Grace Stratton, co founder All is for All. Image by James Yang.
It’s been a pretty exciting first year for New Zealand social change agency All is for All (AIFA) who launched last March and today they launch a content platform Amplify. The aim of it is to continue to amplify the voice of people with disabilities with the global content production arm has been created in collaboration with Auckland University of Technology.
AUT law student and wheelchair user Grace Stratton and Angela Bevan of communications firm SweeneyVesty co-founded All is for All to focus on disability and accessibility issues and it is an ‘action-driven’ organization that works in two ways. “We help businesses adapt their offering, whatever it may be, to be more accessible to a sizeable audience who are almost always missing from their agendas. And we also look at ways to push the conversation forward in social and traditional media, which means looking at things like advertising, marketing and representation,” say it’s co-founders.
AIFA has recently been engaged in accessibility-focused projects with the New Zealand pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai, the University of Southern California, PledgeMe, Getty Images, Australia’s Legacy Summit and others. The organisation has also been working with New Zealand businesses to understand and improve their own accessibility, such as The Warehouse, Noel Leeming, Suncorp, and RUBY with great success.
“For too long, disabled people have been dismissed, not brought to the table, under the falsity that they are unable to offer anything. It is easier for people in power to believe this than to invest in changing the status quo,” says Grace Stratton. “But during a time in history like no other, as we respond to and repair the impacts of Covid-19, we need accessibility experts, we need diverse thinking to help utilise opportunities for innovation and development.”
The opportunity to move into content creation came through conversations Grace Stratton had with AUT about how best to “give an authentic space to the voice of young, cutting edge disabled people”. The content arm that they have created will be developed by disabled creators including the likes of activist and educator Aych McArdle. Stratton’s goal is to invest in the development of disabled people across the globe, including young activists like Kiringāua Cassidy, who will contribute pieces in Te reo Māori and model/influencer/advocate Rebecca Dubber, whose career has grown exponentially with All is for All’s support.
Amplify will live as an addition to AIFA’s current offering which includes an online store and talent agency, and will support emerging talent and disabled people to develop and produce long form written work, blogs, and other multi-media assets. Grace intends for Amplify to tackle complex topics of contemporary relevance to disabled people – who are often overlooked when it comes to shaping worldly decisions.
While some are choosing to pull back on their businesses activities at this time, Grace was determined to go ahead with the planned launch of Amplify. “Covid-19 has had, and will have, a devastating effect on the disability community. Disabled people are being made more vulnerable, their fear is palpable. Now is not the time to neglect the opportunity to help give their voices some room, in fact it is even more important to elevate them. So we have chosen to go ahead.”
Activist and educator Aych McArdle. Image supplied.