About Us

People with disabilities and Deaf people live free from violence and are thriving. They are affirmed and celebrated by families, communities, and systems.

To end victimization, criminalization, incarceration, and institutionalization of people with disabilities and Deaf people.

Four priorities drive our work:

(1) To prevent and interrupt violence and victimization of people with disabilities and Deaf people

(2) To reduce system-involvement, especially incarceration and institutionalization

(3) To support community-based intervention strategies that are accessible

(4) To increase avenues to healing for people with disabilities and Deaf people, their families, and communities

Activating Change was started in 2005 as a project of the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera). From 2005 to 2021, Activating Change operated as the Center on Victimization and Safety at Vera. In 2021, Vera established Activating Change as an independent, non-profit organization to increase the visibility of the justice issues people with disabilities and Deaf people face and to have a greater impact on ending those injustices. In 2022, the Center on Victimization and Safety officially spun-off from Vera and began operating as Activating Change.