Women Enabled International (WEI) was founded in 2012 by Stephanie Ortoleva to address a gap that she could no longer abide between disability rights and women’s rights. Until then, women’s rights agencies, experts, funders and activists overlooked or dismissed disability as ‘not our issue’ – just as disability rights actors and agendas often excluded disabled women’s issues from their purview.

WEI pioneered the application of an intersectional gender and disability framework to international human rights advocacy and has effectively worked to amplify the voices of women and gender nonconforming people with disabilities in spaces where their rights are discussed and where decisions affecting their lives are made.

Over the years, WEI has grown from a one-woman operation engaging in U.N. advocacy, to a dynamic organization with a diverse and talented team of lawyers, advocates, and organizers working from our offices in New York City and Washington DC and in other locations in the U.S., the U.K and Spain, under the guidance of a global governing board.

Our growth has enabled us to broaden our scope and presence, not only increasing and enhancing our advocacy, but deepening relationships with human rights experts, fostering dynamic partnerships with colleague organizations, conducting extensive research and consultation projects, and taking on ambitious initiatives like the global survey and mapping project, the comprehensive accountABILITY Toolkits, and four multi-day regional convenings.