Tiffany Yu (born 1988) is an American entrepreneur and

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...

advocate who founded Diversability, which is a social enterprise to advocate for equality for people with disabilities.

Early life and education

Yu was raised in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

. At age nine, she became disabled in a car accident that left her with a permanent

brachial plexus injury A brachial plexus injury (BPI), also known as brachial plexus lesion, is an injury to the brachial plexus, the network of nerves that conducts signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm and hand. These nerves originate in the fifth, sixth, s ...

. The accident also resulted in the death of her father. As a result of the accident, Yu developed

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

. Yu graduated from Georgetown College at Georgetown University in 2010.

Activism

In 2009, while studying at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, Yu founded Diversability, a

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ha ...

whose mission is to change the stigma surrounding disabilities and create community. After graduation from Georgetown, Yu continued to run Diversability as she worked at companies including

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

, Bloomberg, and

Revolt (TV network) Revolt is an American music-oriented digital cable television network and media company targeting African Americans. The TV network launched on October 21, 2013, as part of a larger agreement with Comcast. As of 2024, Detavio Samuels is CEO, whi ...

, and in 2016, she won the Guardian's "My Side Hustle Wins" contest for her work with Diversability. Yu serves on the Leadership Committee for the Paul K. Longmore Institute's Disability Cultural Center in San Francisco. She was also awarded the Bell Greve Award from the National Rehabilitation Association in 2015. Yu was a speaker at the 2018

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

in Davos as part of the "We Need to Talk About" series and named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. She is also a three-time

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

speaker. Yu was the 2019 California Miss Amazing Queen. In 2021, she donated $50,000 to Georgetown University to launch an endowment fund for disability inclusion-related initiatives and disability advocacy. Yu also engages in social media activism on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, and

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. Yu is also the founder of the Disability chapter of Awesome Foundation. In 2024, Yu's first book, ''The Anti-Ableist Manifesto:Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World'' was published by Hachette Go.

External links

"The Power of Inclusion", Tiffany Yu, TEDxBethesda

"The Truths About Being a Pioneer, Tiffany Yu, TEDxGeorgetown

"The Problem with Positivity", Tiffany Yu, TEDxYouth@CaliforniaHighSchool

Personal Website

Diversability Homepage

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Tiffany Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni American disability rights activists American activists with disabilities 1988 births Living people People from Bethesda, Maryland American TikTokers People with post-traumatic stress disorder Goldman Sachs people