In June of 2025, Jessica Winchester, Employment First Program Manager, and Rosa Rojas Franco, Native Initiatives Project Coordinator, travelled to Washington DC for the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE) Employment First, Employment for All conference. As part of the conference activities, APSE coordinated a Day on the Hill so that Employment First champions could meet with members of Congress to tell them about Employment First.

The Sonoran Center is proud to once again welcome participants in the Professional Fellows Program on Inclusive Civic Engagement. This year, Mai Nambooze from Uganda and Kelvin Mkude from Tanzania will be participating in the program.

On Wednesday, July 30, the Sonoran Center hosted “Our Parenting Journeys”, a panel of parents to discuss the intersection of disability and parenting; its challenges, its rewards, and the experiences of both children and parents with disabilities. The panel - Jacqueline Cuevas, Jason Snead, Ashleigh Moon, Mark Taylor, and moderator Sharon Malone - represented a diverse cross-section of the disability parenting community.

The 16th semi-annual CHARGE Syndrome Foundation Conference took place from June 24 through June 27, 2025 in Phoenix. Representing the Sonoran Center, ArtWorks director Dr. Yumi Shirai and Community Advisory Council Co-chair Pavleena “Paavi” Madhivanan facilitated a version of ArtWorks’ Person-Centered Scrapbook Making Workshop, Creative Cafe. This workshop was designed to help people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities communicate their wants, needs, and inner lives.

As someone who has studied public health as an undergraduate student, the issue of maternal and postpartum health was familiar to me and close to my heart. Before starting my internship at the Sonoran Center, however, I had never talked about the issues in pregnancy and parenting regarding disabled parents, and the unique challenges being a parent with a disability can bring. I thought this project was a wonderful way to tie in a subject that I already knew about and what I was learning about the disability community and how best to serve its members through my internship. 

On June 14, 2025, the African American Conference on Disabilities (AACD), took place at Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix. Hosted by Disability Rights Arizona, the conference explores opportunities for self-advocacy to ensure the upholding of civil rights and the effective provision of services and resources in the African American and disability communities.

The AIDD2Health project team—an inclusive group of self and family advocates, researchers, and professionals—works to promote the inclusion of people with IDD in health research. At the annual conference of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), Sonoran Center staff, faculty, and students participated in four presentations

Whether it’s yoga classes, running clubs, or rock climbing groups, group activities are a great way to get active, stay healthy, and even make new friends. This summer, a program at ArtWorks called HealthMatters provided a safe, accessible space for people with developmental disabilities to learn about staying healthy and to apply what they learn in a supportive environment.

The Sonoran Center’s Summer Work Program just wrapped up its fourth year. 2025 saw the program continue to expand, with 200 student participants and 60 employer partners.

People with disabilities deserve to have the same opportunities to grow their families and receive compassionate healthcare. However, many individuals with IDD face barriers when it comes to understanding information about pregnancy, parenting, or recovering from trauma. This internship has shown me how powerful accessible information can be.