Black Disabled Creatives has been nominated for Best Activism Website in the 25th Annual Webby Awards alongside other leading organizations including Amnesty International and the NAACP.
Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet. IADAS, which nominates and selects The Webby Award Winners, is comprised of Internet industry experts including Mitchell Baker; MOMA Senior Curator Paola Antonelli; Host of NPR’s Code Switch Shereen Marisol Meraji; R/GA Global Chief Creative Officer Tiffany Rolfe; Co-Inventor of the Internet Vint Cerf; DJ and Founder, Club Quarantine D-Nice; Co-host Desus & Mero on Showtime Desus Nice; SVP of Content at Twitch Michael Aragon; Twitter Senior Director, Product Design Richard Ting; and Founders of VERZUZ Swizz Beatz and Timbaland.
“Nominees like Black Disabled Creatives are setting the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said Claire Graves, Executive Director of The Webby Awards. “It is an incredible achievement to be selected among the best from the 13,500 entries we received this year.”
Black Disabled Creatives, co-founded by Daniel Haim and Jillian Mercado along with the support of contributors, Diana Ghivnici, Sam Chaplin and Emily Mercado, is an online initiative helping to raise awareness of black talents in the disabled community that are underrepresented.
Launched last year, the platform has become a rallying call for underrepresented creatives in a variety of fields including film and entertainment, design, fashion, performance, visual arts and marketing among others.
Speaking about the platform’s nomination today, co-founder Daniel Haim said, “We wanted to develop a unique platform that could not only raise awareness of underrepresented disabled talent, but also create an accessible space open to anyone to showcase their talent. We’re grateful to have been nominated for this year’s prestigious award and want to thank everyone that has participated in making this project happen.”
Black Disabled Creatives, developed by Haim’s digital agency Stellur and spearheaded by disabled activist Jillian Mercado, aims to encourage companies to diversify their workforce and seek out exceptional disabled talents within the black community that have not had the same opportunities as others.
Over the past year, the platform has received several thousand applications, with featured creatives having received offers of work thanks to the awareness it has raised among companies around the world.
