DRA Strategic Plan 2025-2030

For more than 30 years, Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) has successfully wielded the law to bring about equal access to opportunity for people with disabilities. Our transformative legal work has leveled the playing field for millions of Americans seeking access to transportation, education, voting, employment, and more. As we look ahead, our nation and our community are facing unprecedented challenges: an affordable accessible housing crisis, rapidly accelerating technology, broken criminal legal and education systems, increasingly frequent natural disasters, woefully inadequate healthcare, and the list goes on.

This strategic plan positions DRA to continue to fight and win — delivering victories that will continue to protect and grow the civil rights of people with disabilities nationwide as society evolves exponentially. Our strategic plan leverages DRA’s unique expertise, high-impact class-action litigation, to maximize the impact we can make across the country. This strategic plan is designed to ensure that DRA thrives, as the leading national nonprofit legal center defending the rights of people with disabilities, no matter the political or economic backdrop. With each of the goals below, DRA is especially working to broaden the organization’s presence and impact in the Chicago area, given its newer office there, while continuing its work that is national in scope (with an emphasis on its other two hubs in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City).

Goal #1

We will promote and defend access in the public sector — and ensure people with disabilities have equal access to public services including transportation, voting, education, recreation, rehabilitation, and housing.

Objectives for Goal #1

Through impact litigation and monitoring of resulting settlement agreements and court orders, ensure that the following become more accessible for people with disabilities:

  • Public transportation, including sidewalks, pedestrian signals, and mass transit
  • Government services including low-income integrated housing programs, public benefits programs, rehabilitative programs/correctional facilities, court systems,and voting
  • Public education systems (K-12, vocational, and higher education)
  • Employment in the public sector

Goal #2

We will hold private entities accountable — ensuring that entities including health care providers, technology companies, landlords, and employers generally abolish discriminatory policies and practices and enable full participation by people with disabilities.

Objectives for Goal #2

Through impact litigation and monitoring of resulting settlement agreements and court orders, ensure that the following become more accessible for people with disabilities:

  • Private transportation systems, including private ground transportation and air travel and related services
  • Technology, including emerging digital technologies
  • Housing provided by private landlords
  • Healthcare
  • Employment in the private sector
  • Private K-12, vocational and higher education

Goal #3

We will fight for the rights of people with disabilities in communities across the country. We will focus our efforts on communities that are underserved and multiply marginalized, including those who are houseless and/or incarcerated.

Objectives for Goal #3

  • Connect with organizations that can be on-the-ground partners in the communities where DRA is developing and litigating cases consistent with Goals 1 & 2 above.
  • Continue litigating cases on behalf of incarcerated and houseless disabled populations.
  • Connect with underserved populations within the disability community that DRA has not historically connected with, to determine whether DRA’s expertise can assist with challenging barriers. These communities may include: rural communities, Native Americans, itinerant farmworkers, and military personnel/veterans.

Goal #4

We will combat threats to existing laws, regulations and precedents — using our legal expertise to prevent the erosion of hard-won victories earned since Section 504 and the ADA’s passage. We will leverage our experience and our track record not to just maintain civil rights protections, but also to expand them.

Objectives for Goal #4

  • Defend existing laws, regulations and precedents through DRA’s ongoing litigation
  • Coordinate with coalitions to identify — and if appropriate, participate in — mission-aligned activities in which DRA’s expertise could be helpful, such as key U.S. Supreme Court and appellate amicus activity
  • Monitor court dockets for emerging challenges to existing laws, regulations, and precedents and assess whether DRA should act in response to any challenges. If appropriate, respond in alignment with DRA’s mission.

Goal #5

We will grow DRA’s organizational strength and stability — through strategic partnerships, board development, sound financial management and governance, and fundraising. We will ensure that DRA thrives for the next three decades and beyond to continue fighting for the millions of people with disabilities across the country.

Objectives for Goal #5

  • Equip DRA’s staff with the training and tools they need to be successful in their respective roles.
  • Identify and partner with mission-aligned co-counsel who can provide resources and maximize relief for our clients whenever possible.
  • Build DRA’s operating reserve to its target balance so that DRA can continue tackling the big, risky, high impact cases that the disability community wants and needs.
  • Grow DRA’s fundraising to generate at least 40% of the organization’s overall revenue in any given budget year.
  • Develop a plan to grow DRA’s income-generating reserves over time so that the organization can benefit from diversified revenue streams.