We are powerful, visible, and unapologetically here. And we won’t stop until access is as natural as disability itself.
DISABLED-LED. COMMUNITY-FUNDED.
Who We Are
Yes! Access is a convenor bringing together disability advocates, educators, innovators, and storytellers to increase access and inclusion. It is a people-first, disability-led movement stewarded by co-leaders Meg O’Connell and Tara Cunningham. More than 80 percent of our volunteer team identifies as disabled, neurodivergent, or chronically ill. We come from every state, discipline, and lived experience—but we share one conviction: disabled lives matter.
Our Mission
To build access to safety, clarity, and dignity — for every disabled person — when it matters most.
What We’re Doing
We are rapidly developing disability-first, digitally accessible preparedness resources for disabled people facing immigration enforcement — and for the families, educators, advocates, and organizations supporting them.
Like disaster preparedness, we are helping people with disabilities understand what to expect, make a plan, and know their rights — before an encounter happens. These materials are plain language, visual, multilingual, and trauma-informed. They are free. They will always be free.
We are also running free, accessible webinars — American Sign Language (ASL) and Lengua de Señas Mexicana (LSM) interpreted, captioned, and secure — for anyone who needs them.
This is harm prevention. This is what access looks like in 2026.
Our Values
OUR HISTORY
We Are Powerful. Visible. And Unapologetically Here.
Yes! Access began as a place where people with disabilities could share their lived experiences, tag it with #YesAccess, and build a community too big to ignore. With roots in disability justice ideas such as intersectionality, leadership by those most impacted, interdependence, and recognition of wholeness, we sought to elevate the power of collective solutions, educate around our inherent worth, and build solidarity.
The mission has not changed. Our values have not changed.
But the world has.
Where We Started
Yes! Access was founded on a simple, powerful truth: when disabled people tell their stories together, culture moves. We built a movement around that truth — amplifying voices, equipping advocates, and connecting communities across every state and diagnosis.
We came together because we knew that visibility creates change. We still believe that.
How We Have Evolved to Meet the Moment
In 2026, we could no longer look away from what was happening to some of the most marginalized members of our community.
Disabled people are being detained, separated from caregivers, and denied access to healthcare, medication, assistive devices, and communication supports during immigration enforcement actions. Nearly one-third of direct care workers are immigrants, meaning enforcement actions are also destabilizing the essential care networks that many people with disabilities rely on every day.
These are not isolated failures — they reflect systems that were never designed with disabled people in mind.
We asked ourselves: if not us, who?
Yes! Access is disability-led. We work across disability rights, immigration, legal, and community networks. We know how systems fail people with disabilities — and how to design around those failures. We are not a legal organization or an immigration organization. We are an access organization. And right now, access means survival.
So we pivoted. Not away from our mission — deeper into it.
Powered by Volunteers
Tara Cunningham
Co-Founder Yes! Access.
Meg O’Connell
Co-Founder Yes! Access.
Aideen Byrne
Yes! Access LEGAL Chair
Aideen Byrne is a leading expert in public international law, a prominent women’s human rights defender, and the Legal Chair of Yes! Access. Her work combines multiple disciplines, focusing on the intersection of atrocity prevention, Indigenous rights, environmental & climate justice, and disability.
Born and raised in Ireland, Aideen now lives in the US. She has worked in various countries around the world, using her expertise to support marginalized communities with creative, trauma-informed lawyering and rigorous research. Through her international network of human rights defenders, lawyers, activists, and academics, Aideen engages in strategic litigation, advocacy, and community-building with an approach grounded in an intersectional lens, with a deep understanding of the compound harms faced by marginalized groups, including those related to race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.
Angelina Hanson
Yes! Access OPERATIONS & ProGRAM Management Chair
Angelina Hanson is an unapologetic autistic and ADHD leader and Operations & Program Management Chair of Yes! Access. With over five years in disability and neuroinclusion advocacy and 20+ years of business leadership, she combines visionary strategy with grassroots organizing to mobilize communities and drive systemic change.
Her work centers disabled voices, challenges the status quo, and builds momentum for a future where access is a right—not a request.
CAIT RUSSELL
Yes! Access Coalition Team Co-Chair
Cait Russell is an occupational therapist and business leader working at the intersection of disability, innovation, and workforce inclusion. She brings clinical expertise and strategic insight to efforts that scale solutions for equitable access to employment and opportunity.
With experience spanning startups, systems change, and cross-sector collaboration, she turns bold ideas into practical impact.
Drew McKay
Yes! Access Communication Team Chair
Drew McKay is a communications strategist and digital project manager with almost two decades of experience working at the intersection of storytelling, social impact, and systems change for people with disabilities. With an MBA, a certificate of Digital Project Management, and a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, she brings creative vision, operational discipline, and personal passion to disability justice work.
Drew has led marketing and public relations strategies and supported grassroots movements that have made measurable change for government, non-profits, and global mission-driven organizations. Her passion lies in elevating and empowering marginalized communities; developing a strong foundation for success through structure, planning, and processes; and using narrative to shift understanding, build connections, and create a more inclusive world.
Jennifer Tennican
Yes! Access Communication Team Co-Chair
Jennifer began her documentary career in the late 1990s working on NOVA science programs for WGBH with independent producers in the Boston area. Since moving to Wyoming in 2002, she has focused on local stories. Her films explore identity, inclusion and community, and although they are rooted in Jackson Hole, they resonate far beyond the mountain west.
Jennifer’s award-winning work, including Hearts of Glass, The Stagecoach Bar: An American Crossroads and Far Afield: A Conservation Love Story, has been featured in numerous film festivals and seen on PBS. Currently, Hearts of Glass is the centerpiece of an impact campaign to improve employment and inclusion outcomes for people with disabilities.
Kevin Nuñez
Yes! Access Coalition Team Chair
Kevin Nuñez is a dedicated disability rights activist serving as the Coalition Chair for Yes! Access. A previous Vice Chair of the New Jersey Council on Development Disabilities, Kevin is also an author and podcaster offering ways to improve disability awareness and activism. He has a rich experience of advocacy in the disability community.
Kevin has sought to respond to our profoundly changing world and learned from others how to be the best self-advocate he can be. He also still has the ever-present desire to build coalitions with others to make the world better for people with disabilities.
Become A Part Of This Work
This movement only grows if people step up.