Empowering the Disability Community since 1979
A Day of Connection, Advocacy & Celebration
On March 28th, 2025, we brought together women with disabilities, aging women, mothers of individuals with disabilities, caregivers, educators, advocates, and allies for a powerful day of connection and community. Attendees enjoyed engaging speakers, explored valuable resources, and took part in a space that honored their unique journeys. It was a day filled with shared experiences, meaningful conversations, and collective empowerment.
Find Event Recap Below
About the Event
Friday. March 28, 2025
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
555 N Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754
This is a FREE event. Registration includes lunch and parking validation.
Summit Agenda
9:00 AM
Welcome
9:15 AM - 10:00 AM
Community Organizations Showcase
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Resource Fair & Networking Mixer
11:00 - 12:00 PM
Keynote Speaker: Tiffany Yu
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Lunch
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Guest Speaker: Katie Bindrup
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Dream It, Do It Vision Board Activity
Meet the Speakers
Tiffany Yu
Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, a 3x TEDx speaker, and the author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World. She started her career at Goldman Sachs before becoming a speaker and writer on disability. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father.
Katie Bindrup, Esq.
Katie Bindrup, Esq. is the founder of Adjurcation, an advocacy program geared towards parents and educators who want to use federal law to further their advocacy for special education children. By utilizing current cases decided by courts nationwide, hot topic issues, practical solutions, and collaboration, Katie urges parents and educators to stand up for themselves and their children in enforcing the law in public education. Katie is married to her husband, David, has five children, and resides in Henderson, Nevada, where she practices estate planning law when she's not advocating.
A Powerful Beginning
As a way to celebrate Women's History Month, we hosted our first Women's Empowerment Summit in 2023, where we provided a safe space to organize our community as well as to discuss the barriers that continue to disproportionately impact women's equal opportunities in government, healthcare, and education; Women led all panelists to unite and unify.
2025 Event Recap
On March 28, 2025, the 3rd Annual Women's Empowerment Summit welcomed a vibrant and diverse group of attendees, including women with disabilities, aging women, caregivers, mothers, educators, and passionate advocates. Held at the Courtyard by Marriott in Monterey Park, the summit brought together a dynamic community to celebrate empowerment and connection.
Community Organization Showcase
The event kicked off with a Community Organization Showcase, where eight vendors took the stage to introduce themselves, share their mission, and explain the importance of their work in supporting and uplifting the community. This session set the tone for the collaborative and resource-driven nature of the event.
Vendors in Attendance:
FRALEX Care ILS and MDN family services
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (Not in Attendance)
San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center
If you want specific information about each vendor, call (562) 386-5402 or email kumanzor@crs-il.org.
Network & Resource Fair
Following the showcase, attendees had the chance to mingle and connect at the Network and Resource Fair. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with various booths, gather information, and network with fellow attendees, creating lasting connections and building community.
Keynote Speaker: Tiffany Yu:
Next, we were excited to welcome Tiffany Yu to the stage. Tiffany’s talk was not only inspiring but also highly interactive. She shared her personal journey of overcoming the shame associated with her disability. In 2009, while studying at Georgetown University, Tiffany founded Diversability, a social enterprise with a mission to change the stigma surrounding disabilities and create a supportive community.
Tiffany’s message resonated deeply with everyone in the room as she shared a pivotal moment when she learned to embrace her disability as part of her identity. She told the audience, “When you're sharing your story, it's yours. You can't mess it up.” Tiffany also shared a moving post of advice she would give to her younger self—encouraging women to use their voice, love themselves, and enjoy the journey every step of the way. This powerful message earned Tiffany a standing ovation, leaving a lasting impact on all in attendance.
Guest Speaker: Katie Bindrup
Following Tiffany, we welcomed Katie Bindrup, an attorney and dedicated mother from Nevada. Katie’s journey as a mother of a child in the special education system has been filled with frustration and determination. She shared the challenges she faced in navigating the education system, recounting the countless nights spent searching for resources to help her daughter reach her full potential.Katie discussed the emotional struggle of attending IEP meetings, where it often felt like the school district was one step ahead, leaving her daughter behind. However, Katie’s persistence paid off, and now her daughter is succeeding. Today, Katie uses her experience to empower parents and caretakers through her company, Adjudication. Her mission is to equip individuals with the tools and knowledge they need to advocate for children who may not have the ability to advocate for themselves but deserve every opportunity to thrive.
Thank you for being a part of the 3rd Annual Women’s Empowerment Summit.
Whether you were an attendee, speaker, vendor, volunteer, or supporter—you helped create a powerful space of connection, courage, and community.
Thank you for helping us make this day unforgettable.
With gratitude,
The Women’s Empowerment Summit Team
"All the panelists had something important to say and I learned from their lived experience having a disability or working with people who have disabilities."
"Thank you for such an a wonderful event. I found it productive to speak with the women who visited our booth about peer self-advocacy. The reception and hospitability was very heartwarming. The vendors shared lots of good information and resources."
"My key takeaways from this event is: That no one has the right to discriminate just because you are a disabled person, and women have power and no one can make us feel hopeless."
