We hope you all had a peaceful holiday and 2024 is starting out on an up note!
Our journey into the new year began with momentum fueled by the helpful input from our supporters as we crafted a new web look and a new logo. This collaborative effort has set the tone for 2024, energizing our commitment to working with the rehabilitation and disability communities. This energy carries over from 2023 as we worked together with stakeholders of all sorts — patrons, colleagues, friends, consumers, advocates, and contributors. We have partnered with more folks than ever before, and it helped us enhance our information products.
Nothing better demonstrates how closely we work together with our stakeholders than our e-newsletter, News and Notes from the NIDILRR Community and Beyond, and our Research In Focus series. As we assemble News and Notes each week, we’re excited to share the events, resources, and news from our colleagues in the NIDILRR grantee community. They keep a steady stream of new material for us to highlight and, as a disability consumer myself, I’m equally excited to turn around and share it all with my community. You can expect a fresh look to debut as we approach Issue #600 of our flagship publication!
With our Research In Focus series, we have an opportunity to collaborate, one-on-one, with the researchers and developers who are out there working for a more inclusive world. These authors are exemplars of the NIDILRR community working to identify and address barriers to full participation of people with disabilities. We are proud to play a part of getting their research into the hands of those who need it most.
This past year, for the first time since NARIC’s founding, we engaged in one-on-one discussions with stakeholders, delving into the specifics of when and how they utilize NARIC’s services and of ways to enhance our support for their endeavors. We also gained insights from our colleagues about their approaches to engaging stakeholders and capitalizing on those relationships. Throughout the year, we collaborated with the community to develop a deeper and more robust understanding of our online presence and used this understanding to enhance usability and user friendliness of NARIC website, publications, and services.
I want to extend a deep, heartfelt thanks to the members of the NIDILRR grantee community, who shared their news, events, publications, and opportunities to participate in research, throughout last year and into the year ahead. I am proud of the collaborative work we’ve engaged in with our colleagues, as well as patrons; how we have worked with them, how we have learned from them, and now, how we are using these experiences to design better services and products to inform future audiences of the latest research and resources.