Her Organization Empowers BHAM Residents with Disabilities to Thrive
As CEO of United Ability, Susan Sellers is on a mission to help Alabamians with disabilities reach their full potential. Get to know this inspiring FACE of Birmingham! Image: United Ability
Susan Sellers is in the business of making miracles. As CEO of United Ability, she and her team work every day to help transform lives by creating pathways and opening doors for individuals of all ages with disabilities. By providing education, healthcare, and employment services, Susan and the dedicated staff at United Ability help people defy the odds and thrive in their communities. We’re honored to introduce our newest FACE of Birmingham!
What drew you to nonprofit work?
I have been in this line of work for 33 years. The day after I finished the bar exam, I moved to Washington, D.C., worked as a lobbyist for a national nonprofit, and just never got out of the nonprofit sector. It has been an amazing career. I have gotten to do really unique, wonderful things that I would have never had the opportunity to do if I had practiced law or done more traditional things.
Although you had extensive experience working in the nonprofit sector, United Ability was your first time working with individuals with disabilities. Was there a learning curve?
United Ability is like five or six small nonprofits in one. We do everything from early intervention and medical care to therapy and employment. We offer day programs, childcare, PreK, and Head Start. It’s massive! And every single one of those different programs or initiatives has its own regulatory agencies and funding structure.
So that’s the learning curve. But you don’t have to learn how to fall in love with this field; if you’ve not had the privilege of interacting with adults, children, and teens with disabilities, then you’re the one missing out because they are driven and committed. It’s just an amazing group, as are their families.
What do you wish more people understood about individuals living with disabilities?
Our tagline here at United Ability is ‘Possibility Beyond Disability,’ which is how we approach everything. We look at their unique abilities, celebrate those, and forever look at the possibilities behind that. I am blown away by how our employment team motivates youth and adults to find a career that matches their unique abilities. We work with 125 different employers in Greater Birmingham.
What I want people to know and to hear is that those kids defy all odds. As I tell our staff all the time, there are miracles here. Every day, parents come to us because they’ve been told their child is probably not going to have much quality of life. But when they’re immersed in a situation where they get therapy every day, they’re with peers who are urging them on, and they have trained teachers who know how to work with and push them, it’s amazing. The parents say, “We never imagined that our child could be where they are today.”
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of the job is making sure that the decision-makers are hearing the voice of the individuals we represent. One in four Americans and one in three Alabamians will experience a disability in their lifetime. This is a population that is vast, important, and that we as a society need to remember and appreciate.
How is United Ability working to make sure individuals with disabilities are represented and heard?
We have hundreds and hundreds of folks who come here and tour every year because hearing about it is one thing, but seeing and experiencing it, being in a classroom or having a conversation with one of our adults, is totally different. We also take family members to Montgomery. We have family members write emails to their representatives.
We had 836 students from 11 universities and 14 disciplines on our campus last year. Every single UAB medical school student now spends two days on this campus with our adults learning about assistive technology that can support them, learning about what they want in a physician and medical provider, and finding out what their medical needs are.
We have hundreds of nursing students, occupational, physical, and speech therapy students, special education students, and many social work students. We have students from multiple disciplines, who, through their future work, will absolutely encounter those one in three Alabamians that we were talking about.
What’s the best advice you have to offer?
Just because somebody doesn’t do something the way you would do it, it doesn’t make it wrong or any less effective. And that has impacted me in my personal life as well as my career.
What are some of your favorite Birmingham restaurants?
Since I’m from Texas, I’m kind of a snob about Mexican food, but El Barrio hits the bar — pun intended. I really like Salud, too. A place I go to as a special treat is Bottega. But I also love fried chicken, so give me Eugene’s Hot Chicken; I’ll pick it up anytime!
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I have season tickets to Broadway in Birmingham, and I think we get really good traveling troupes here. I love to see things at Red Mountain Theatre when I can. Ruffner Mountain is a fabulous resource. It’s beautiful, and the trails offer a great place to walk or hike. I also love finding deals on unique clothing online.
Lightning Round!
What’s on your travel bucket list? Spain, the Holy Land, and then I’d like to go to Italy and just live there for a couple of months.
What’s on your bedside table? Books, books, and more books.
What’s the last book you read? Jackie and Maria by Gill Paul
What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you? I love to dance. I’m a member of the YMCA, and there’s a class called Y Jam. I love it because it is every age, race, gender, and demographic in one room, listening to everything from hip-hop to country.
Name three things you can’t live without. Dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s, having a dog, and watching college football.
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Southern women are doing remarkable things. Meet more of them in our FACES archives!
Javacia Harris Bowser
Javacia Harris Bowser is a Birmingham-based freelance writer and the founder of See Jane Write, an online community and coaching service for women who write. With over 20 years of journalism experience, Javacia has received awards from the National Federation of Press Women, Alabama Media Professionals, Alabama Press Association, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. When she’s not writing, she’s usually practicing Pilates, getting her 10K steps a day, or watching crime shows. Follow Javacia on Instagram @seejavaciawrite.