Ralston Institute Momentum Grants Are Moving Students Forward
In partnership with the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach, Accessibility and Testing within the Division of Student Affairs received a 2026 Ralston Institute Momentum Grant in Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to launch a new program, Disability Ambassador Leadership Initiative.
This program is aimed at helping middle schoolers across public schools in Georgia with disabilities envision a future in college by pairing them with undergraduate student mentors who also have disabilities. Through a leadership “boot camp,” middle school participants build leadership skills, self-advocacy, and early awareness of what life after high school can look like. The project will also develop a toolkit to support families and educators.
Advocacy Is Just the Start
“Students need to know how to speak up when they hit a barrier,” Erin Benson, director of Accessibility and Testing said, “but the goal is to push past advocacy into leadership, helping students grow into that role wherever their path takes them.”
Funding will let the middle school participants stay near campus during the summer boot camp, giving them room to build community and reflect on what it means to move from K-12 into college.
This approach centers disability ambassadors, current UGA students with disabilities, as the ones sharing their own experience. Benson pointed to a phrase that captures the idea: “Nothing for us without us.” She sees the ambassadors’ insights as skills they will carry into their careers and everyday lives.
Where the Idea Came From
The proposal grew out of a reunion. Benson and Brandy Walker, public service faculty member at the Fanning Institute, previously worked together and were looking for ways to keep collaborating. Bringing Emma Gooch, associate director for Disability Resource & Outreach, into the conversation gave the project even more momentum.
That led to launching the Disability Ambassadors Leadership Program (DALD) in spring of 2026. Like the Disability Ambassador Leadership Initiative, this program was a student-led group. The new program builds directly on that pilot, turning ambassadors into near-peer mentors for middle schoolers.
Building the Curriculum
Gooch said the boot camp will build on lessons learned from the spring ambassador cohort while drawing on the Fanning Institute’s leadership expertise to create a mentorship curriculum centered on confidence, self-advocacy and leadership.
She also pointed to a challenge many students with disabilities face long before they arrive on a college campus: navigating accommodations in higher education is very different from the K–12 system, where parents, teachers and school coordinators often take the lead.
“Many students don’t begin thinking about accommodations until they’re preparing to leave high school,” Gooch said. “We want to introduce those skills much earlier, so they better understand their own needs, learn how to advocate for themselves and feel more confident navigating the transition to college.”
By introducing those conversations in middle school, program leaders hope students will see postsecondary education not as an intimidating leap, but as an achievable next step.
A Message for Students Who Are Unsure
When asked what she’d tell a high school student with a disability who wasn’t sure college was for them, Walker pointed to the ambassadors as proof that there are people whose job is to help students succeed, and the “nobody’s going to care” narrative some students hear in high school doesn’t hold up. “Struggling with a system that isn’t built for you, doesn’t mean school isn’t for you,” Walker shared.
The boot camp is just the start. The bigger goal, organizers say, is developing lasting leadership skills and resources for disabled communities across Georgia.
Writer/Contact: Elijah King, 706-542-3564, askstudentaffairs@uga.edu
