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my name is haben girma. i work as a skadden fellowat disability rights advocates. in other words, i'm a lawyer. what's a lawyer? well, there are many stereotypes, negative stereotypes of lawyers: people who never give youa straight answer; people who just want your money; people who aren't even people,they're sharks.

these images are so stronglyimbedded in our culture that people tell me, half-joking, "i don't like lawyers." when people think of lawyers, they really thinkof just one type of lawyer. think about it, imagine, when you envision a lawyer, what do you see? do you see a woman?

is that the first thingthat comes to mind? how about someone using a wheelchair? do you see someonewho is deaf and signing? or even, do you see someone who's nice? there are many types of lawyers, and public service lawyersare changing what it means to be a lawyer. these are people who work and advocatefor communities they love. for some of these lawyers, personal experiences fuel the desireto put an end to widespread injustice.

people who experience challenges sometimes develop strengthsthat make them great advocates. lawyers take experiencesof poverty, race, gender, disability, or other forms of discrimination, and use that knowledgeas a ladder for legal advocacy. for me, a lifetimeof needing to advocate for myself - prepared me for the field of law. my disability is deafblindness. helen keller paved a path of possibilities

for deaf-blind children and adultswho came after her. these individuals need to moveforward as pioneers, in a world designed for peoplewho can see and hear. many members of minority groupsmove forward as pioneers. the process of pioneeringone's way through obstacles builds strong self-advocacy skillsthat can be used in the field of lawor other forms of advocacy. as a pioneer, i wentto the perfect college: lewis & clark. they call their football teamthe pioneers.

their favorite place to hang outin downtown portland? pioneer square. what else? oh, and they call their school busthe pioneer express. as a pioneer, i lived for two yearsin the dorms at lewis & clark, and i ate at the cafeteria. the cafeteria hadabout 5 different food stations, and there was a menu at the door, and people would read the menuand choose what they wanted to eat. blind students like myselfcouldn't read the menu.

the staff at the cafeteriaoffered to read me the menu, but i couldn't hear it. as a blind student, my first choicewould be to read the menu in braille. braille takes time to produce,so we compromised. the staff agreed to email me the menuat the start of each meal, and i would be able to read iton my computer using a screenreader. it was a great idea, but the cafeteria constantlyforgot to email the menus. since i couldn't read the menu,

and i couldn't hear the staffin the cafeteria, i couldn't choose what i was going to eat. so after classes,i would pick a station at random, i would go up and take whatever was servedby the staff behind the counter, i would take it to the table, and only then would i realizewhat i was going to eat. there were some unhappy surprises. (laughter) as a busy student with classes

and preparing for examsand writing papers, the last thing i neededwas this added frustration. but sometimes they did rememberto send the menus, and when they did,i was thrilled to have choices. for example, if the menu said, "station 3, tortelliniwith smoked gouda cheese," i would know to skip stations 1 and 2and go straight to station 3. when they remembered to sendthe menus, life was delicious. but they regularly forgotto send the menus.

for the first few months,i didn't do anything about it. i live and operate in a world that's designed for peoplewho can see and hear, and i figured this would just beanother thing i would have to deal with, like not being able to drive, or not being able to watchthe latest grammies, or people not knowing how to communicatewith someone who is deaf-blind. one of my best friends,when she first met me, didn't know how to talkto someone who's deaf-blind.

in our international law class at harvard, she was assigned to sit next to me, and we all had assigned seating. and, she thought she could wave,but what if i didn't see it, and if she speaks,would i be able to hear it? so, she did the most logical thingfor a student to do, she went onto facebook, and sent me a message saying, "hi, haben,i'm sitting right next to you!"

i'm happy to teach peoplehow to communicate. i love those who embrace diversity. there's all kinds of diversity. occasionally, there are individualsor organizations who are not willing to make accommodationsfor people with disabilities. and there's that decision, do you just deal and let it go,or do you do something about it? and those menus, at that cafeteria, was a pivotal moment for mewhen i decided i should do something,

for myself, and for future blind studentswho came to that college, or anyone else who neededmenus in alternative formats. so i explained to the managerat the cafeteria that i paid to eat at the cafeteriaand like all the other students, i deserved access to the menus so i could take advantageof these services. the manager told me, they're very busy,he's doing me a big favor, and i needed to stop complainingand be more appreciative. i don't know about you,

but if there's chocolate cake at station 4and no one tells me, i'm not feeling appreciative.(laughter) so, after several incidencesof missed chocolate cake, i had enough, i tried something new. the americans with disabilities act, ada,was passed in 1990. congress passed this law to protectthe rights of people with disabilities. the law symbolizes a change from treating peopleas second class citizens. the ada statesthat businesses like the cafeteria

are required to makereasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. emailing a menuis a reasonable accommodation. i told the manager that if hewould not send emails consistently, i would sue. to tell you the truth,i had no idea how i would do that. i was 19, how would i afford a lawyer? i was nervous that lawyers and judgeswouldn't understand. besides, it's just a menu, right?

lewis & clark did an excellent jobof giving me my course materials, my textbooks, my exams in braille. students all across the country -blind students in other colleges, struggle to get basic accessto books, even today. so who was i to complain? my mother grew up in eritrea,amidst a 30-year war with ethiopia. when she was 18, she trekked for two weeksfrom eritrea to sudan, then from sudan,through a refugee organization, made it to america for a better life.

i was worried that someone would thinkthat access to a menu was too trivial, that it was a privilege, and not a right. but at the same time, i was also excited about the possibilityof making the college a better place, even if it was just one otherblind student that came after me. i had a vision, of helping other people, i had a vision, of joiningthe civil rights movement, maybe even becoming a lawyer. i had a vision,of eating that chocolate cake.

after teaching the cafeteria staffabout the ada, everything changed. they agreed to providemenus consistently, and they did. learning about the adachanged their attitude. they originally thoughtthat providing access for students with disabilitieswas a favor, something they could doin their free time, when they were in the right mood. learning about the adachanged the culture in the cafeteria. the ada creates legal obligationsto treat people as equals.

schools nowadaysadmit students with disabilities, and that's great. access goes beyond the schoolhouse gate. we need access to online learning tools,to math and science courses, to study-abroad programs,and yes, even dessert menus. my experiences as a pioneerinspired me to become a lawyer. i now work in berkeley, at disability rights advocates,a national nonprofit organization. one stereotype of lawyer is thatthey're just after your money.

dra does not charge clients. civil rights need to be accessible. one tool used by lawyers,including at dra, is the class action litigation. class actions are whena group of people come together to sue someone who's doingsomething wrong. it's a way to help improve accessto important things like education, or employment,and healthcare, at a national level. a few years ago,several students at uc berkeley

came to dra with concerns. students with print reading disabilities need access to course materialsin alternative formats. like braille, large print, audio, digital. the university was taking so longto provide these materials, that students were at riskof failing their courses. through the help of lawyers at dra, students were able to reach an agreementwith the university. the university now has new policies

that are turning berkeleyinto a model for other schools. lawyers first and foremosteducate their communities. i know that if people learn how to help,they will. so if you're a programmer,a web engineer, learn aboutthe web accessibility guidelines. if you're an architect, learn about the ada guidelinesfor new constructions. we can choose to makeour communities accessible. it's in our power to provideaccess for everyone.

those individuals who've had to moveforward as pioneers are particularly well-positionedto help their communities, whether as lawyers,or as other advocates. my name is haben girma, and i hope i've given youa new vision of lawyers. thank you. (applause)