Before joining the Council for Persons with Disabilities (CPD) full-time, Mikayla Smith picked up the phone more than 600 times during her student placement with the organization. Every call meant speaking to a stranger, making a pitch and having a chance to change someone's mind.
Today, Mikayla helps keep CPD running behind the scenes as an Admin / Funding Researcher. Her work is mainly administrative: monitoring emails, completing paperwork and keeping track of board meeting minutes. She also supports CPD’s Event Coordinator by reaching out to sponsors, completing city paperwork and coordinating with the insurance provider, particularly for Capable Con, a family-friendly event that connects people of all abilities.
More than 600 phone calls later, Mikayla Smith is still finding ways to make a difference at CPD, one connection at a time. (Photo courtesy of Mikayla Smith)
A cause that’s personal
Supporting people with disabilities has always mattered deeply to Mikayla. Her older sister has a degenerative condition, and Mikayla describes herself as half blind. When she joined CPD as a student on placement, she saw firsthand how creatively the organization raises awareness about living with a disability in Peterborough.
“Everyone is capable. Society is what’s disabling,” she says.
Her main task during the placement was to find organizations willing to take part in Time in My Shoes. That meant cold-calling and pitching the program again and again. Over the summer, she built a spreadsheet of organizations she thought might be interested, then called more than 600 of them across the community.
When the summer ended, she started grad school but stayed in touch with CPD. Around Christmastime, she heard about a job opening and has worked there ever since.
Creative ways to change minds
What Mikayla loves most about CPD is how it connects with the community in creative and innovative ways.
Time in My Shoes, which runs in schools and businesses, helps people better understand the lived experience of disability through in-depth conversations and puzzles that highlight real-life barriers. What makes the program unique, she says, is that it is led by staff and volunteers with lived experience of disability.
Then there’s the Capable Crew, a superhero team whose members each have a different disability. Together, they help explain the realities and barriers people face while showing that having a disability doesn't limit what someone is capable of achieving.
Listening and a positive mindset
Mikayla describes herself as passionate and positive. She believes passion motivates people to give their all to reach their goals, while a positive mindset can lift an entire workplace.
To her, an inclusive and supportive workplace is one that listens. Everyone brings different ideas and perspectives, and people usually know what they need to overcome barriers. It isn’t about interfering, assuming you know what’s best or denying support. Listening to what people need, she says, makes everything run more smoothly.
When asked what accommodations have made a difference for her, she answers with a smile: “Not really. I just wear my glasses and try my best not to bump into things.”
Being taken seriously
Mikayla is also honest about the challenges she faces. Because of her lack of depth perception, she can be clumsy, sometimes bumping into things or missing when she reaches for something.
“People can mistake clumsiness for ditziness or just not take you seriously,” she says.
Her advice for anyone with a disability who is looking for work is to never underestimate yourself. And if someone else underestimates you, try not to let it get to you.
“I know I work hard and that is all that really matters to me,” she says.
What she wants people to know
Mikayla’s message to employers: some people need different supports, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make valuable contributions.
She also points to something that can be easily overlooked. Finding creative ways to work around barriers can lead to innovation, something that benefits any workplace.
For Mikayla, meaningful employment means doing your best to make a difference, even in the smallest way. Sometimes, she says, simply showing up with the right mindset can have the biggest impact.
It’s an outlook that has stayed with her since those first 600 phone calls. What began as a student placement has become an opportunity to keep connecting with her community and supporting a cause that has always been close to her heart.
Mikayla’s story is the fourth and final story of At Work. In Their Own Words, a four-part series from the Council for Persons with Disabilities sharing local perspectives on work and inclusion during National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October.