Ask Advocate Donna" format, where she reflects on the meaning of advocacy and challenges her audience to think about how professionalism, communication, and perseverance can shape successful outcomes. Using a favorite quotation and a word game contrasting "professional" versus "unprofessional" and "ordinary" versus "extraordinary," Donna sets the tone for a practical discussion about how people can stand up for themselves when they believe they have been treated unfairly.
She then walks through three real-life style advocacy scenarios: a woman denied access to a crafts class because of her age, a man excluded from a social event because he did not speak Cantonese or Mandarin, and a family prevented from selling Amish products in their neighborhood. In each case, Donna breaks advocacy down into clear questions—what it is, who gets involved, why it matters, how to proceed, and when to act—emphasizing that advocacy begins when someone feels wronged and grows stronger when approached step by step, with support from friends, family, and the wider community.
TRANSCRIPT
Podcast Commentator: Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP and MBA, invites you to listen to her biweekly podcast, Remarkable World Commentary. Here, Donna shares some of her innermost thoughts, insights, perspectives, and more with her listeners. Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids, especially kids with disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate, author, site loss coach, dinner mystery producer, writer, entrepreneur, law graduate, and podcast commentator. She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge, skills, and expertise in access, technology and information. As someone who has been internationally recognized for her work and roles, she just wants to make things better than possible.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello, I'm Donna Jodhan and welcome to my monthly advocacy podcast, where I hope that you have questions for me and I have questions for you. And I have thoughts to share with you. Okay, so it's my monthly podcast called Ask Donna. Okay. And it's called Ask advocate Donna. Okay, so let's start off with this little quotation. Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you. Okay, I love this quotation. Okay, I want to start with my favorite word game and to sort of get your thoughts going on my word game, I have two sets of words to give to you. And here is the first one. Professional or unprofessional. Many times in the world of advocacy, professional versus unprofessional makes a difference in whether or not you succeed or you don't. It makes a difference in how far you can go in advocacy. Make yourself professional and you'll see how the power of professionalism works for you. Become unprofessional. And soon doors and windows will start slamming in your face. Professional versus unprofessional. And here is another pair of words for you to consider. Ordinary versus extraordinary. What do you dream of? A dream that is just ordinary. Or a dream that can be extraordinary. In the world of advocacy, people love to look at the extraordinary. It is not easy to get to the extraordinary. I think, first of all, you got to shoot for the ordinary.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And after shooting for the ordinary, you then train your sights on the extraordinary. Okay. Now, I have some stories to share with you that listeners have sent to me and through my own lived experience as well. Here is the first story. Okay. A woman has been denied entry to her crafts class because of her age. How do we advocate for this? Okay. Brenda was told that she was too old to be in the crafts class. Seniors were not eligible, she was told, and she was mortified. She was horrified. Only those under the age of 55 were being accepted. Brenda was 60. Brenda could not understand what was going on and so she approached the administrators. At first they did not budge, but then Brenda thought, well, you know, I need to go one step further. And she went to the community centers, administrators themselves, and she took her friends along with her. The community center was sympathetic, but said that they could not do anything about Brenda's dilemma. What would you advise Brenda to do? Okay, here is what I would advise Brenda to do. First of all, what is advocacy? Advocacy is when you stand up for yourself because you feel that you have been wronged, not because you feel that you are entitled, but you feel that you have been. You have been wronged. And in this case, Brenda has a good case, because if she is being told that she cannot be accepted into the crafts class because of her age, I don't think that that is a proper reason.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And who gets involved in advocacy? Brenda starts it all up and then Brenda includes her friends. Why is advocacy? Why is advocacy necessary here? Because Brenda feels that she has been wronged. And in order to right a wrong, Brenda has to engage and in advocacy and use this avenue to bring her friends along. How do you get involved in advocacy? By going step by step. As Brenda did, first, she went to the administrators of the class and they said no. Then she went to the community centers authorities and they said no. So now she has to get involved more deeply in advocacy and figure out what's the next step. Who does she go to after she has talked to the folks at the community center? Okay, now for my second story. All right. All right. A professional has been denied access to a social event because of their culture. Okay. And here is the story. Ryan was told. That because he did not speak either Cantonese or Mandarin, he could not attend. Ryan argued that because this was Canada and because English and French were the main language official languages of Canada, it was his right to attend this social event. He should be granted access because of the language requirements. Again, English and French being the official languages of Canada.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Okay. Those who were hosting the event said that they had a right to have their own rules. Ryan argued that in Canada, everyone had a right to attend. What would you advise Ryan? Again, what is advocacy? And in this case, advocacy is all about the right to attend a social event because the official languages of Canada are English and French, not Mandarin and Cantonese. Who gets involved? Ryan starts the ball a rolling. And he starts with himself and then builds his advocacy through friends and family. Okay, why is it necessary here? Because there's a strong case for saying that you cannot discriminate against someone because of a language. Okay. How do you get involved in advocacy? By engaging and by communicating with others. Okay. And when do you do this? You do this when you feel that you have a good case for advocating for something. A good cause or a good reason? Okay. And now here is my third story of the month. A family is unable to sell or set up a business because of the products that they sell. And here is the story. The Gregg family wanted to sell Amish products in their neighborhood. They were told by the municipal municipality that they could not. Because only products sold or made by a certain group could be sold there. What would you advise the Gregg family to do? Should they walk away and look for another place where they could sell their products? Or if they feel strongly enough about this, they can just simply start the ball rolling by looking for ways to advocate to sell their products.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: This is not an easy nut to crack. Okay, again, what is advocacy? Advocacy in this case is wanting to sell your Amish products in a certain area. Despite being told that these products cannot be sold because only another group or a certain group can sell their products. This is a good case for advocacy and who gets involved. The Greg family has to start the ball rolling and they have to put their case together, get their documents together, go step by step. Why is advocacy necessary in this case? Because the Greg family is being told that they cannot sell their Amish products in this area. Only a certain group. We need to find out. Why should it be only a certain group and not the Greg family's products? How do they get involved in advocacy? Like I said before, we start the ball rolling and they build support and they build help from those around them. When to get involved in advocacy in this case because they feel or believe that they are being wronged? Okay. All right. Those are my three stories for this month. I hope you enjoyed my feature. Ask Advocate Donna and I will see you next month. Have a great day. Buh bye for now.
Podcast Commentator: Donna wants to hear from you and invites you to write to her at [email protected]. Until next time.
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By Donna J. Jodhan🎙️ Remarkable World Commentary Episode #80: Ask Advocate Donna | Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA https://donnajodhan.com/rwc-03-02-2026/
In this empowering episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan invites listeners into her "Ask Advocate Donna" format, where she reflects on the meaning of advocacy and challenges her audience to think about how professionalism, communication, and perseverance can shape successful outcomes. Using a favorite quotation and a word game contrasting "professional" versus "unprofessional" and "ordinary" versus "extraordinary," Donna sets the tone for a practical discussion about how people can stand up for themselves when they believe they have been treated unfairly.
She then walks through three real-life style advocacy scenarios: a woman denied access to a crafts class because of her age, a man excluded from a social event because he did not speak Cantonese or Mandarin, and a family prevented from selling Amish products in their neighborhood. In each case, Donna breaks advocacy down into clear questions—what it is, who gets involved, why it matters, how to proceed, and when to act—emphasizing that advocacy begins when someone feels wronged and grows stronger when approached step by step, with support from friends, family, and the wider community.
TRANSCRIPT
Podcast Commentator: Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP and MBA, invites you to listen to her biweekly podcast, Remarkable World Commentary. Here, Donna shares some of her innermost thoughts, insights, perspectives, and more with her listeners. Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids, especially kids with disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate, author, site loss coach, dinner mystery producer, writer, entrepreneur, law graduate, and podcast commentator. She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge, skills, and expertise in access, technology and information. As someone who has been internationally recognized for her work and roles, she just wants to make things better than possible.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello, I'm Donna Jodhan and welcome to my monthly advocacy podcast, where I hope that you have questions for me and I have questions for you. And I have thoughts to share with you. Okay, so it's my monthly podcast called Ask Donna. Okay. And it's called Ask advocate Donna. Okay, so let's start off with this little quotation. Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you. Okay, I love this quotation. Okay, I want to start with my favorite word game and to sort of get your thoughts going on my word game, I have two sets of words to give to you. And here is the first one. Professional or unprofessional. Many times in the world of advocacy, professional versus unprofessional makes a difference in whether or not you succeed or you don't. It makes a difference in how far you can go in advocacy. Make yourself professional and you'll see how the power of professionalism works for you. Become unprofessional. And soon doors and windows will start slamming in your face. Professional versus unprofessional. And here is another pair of words for you to consider. Ordinary versus extraordinary. What do you dream of? A dream that is just ordinary. Or a dream that can be extraordinary. In the world of advocacy, people love to look at the extraordinary. It is not easy to get to the extraordinary. I think, first of all, you got to shoot for the ordinary.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And after shooting for the ordinary, you then train your sights on the extraordinary. Okay. Now, I have some stories to share with you that listeners have sent to me and through my own lived experience as well. Here is the first story. Okay. A woman has been denied entry to her crafts class because of her age. How do we advocate for this? Okay. Brenda was told that she was too old to be in the crafts class. Seniors were not eligible, she was told, and she was mortified. She was horrified. Only those under the age of 55 were being accepted. Brenda was 60. Brenda could not understand what was going on and so she approached the administrators. At first they did not budge, but then Brenda thought, well, you know, I need to go one step further. And she went to the community centers, administrators themselves, and she took her friends along with her. The community center was sympathetic, but said that they could not do anything about Brenda's dilemma. What would you advise Brenda to do? Okay, here is what I would advise Brenda to do. First of all, what is advocacy? Advocacy is when you stand up for yourself because you feel that you have been wronged, not because you feel that you are entitled, but you feel that you have been. You have been wronged. And in this case, Brenda has a good case, because if she is being told that she cannot be accepted into the crafts class because of her age, I don't think that that is a proper reason.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And who gets involved in advocacy? Brenda starts it all up and then Brenda includes her friends. Why is advocacy? Why is advocacy necessary here? Because Brenda feels that she has been wronged. And in order to right a wrong, Brenda has to engage and in advocacy and use this avenue to bring her friends along. How do you get involved in advocacy? By going step by step. As Brenda did, first, she went to the administrators of the class and they said no. Then she went to the community centers authorities and they said no. So now she has to get involved more deeply in advocacy and figure out what's the next step. Who does she go to after she has talked to the folks at the community center? Okay, now for my second story. All right. All right. A professional has been denied access to a social event because of their culture. Okay. And here is the story. Ryan was told. That because he did not speak either Cantonese or Mandarin, he could not attend. Ryan argued that because this was Canada and because English and French were the main language official languages of Canada, it was his right to attend this social event. He should be granted access because of the language requirements. Again, English and French being the official languages of Canada.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Okay. Those who were hosting the event said that they had a right to have their own rules. Ryan argued that in Canada, everyone had a right to attend. What would you advise Ryan? Again, what is advocacy? And in this case, advocacy is all about the right to attend a social event because the official languages of Canada are English and French, not Mandarin and Cantonese. Who gets involved? Ryan starts the ball a rolling. And he starts with himself and then builds his advocacy through friends and family. Okay, why is it necessary here? Because there's a strong case for saying that you cannot discriminate against someone because of a language. Okay. How do you get involved in advocacy? By engaging and by communicating with others. Okay. And when do you do this? You do this when you feel that you have a good case for advocating for something. A good cause or a good reason? Okay. And now here is my third story of the month. A family is unable to sell or set up a business because of the products that they sell. And here is the story. The Gregg family wanted to sell Amish products in their neighborhood. They were told by the municipal municipality that they could not. Because only products sold or made by a certain group could be sold there. What would you advise the Gregg family to do? Should they walk away and look for another place where they could sell their products? Or if they feel strongly enough about this, they can just simply start the ball rolling by looking for ways to advocate to sell their products.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: This is not an easy nut to crack. Okay, again, what is advocacy? Advocacy in this case is wanting to sell your Amish products in a certain area. Despite being told that these products cannot be sold because only another group or a certain group can sell their products. This is a good case for advocacy and who gets involved. The Greg family has to start the ball rolling and they have to put their case together, get their documents together, go step by step. Why is advocacy necessary in this case? Because the Greg family is being told that they cannot sell their Amish products in this area. Only a certain group. We need to find out. Why should it be only a certain group and not the Greg family's products? How do they get involved in advocacy? Like I said before, we start the ball rolling and they build support and they build help from those around them. When to get involved in advocacy in this case because they feel or believe that they are being wronged? Okay. All right. Those are my three stories for this month. I hope you enjoyed my feature. Ask Advocate Donna and I will see you next month. Have a great day. Buh bye for now.
Podcast Commentator: Donna wants to hear from you and invites you to write to her at [email protected]. Until next time.