Langston University

The Langston University RRTC on Advancing Employment Equity for Multiply Marginalized People with Disabilities (LU2E-RRTC) represents a collaborative research, training, technical assistance (TA) and dissemination project funded by the National Institute on Disability and Independent Living Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) for five years at approximately $933,333.00 per year. The project will generate new knowledge leading to a reduction of disparities in employment outcomes among multiply marginalized people with disabilities. (i.e., Black, Indigenous, and people of color [BIPOC], LGBTQIA+ status, poverty status, rural geography). The LU2E-RRTC will conduct five major studies and related linked activities informed by a National Advocates-In-Residence (AIR) panel inclusive of people with disabilities whose identifies intersect with those from these underserved populations that address the following themes:

1. Conduct a multi-method study to develop a new “Intersectional Framework for Employment Equity among Multiply Marginalized People with Disabilities” that will help guide, monitor and evaluate the LU2E-RRTC’s linked research, research-based training, TA and dissemination activities as well as NIDILRR’s Long-Range Plan diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) efforts across the employment outcome domain;
2. Explore U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey (HPS) (COVID-19) and National Survey on Health and Disability (NHSD) data to provide detailed information about intersectional employment disparities and barriers experienced by multiply marginalized people with disabilities prior to and during COVID-19 pandemic;
3. Test a new innovative proof-of-concept prototype for a “Multiply Marginalized Persons with Disabilities Small Business Incubator Model (M2-PWDI)” that connects In The Beginning Business Incubator and Fund Company- owned by a Black women with a disability, Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City and affiliates, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, Gallaudet University- a disability-serving institution, and minority-serving institutions (e.g., HBCUs, HSIs, TCUs, AANAPISIs), and trains and peer-mentors multiply marginalized entrepreneurs with disabilities (i.e., BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ status, poverty status, and rural geography) to birth small businesses that help create self-employment and close the wealth gap;
4. Conduct a community-driven exploratory study to document how Native American/American Indian (NA/AI) communities define employment solutions for members harmed by the opioid epidemic, identify strategies for implementing solutions, pilot a disability employment solution in at least one location, and create a sustainable Circle of Knowing to promote the research skills of co-researchers with lived experiences of disability in First Nation communities;
5. Conduct an intervention efficacy study of the longitudinal employment outcomes of multiply marginalized youth with disabilities who participated in a career-progression model intervention through a randomized control trial (RCT) to identify individual profiles and service patterns that contribute to occupational stability for this population.

The LU2E-RRTC serves as a national resource center for advancing employment equity for multiply marginalized people with disabilities. Technical Assistance (TA) services will be provided as a part of LU2E-RRTC interventions for research project participants and to requestors around the country. The quality, intensity, and duration of TA will vary by system and the readiness of TA recipients.

National Institute on Disability and Independent Living Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)

LU2E-RRTC Project Team:

• Corey L. Moore, Rh.D., Principal Investigator/Director and Research Director
• Edward O. Manyibe, Ph. D., CRC, LADC Research Associate Professor and Capacity Building Director
• Andre L. Washington, Ph.D., CRC, Research Associate Professor and Technical Assistance Coordinator
• Atashia M. Muhammad, Ph.D., LPC, LPC-S, NCC, Research Assistant Professor and Director of Operations
• James O. Nyamao, M.P.H., Research Associate
• Perry Sanders, Ph.D., CRC, Research Assistant Professor
• Ruben Herron, Ph.D, CRC, LPC, Research Assistant Professor
• Penghua Wang, M.S., Data Scientist
• Nyree Cunningham-Pullen, Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

Collaborating Partners:

Langston University RRTC has convened a highly skilled team of collaborators with expertise that spans the areas of research, capacity building, policy formation, advocacy, and dissemination.

• Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston (ICI)
• Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies (IHDPS) at the University of Kansas
• In The Beginning Business Incubator and Fund Company (ITB)
• Gallaudet University (GU) and Gallaudet Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (GIEI)
• Center for Transition and Career Innovation for Youth with Disabilities (CTCI) at the University of Maryland, College Park
• Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities (RIIC) at the University of Montana
• Kessler Foundation (KF)
• Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire (IoD)
• Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City and Affiliates (UL-OKC)
• Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services (ODRS)
• National Association of Multicultural Rehabilitation Concerns (NAMRC)