This month’s community meeting will be held on November 27, 2025 from 6PM – 8PM EST. This month’s gathering will include a training session on how journalists can create a sustainable freelance business in a way that is informed by Disability culture and accessible business practices. It will be presented by DJA’s John Loeppky.
Event Description:
How to be a Disabled Freelancer: Much like when you first realize you’re Disabled, a time when your world is flooded with accessibility questions, the building of a Disability-led freelance journalism business has many of the same challenges. How do you pitch? How does accounting work? Can you make a go of it? Should you? For many Disabled people, freelancing is the only accessible career path in a world where inclusive workplace is more buzzword than reality. In this training session DJA team member John Loeppky will lead participants through how he built his business, what he would do differently, and answer questions about how participants can explore whether freelancing is right for you. John will also answer some frequently asked questions, highlight some of the pitfalls of the industry, and showcase some of the inclusive practices he uses to make a living as a freelancer without putting too high a tax on his body-mind.
As a rule, all information shared among group members in these meetings should remain private and contained to the meeting space. Group members who are concerned about security and privacy should feel free to use an alternate name or otherwise remain anonymous. Group members should feel comfortable participating with the cameras off and/or through the chat function if necessary. With the permission of those in the space, the training session portion of this event may be recorded.
This call will be CART captioned (or, in the unusual event of CART provider absence, auto-captioned through Zoom). Please let us know below if you require any other accommodations (described in registration intake form).
Click here to register for the event: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/3aiBWLx8Q6a9Muv9A5exGA
Click here to register as a DJA member and be added to our mailing list: New Member Registration.
We maintain a living document of Community Agreements here.
Please reach out to ariana.martinez@discojourno.com if you have questions about access or other aspects of this meeting space.
