GimpGirl Community:

Women With Disabilities Rethinking, Redefining, and Reclaiming

Community

GimpGirl: A Tech Timeline

• Started in 1998 on SerenityMOO, a text-based virtual world

• Had four email lists to start, serving niche subcommunities within the women with disabilities community

• Transitioned to LiveJournal in 2003

• Opened on Second Life, IRC, Facebook and Twitter in 2008

GimpGirl: Our WebsiteMoodle

GimpGirl: Facebook

GimpGirl: Twitter

GimpGirl: Flickr

Second Life

Second Life• Provides opportunity to network with other disability, women and nonprofit groups

• Allows easier collaboration within our community

• We have weekly support group meetings for women with disabilities only

• We have events that are open to the general public for fundraising and discussion or presentation of issues relevant to women with disabilities

• Needed adaptations for further accessibility

Interdependent Models of Access to Virtual Worlds

• Accommodation for individuals as requested

• Architectural access to community space• Look accessible in virtual spaces

• Universal Design for use of community tools • Put forethought into basic accessibility on website, virtual space, and any online tools or physical space used

GimpGirl Staff

Jennifer Cole, Director

• Has worked with disability advocacy groups for 16 years

• Ran an Internet Service Provider covering the state of California for six years

• Started GimpGirl Community in 1998

GimpGirl Staff

Katherine Mancuso, B.A., Community Liaison

• Works at CATEA in Atlanta, Georgia

• Will soon be finishing her master's degree in digital media

• Writes/presents at conferences, does outreach, and backup meeting leader for GimpGirl

GimpGirl Staff

Lucy Macdonald

• Chair/Vice Chair of an access panel in Scotland for 6 years

• Completed Graduate Certificate in Inclusive Environmental Access and Design

• Graphic design, helps with admin tasks, our main contact in Second Life, back up meeting leader for GimpGirl

GimpGirl Staff

Alejandra Ospina, Community Representative

• Has worked with disability advocacy groups in NYC for many years

• Handles community outreach, radio/in-person interviews, and other general PR for GimpGirl; used to be Co-Director

GimpGirl StaffOther regular volunteer staff members include:

• Krishanna Spencer (Director for an art gallery): assists with administrative tasks, backup meeting leader;

• Liz Henry (Web Producer for BlogHer): assists with administrative and technical tasks, presents for GimpGirl at San Francisco events;

• Ricky Buchanan (Head Blogger at ATMac.org): assists with administrative and technical tasks, helps with community involvement planning.

GimpGirl Board

Len Burns, M.A., LMFT

• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 1990; ran Internet Service Provider with Jennifer

• Runs servers, does server software install and upgrades, and is a long-time mentor of GimpGirl Staff

GimpGirl Board

Jason Nolan, B.Ed., Ph.D.

• Assistant professor, School of Early Childhood Education and Communication and Culture graduate program, Ryerson University, and Advisory Board member of the Adaptive Design Association. Dr. Nolan researches social and adaptive technologies for young children.

• Has co-authored journal papers and is a mentor for GimpGirl Staff

Conclusion• We come together to share our lives, in a safe space that centers more on the strengths we have as a collective

• Radically inclusive of all disabilities and a broad definition of "woman"

• Over the years it has developed into a growing and evolving collective dedicated to peer counseling and advocacy with a DIY, sexy, geeky spirit

• Over 1500 members, mostly English-speaking and in a range of different countries