Life is a series of stories. Stacked one on top of the other, laid end to end. So it is for individuals. So it is for organizations, communities, businesses and countries. Out of these stories facts are extracted and graphs are drawn. But life is not statistics or pie charts. Life is stories. Hence I give you mine.
Able Writer was born out of frustration. I had been working for and with disability-related non-profit organizations for over 4 years. During that time I witnessed many of the gains people with disabilities had fought so hard for in civil rights community integration and equal opportunity disappearing at breathtaking speeds. At the same time new “lobbying” restrictions placed on non-profits receiving public funds made it all but impossible for those organizations to effectively advocate for the people they served. Eventually it became clear that the only way to change this broken system was to step outside of it.
They say the pen is mightier than the sword. I don’t know about that, but I had witnessed words, even at times my own, having a profound effect on the attitudes, opinions and actions of others. I loved to write. I wasn’t sure I was good enough and I didn’t know how I would do it, but I decided I would quit my job and try to make a living writing about disability rights. I started a blog called Able Writer Says, and was on my way to fame and fortune
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, it didn’t exactly work out that way. Not only was that single blog far from enough to pay the bills, it was also far from enough to create the kind of sweeping change that was needed to undo the damage done by misguided court decisions and cuts to essential public programs.
While blogging, I started to investigate other new technologies which like blogging fit under the larger umbrella referred to as “Web 2.0” I read about wikis, social networking and content management systems. I read about for-profit companies who were using these tools to talk with, not just at, their customers creating more responsive, efficient and just plain nicer organizations. I read about online communities such as My Space and FacebooK and how they had enabled organizations to reach millions of new donors and stakeholders at a fraction of the investment required by traditional methods.
While reading I thought about all the organizations I had worked with and all the issues they faced and were unable to overcome year after year. I realized at least part of the answer lay in these new technologies. That’s when the focus of Able Writer began to change.
Excitement, urgency, and a need to “give back” to the organizations that had given their communities and me so much I decided to educate them about these tools and show them how they could be used to further their missions.
