Welcome to Lights! Camera! Access! (LCA),
LCA was first launched as a Sector Summit by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Office (ODEP) and was hosted as a one-day Summit by the Diversity Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA20). Everyone was welcomed by DOL former Secretary Hilda Solis and Assistant Secretary Kathy Martinez.
Since that LCA launch, and until COVID hit, LCA was convened in major media markets and hosted by:
Hollywood: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, CBS, and The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Justice and Innovation/Loyola Marymount
Check out the video to LCA at CBS/Television Academy Taking Action
Washington, DC: The White House and Gallaudet University
New York: BBDO Worldwide, NBC, and ReelAbilities Film Festival
Check out the video to LCA at BBDO in this TV Guide
Silicon Valley: Computer History Museum
Chicago: Chicago Mayor’s Office for Persons with Disabilities and Chicago Film Office; Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
San Diego: Options for All and San Diego State University’s Interwork Institute
Since the pandemic, LCA has pivoted to a six-month, online Career Exploration/Career Incubator Academy.
If you, or someone you know is interested in exploring and developing a career in media – Happy to announce, applications are now open for the July-December 2024 six-month cohort. The application deadline for LCA is Monday, June 17th, 2024, at 9 pm ET. Click here to apply for LCA July-December 2024 Cohort
In honor of ADA30, Tari Hartman Squire and Danny Woodburn created ADA Lead On Productions, to honor the legacy of the ADA and to create online variety shows featuring established and emerging talent with disabilities, many of whom are LCA alumni. Tari and Danny are considered pioneers in paving the intersection of disability and media and are featured in this Forbes article.
So far, ADA Lead On Productions has won the 2021 Audience Honors Shorty Award.
and the 2022 Gold Anthem Award in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
For more information, check out ADA Lead On Productions - https://leadonada.org/ or write to us at ADAleadonproductions@gmail.com
LCA was built on the success of the Media Access Office, the groundbreaking original liaison between the disability community and the entertainment industry. Tari Hartman Squire (Founding Executive Director of Media Access) and Loreen Arbus (Founding Producer of the Media Access Awards with Norman Lear and Fern Field) founded Lights! Camera! Access (LCA). Here is their announcement at the Clinton Global Initiative on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyH1m-F8gAo
Thanks for visiting our LCA website…..Lead On!