Goat Notes #2 : Powerchair right-to-repair; board update
Welcome to the newsletter for Grassroots Open Assistive Tech!
This second issue of GOAT Notes has some updates on the GOAT Board of Directors and staff, and an event announcement.
Cyborg-hood is Powerful,
Liz, GOAT director - liz@openassistivetech.org
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Friends of GOAT
The DONetwork is hosting a free online event TOMORROW December 12, at 2pm Pacific, for information and discussion of California’s new Right-to-Repair laws and how they pertain to power wheelchairs.
I couldn’t find a current webpage for DONetwork, so I posted all the information about the event on the GOAT blog: https://www.openassistivetech.org/free-webinar-power-wheelchairs-and-right-to-repair-law-in-california/
Times change and so do languages, but I can’t bring myself to say the word “webinar” without a shudder. It makes sense, I have to accept it, but, it feels icky in my mouth! Webinar, webinar, webinar. EW!!!!! However, I am really looking forward to this discussion and hope to connect more with the DONetwork folks soon!
With my non-GOAT hat on, I have been working with Borealis Philanthropy as Program Manager for the DIFxTech fund, and we announced the new grant recipients for 2025-2026 this week! Several of the DIFxTech organizations receiving grants do work that intersects with GOAT’s mission - like Spokeland/Criptastic Hacker, Make Good in Louisiana, and AImpower. It’s going to be great working with everyone in this new cohort and I can’t wait!
GOAT Activities
We are setting up interviews with disabled creators, inventors, makers, implementors, and others, to post on the GOAT blog. Look for a regular series of interviews, to start in December and run through 2025! Coming up soon: interviews with folks from the MIF, TechOWL’s CreATe Together, Spokeland, and Berkeley’s Disability Lab (aka the Rad Mad Lab).
New GOATs on the team
We held our Board of Directors meeting this week at the Rad Mad Lab on Berkeley campus. Ah, the familiar smell of a hackerspace - 3D printers and laser cutters - a faint tinge of machine oil and solder - And herbal tea!
We are still devastated by the loss of Mel Chua, founding board member and secretary of the organization, from our lives and from GOAT. Raise a glass for Mel. <3
I am happy to report that we do have new folks joining and helping in all aspects of our work!
Olga Prilepova joins GOAT as acting Secretary for the organization, and to lend her incredible brainy knowledge from years of being a software engineer focused on accessibility, to our little crew. We are so happy to have her!
Gloria Kunder, Associate Director of the UC Berkeley Critical Disability Lab, joins us. We are excited to work with her and to meet her undergraduate research apprentices! She described an amazing project to me for sex education for blind and low vision people, involving 3-D printed, open sourced, models which can be used for making silicone vulvas for tactile education. How cool is that!?
Veronica S., a librarian helping with her expertise in archiving, metadata, and cataloguing, is also going to have a look at our boxes of materials donated by Alexandra Enders.
And, Vince Lopez is also continuing to work with us to plan more joint events with GOAT and ILRCSF in 2025!
What we do
Grassroots Open Assistive Tech’s purpose is to document, curate, preserve, make accessible, and freely share assistive technology designs and information under open licenses, as well as providing coordination and education to affiliated communities.
We will support disabled people in making their designs and builds available for public good, and in having free to use designs available to them for their own use.
Please donate!
GOAT is a 501(c)(3) organization and your donations are tax deductible. EIN: 93-3313503. We are also registered with Benevity for employer-matched donations!
You can donate via PayPal or via check.
PayPal donation email: liz@openassistivetech.org.
To avoid our paying transaction fees, you can send a physical check made out to Grassroots Open Assistive Tech, to GOAT, PO Box 720011, San Francisco, CA 94172.
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