Shane's Inspiration

The Catalyst Program: Through the Catalyst Program, Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspirations Senior Vice President of International Development, SVP of Design/Certified Landscape Architect, and Chief Executive Officer/Co-Founder provide comprehensive Inclusive Playground design and development support to communities, municipalities, and families interested in creating inclusive play environments in their communities. The team provides assistance and guidance from conception through completion, including: building a stakeholder base, choosing the appropriate site, inclusive playground design, community outreach and fundraising, project and construction management, vendor selection, fiscal oversight, and comprehensive resource development. Once the playground is open, the program development team works with the community to implement Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration's successful inclusive play programs at that playground, ensuring impact and full utilization by the community. In addition to this vast array of services, the playground design and development team advocate and train organizations globally to ensure the inclusion of children with disabilities in community and school environments. Accomplishments over the past twenty-five years include1)Providing fundraising guidance that assisted communities in generating over $75 million in support of the development of Inclusive Playgrounds, as well as community and educational programs nationally and internationally;2)Opening 80 Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration Inclusive Playgrounds throughout the United States, as well as in Russia, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico and Canada 3)Partnering with Too Small To Fail, a Clinton Foundation literacy initiative, to integrate early childhood literacy components into each inclusive playground design that Inclusion Matters by SI develops. 4)Creating an online training course that supplements the Social Inclusion Education Curriculum, which is now in 67 countries;5)Securing international partners that are working toward establishing the first inclusive playgrounds in South Africa, Japan, Argentina, Armenia, and more;6)Olympic/Paralympic Partnership - Designing three inclusive playgrounds in conjunction with the 2010 Olympic/Paralympic Winter Games in Canada and with the Olympic/Paralympic Winter Games in 2014 to create the first inclusive playground in Sochi, Russia;7)Advocating for and training partners in inclusive play/social inclusion best practices. This program, Together, We Are Able, has been in 250 schools, impacting over 55,000 students within Los Angeles county. Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspirations global advocacy impact includes countries such as Ecuador, Argentina, Russia, the Netherlands, and at the United Nations;8)Transforming Los Angeles into the most playable city/county in the nation by working with city leaders to develop an inclusive playground initiative, part of which helped secure $9.5 million through Proposition 40 allocation. Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration has designed and developed 44 playgrounds in the Los Angeles region, serving millions of people annually.9)Ecuador: Partnered with the U.S. Embassy to integrate the Together, We Are Able education program into university curriculum at universities throughout Ecuador. Partnered with MIDUVI (Ministry of Urban Development and Housing) to develop a modular design that will create over 40 inclusive playgrounds throughout the country of Ecuador.10) Supporting the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks in developing and promoting new, inclusive recreation programming through their PlayLA initiative, supported by a $160M investment from LA28.

Community Outreach: Each year, Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration hosts bi-monthly My Play Club events. My Play Club is a free, inclusive social recreation program for children of ALL abilities and their families that is held at one of their 44 Inclusive Playgrounds throughout the greater Los Angeles region. Face painting, arts & crafts, and snacks are provided, along with inclusive play on the playgrounds. Sponsors such as Crowe, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Disney provide special activities or entertainment at the events. Community partners volunteer their valuable time and talents at each event, providing adaptive recreation and art-based activities, volunteers, peer buddies with typical abilities, and wellness information. This program was created in 2002 and is based on the belief that play is the common ground of childhood. Since that time, it has been replicated in communities throughout the United States and worldwide and has reached tens of thousands of children with disabilities and their caregivers.During the COVID 19 pandemic, we rallied volunteers and service providers to create virtual My PlayClub events, which brought children with disabilities and their Teens for Social Inclusion buddies together to play and connect through zoom. This helped families meet the need for social recreation, which had dropped off significantly due to physical isolation from their communities, and reached 1,776 children over 5 virtual events. Here is an example of My Virtual PlayClub in action: httpswwwyoutubecomwatchvId75SPjxWj0 Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration participates in national/international speaking engagements that promote the power of social inclusion and inclusive play environments including the United Nations Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, International Disability Alliance Summit, the World Urban Parks Summit, to name a few. As a vital partner in Too Small to Fail, Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration has woven cutting-edge early childhood literacy programming into inclusive playground designs nationwide. The team has provided advocacy and public education seminars that teach social inclusion best practices to more than 600 educators, partner organizations, and professionals.Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration has received the following recognition: the first "Heroes for Health Award" by Good Housekeeping Magazine and General Electric; Council on Disability Award; Architectural Landscaping Design Award from the L.A. Business Council; and "Best Playground" from Los Angeles Magazine; Founders Catherine Curry Williams and Tiffany Harris received the Game Changer award from Los Angeles Magazine; National Eagle Award from the Disabilities Rights Advocates; the L.A. Parent Award for Outstanding Playgrounds (received multiple years in a row); and the Local Heroes Award from Bank of America. Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration has been featured with Matt Lauer on "The Today Show", CNN, NPR, Los Angeles Times, Sunset Magazine, Los Angeles Family Magazine and the Jewish Journal. To support the continued growth of the organizations mission, Inclusion Matters has grown their Professional Advisory Board, which is comprised of health care professionals, child advocates, professors, and parents of children with disabilities. This prestigious group lends their expertise to ensure that the mission serves the social, physical, cognitive, and developmental needs of all children.

Education: Together, We Are Able, now in its 21st year, is Inclusion Matters by Shanes Inspiration's unique social inclusion education program that directly addresses the issue of exclusion and bullying of children with disabilities in the school environment by bringing students of all abilities together through transformative social/emotional learning (SEL). The program is directly delivered to almost 3,000 students in the Los Angeles region each year and has been replicated in other states and countries. This three-step program includes: Step 1: A 60-minute classroom conversation explores how students define and perceive disabilities. Through a combination of activities, students gain a new awareness of the common ground they share as well as real-world tools on how to engage with peers with cognitivesensoryphysicalcommunica... differences.Step 2: Participating students with and without disabilities are paired at an Inclusion Matters playground in Los Angeles or on their school campus for interaction and play. This gives them the chance to learn from and with each other, overcoming apprehension and learning new SEL skills through play. Locally, in Los Angeles, the organization supports the cost of bus transportation for the field trips for public schools that serve children with complex disabilities, which can be a significant barrier to participation for them.Step 3: A wrap-up 45-minute workshop allows students to synthesize their new awareness and create an inclusion plan for the rest of the school year.In addition to the program, schools receive social inclusion support that includes: professional development for educators/staff/parents, social inclusion planning throughout the year, webinars targeted towards topics of interest, and integrated recess planning and implementation to continue the social inclusion experience for all students throughout the year.The program is delivered by the organization directly in the greater Los Angeles region and has reached 55,000+ children in over 250 schools. The program has been replicated as far away as Ecuador and throughout the United States. In 2022/2023, Inclusion Matters created a university training program in partnership with the US Embassy & Consulate in Ecuador that reached over 1,900 university students, professors, and practicing teachers and 5,000 children throughout the country. The organization developed its powerful curriculum and training tools, which are in 67 countries, into an online course that teaches future and practicing teachers how to facilitate social inclusion on their campuses. The course, which fulfills key social-emotional learning goals, includes:Teachers guides for the classroom workshopsA detailed inclusive play guide for the field trips/campus play eventsA modular education DVD that shows a day-in-the life for students with disabilitiesSupplemental reading to continue the inclusion conversationThe 60-minute, modular video training, which is a companion to the curriculum, helps educators:Guide ability awareness conversations in schoolsFacilitate social interaction between general and special education studentsDeepen their understanding of neurodiverse students with Autism and gain insights on how to support them in social settingsIn addition, during December 2023, the organization co-hosted the largest Inclusive Schools Week celebration in the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the second largest district in the nation. There were 90 schools enrolled, ranging from pre-school to high school. The weeklong event featured inclusion celebrations on campuses that ranged from adaptive sports to robotics programs. The organization facilitated inclusion for over 600 students that week.Currently, Inclusion Matters is developing an Early Childhood Inclusion Guide, which will be piloted in LAUSD primary centers this fall and will be brought statewide throughout California by the end of 2024. This guide will equip preschool through kindergarten teachers with the tools they need to ensure an inclusive, supported early learning environment.