Now: What Keeps Us Going

When you work for change that takes years - sometimes decades - what keeps you going?

We asked Tennessee’s disability leaders what motivates them when the work feels hard. Their answers reveal the deep commitment that has powered 50 years of progress.

Finding Strength in Community

For many leaders, it’s the people around them who provide motivation during difficult times. Lisa Primm, who led Disability Rights Tennessee for 12 years, finds hope in the disability community itself: “The force of good is rising right now and so I believe that this community will persevere.”

She reminds us that progress has never been easy: “During the civil rights movement, people didn’t just give up. During the time when they created the Americans with Disabilities Act, people didn’t just give up. And there has always been a force of good.”

Anna Bass, who now leads Disability Rights Tennessee, draws strength from the people she works with: “I have some really good mentors. And honestly, a lot of the self-advocates that I work with - they motivate me. Just looking at them and my colleagues motivates me. I have some really amazing colleagues. If I can sit with them for a few minutes, I’m recharged.”

Elise McMillan, former Co-director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, hits a similar note. “When work feels hard, I think about the many friends I have with disabilities and their determination and hard work in so many areas. They rarely give up, and that makes it absolutely necessary to continue our work.”

Pablo Juárez, current Co-director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s UCEDD and TRIAD, is also inspired by the people he works with daily: “The folks that work here at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center are extremely dedicated to all of this work. They feel passionate about it and it’s hard not to feel passionate about these things when I’m surrounded by it.”

He adds: “At the end of the day, the people we’re serving need us to do this work and they need us to work with partners across the state in this work. It really keeps me going to be able to go out in communities across the state and meet people, hear what they need, hear what they want, and figure out how to make those things happen.”

Carrying Forward a Legacy

Edward Mitchell, Executive Director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Tennessee, finds motivation by thinking about those who came before him: “If I can see these individuals putting hard work in, the legacy they left behind, it is only right that I carry the torch, as well.”

He reflects on the example set by his mentors, like Dr. Wesley McClure, who made Lane College accessible for him: “Seeing how tirelessly he worked at different institutions, but his love for Jackson, TN as well as Lane College, making sure that the HBCU was always recognized and was always a serious competitor on the education front.”

Edward also draws inspiration from his fraternity’s founders: “I think of the founders of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, which is the oldest intercollegiate historical African American fraternity that was founded on the steps of Cornell University. I have to take their models, their philosophies. When I think I have it hard, they had it even harder.”

Keeping the Faith

For Lauren Pearcy, Executive Director of the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, motivation comes from maintaining faith in people: “I have to believe that everyone is doing their best... I might think I know what someone’s deal is. You know they’re evil. Or they’re selfish. Or whatever it is. But if I can stay with the humility that I really don’t know what’s going on with that person, and I really am just going to believe—sometimes takes a lot of just having that blind faith.”

Remembering the Stakes

Carol Westlake, founding Executive Director of the Tennessee Disability Coalition, stays motivated by thinking about those she serves: “My co-workers and the many self-advocates and families I have the privilege to work with every day. Most people, and especially in the disability community, do not have the option to quit because things are hard. They cannot quit, and neither can I.”

Alicia Cone, Director of Program Operations for the Council, remembers the stakes: “After 35 plus years doing this work, from the perspective of direct support professional to manager, I finally realize that I am part of a dedicated bulwark to stop the system from regressing back to the old ways of isolation, separation, segregation, exclusion, and institutionalization.”

She adds: “Progress does not stand without constant vigilance, tending to, and when necessary, defense.”

Taking It One Step at a Time

When the big picture feels overwhelming, many leaders focus on what’s right in front of them.

Anna Bass shares: “I believe that we are on an arc of forward movement. And my job is to make the movement that I can in the space I’m in. I don’t have to fix the whole thing. I just have to fix what’s in front of me. When the whole thing gets overwhelming, I can bring myself back to my part.”

Kevin Wright, Assistant Commissioner for Vocational Rehabilitation, emphasizes possibility: “Focus on what is possible, not the perception of what is not.”

These leaders remind us that change is a long game. By drawing strength from community, honoring those who came before, keeping faith in the fellow humans along the way, remembering the stakes, and taking things one step at a time, they’ve created lasting change for Tennesseans with disabilities - and they’re not done yet.