Latest / Podcasts By Donna Jodhan / Remarkable World Commentary Episode #83: The Hidden Costs of Advocacy

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Remarkable World Commentary Episode #83: The Hidden Costs of Advocacy · Podcasts By Donna Jodhan

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  Podcast Commentary: Greetings, Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, and MBA invites you to listen to
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  her biweekly podcast, Remarkable World Commentary.
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  Here, Donna shares some of her innermost thoughts,
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  insights, perspectives, and more with her listeners.
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  Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids,
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  especially kids with disabilities.
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  Donna is a blind advocate, author, sight loss coach,
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  dinner mystery producer, writer, entrepreneur,
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  law graduate, and podcast commentator.
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  She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge,
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  skills, and expertise in access, technology and information.
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  As someone who has been internationally recognized for her work and roles,
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  she just wants to make things better than possible.
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello, everybody. And I'm Donna J.
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  Jordan, your host for the Remarkable World Commentary,
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  where I get to solo on my podcast.
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  And for this month, I want to talk about something that is very near and dear to my
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  heart. It is all about the hidden costs of advocacy.
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  Yes, there is a hidden cost to advocacy, and many of us don't really realize it until
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  we take the time to reflect and understand what it is all about.
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  Okay, so what does it or what do I mean when I say that there are hidden costs to
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  advocacy? First of all, let's look at volunteering.
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  Each time we volunteer.
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  And I'm not saying that volunteering is not good for us.
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  But every time we volunteer and in my case, I will let you know when I.
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  Volunteer or each time I volunteer, it means that I'm giving away a slice of my
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  livelihood, whereas I'm giving it away for free and I've been happy to do so in the
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  past. Don't get me wrong, volunteering has been an enjoyment for me,
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  a pleasure and a privilege.
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  But there comes a time when you volunteer a bit too much.
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  You give away slices of your livelihood.
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  And what really, really concerns me is that whereas I continue to give away slices of my
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  livelihood, there are those who are cashing in on this because they get paid to manage
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  volunteers. I don't get paid when I volunteer slices of my life for free.
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  Okay. Each time I serve on a committee, for better or for worse,
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  committees are those entities where companies set them up because they really believe that
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  these advisory committees, or whatever they wish to call them,
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  are ways for them to gather and garner information from persons with disabilities.
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  All well and good, but what do we get in return?
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  Do we get to see our name out there on the websites of those companies that have formed
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  these committees? Or do we give away again slices of our livelihood for nothing?
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  I think this has to stop.
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  I think companies need to understand and realize that for whereas our advisory
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  Committees are great. They do not benefit persons with disabilities in many ways.
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  This is another hidden cost of advocacy.
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  Okay. What about the free research participant.
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  And this one really, really, really concerns me.
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  When universities and colleges and agencies come to me saying,
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  we'd like you to participate in a research.
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  Sure. I'd like to participate, but what am I getting in return?
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  Another hidden cost of advocacy.
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  Most times, they cannot tell me what I get in return for my lived experience,
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  my knowledge, and my skills.
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  And it really does start to annoy me that they expect me to give away my knowledge for
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  free through their research projects.
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  Some of them have even had the temerity to tell me.
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  Well, you know, you owe it to your community to do this.
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  Maybe so, but maybe not.
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  And I'm saying this because I really want those entities who continue to use research
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  projects to garner information, to think about it.
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  Please don't give us coupons to Tim Hortons or Starbucks.
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  Pay us for our knowledge.
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  Okay. How about free evaluation of draft proposals?
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  I've seen several of these in the past year from several Canadian government departments.
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  You know, they come up with the whole thing.
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  Like, could you help us to evaluate our draft proposals for the a c e or a C a at the
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  Accessible Canada Act?
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  What do we get in return for spending hours to help these entities.
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  We don't get much. I can tell you that I have given hours and hours and hours of my free
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  time with little or no compensation.
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  I don't need my name to be out there.
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  I don't need my name to be put onto a website saying one of our participants was Donna J.
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  Jordan. I don't need that.
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  I need to be recognized for the knowledge and the skills and the experience that I have
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  given to these entities.
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  And then when one speaks up after they have seen something that is not right.
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  Again, it's a hidden cost of advocacy.
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  And in this case, it has to do with the apex folks.
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  I received a scholarship from the apex company to study cyber security.
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  But when I spoke up and I talked about the lack of accessibility to their content,
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  guess what happened? They pulled the scholarship from me and had the temerity not
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  to pay me in full for one of the exam vouchers.
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  They paid me $200 Canadian.
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  Whereas the voucher cost $390 U.S..
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  That is another hidden cost of advocacy, because I dare to speak up.
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  Not to be spiteful to the apex folks, but to want to work with them after.
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  I've tried and tried and tried.
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  But I will stand by what I have said.
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  In the past, their content was not fully accessible.
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  Their LMS system was not accessible.
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  Okay, so Those are some of the most common pitfalls
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  for advocacy. Hidden costs for advocacy.
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  Okay. I want to end my podcast here by talking about one of the most common things
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  that occur in our lives.
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  And this one is a story that was sent to us by a mother who was really,
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  really desperate. Okay.
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  She was dealing with her child being bullied at school.
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  This is one of the most challenging events in one's life.
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  And how do you deal with this?
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  You don't deal with it by just simply ignoring it or simply sweeping it under the
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  carpet. As a parent, what you need to do is go out there and speak to your teachers,
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  understanding what your child is telling you,
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  why they feel bullied, and you got to use ways to confront this
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  challenge head on. That is one of the most common events that take place in our lives.
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  Your child being bullied at school.
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  Okay. This is it for me for this week.
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  I want to thank you for joining me on my Remarkable World Commentary podcast,
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  and I look forward to talking with you again very soon.
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  Take care and happy April.
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  Podcast Commentary: Donna wants to hear from you and invites you to write to her at DonnaJodhan@gmail.com.
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  Until next time.