Christine Lew (She/her) has spent the past four years working as a disability justice advocate. Christine’s advocacy work has focused primarily on expanding access to post-secondary education for students with disabilities at the University of Washington, from which she recently graduated. She served as the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) Student Disability Commission’s (SDC) first-ever Assistant Director, and for two years as the Director from 2019-2021. Over the course of her career, she managed around 30 interns, and organized more than 15 different events centered around disability pride, allyship education, and disability studies.
Christine is a mad/disabled identifying Asian American woman. Both of Christine’s parents are Deaf, so she grew up with American Sign Language (ASL) as her first language. As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), she was raised within the Deaf community and surrounded by Deaf culture, and therefore, had a front-row seat to the ableism and discrimination that Deaf people face from the hearing world. Watching those experiences drove her to create inclusive, accessible spaces for Deaf/disabled students during her time at the University of Washington.
During her time as the Assistant Director, Christine and her team began to notice that many disabled students had a difficult time attending student-led events. She led and drafted the 50 page proposal for the ASUW Office of Inclusive Design (OID); the first of its kind in the nation. As of the 2021 – 2022 academic year, this entity will provide funding and guidance to student clubs and programs that want to make their programming inclusively designed.
Her advocacy work also influenced her academic research. In her senior year, she completed an independent research project about ‘Disability Gain’, which explores the ways in which different bodies/minds can become advantageous within certain contexts. She interviewed many Deaf/disabled people about their thoughts and experiences, and presented her findings at the UW Undergraduate Research Symposium in May 2021.
Christine graduated from the University of Washington in Spring 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Disability Studies with interdisciplinary honors, and a minor in ASL. Her research and activist work has been recognized through various awards including recognition as a member of the 2021 Husky 100, as a recipient of the Dennis Lang Award in Disability Studies, and the two-time recipient of the Harlan Hahn Endowment Fund for research in Disability Studies.
Christine continues her career in service of the disability community, serving as a member of the Seattle Disability Commission. She is also one of the founders of Crip Riot: a disabled-owned and led company committed to bringing expressions of disability pride to the world, through unapologetic media, clothing, education and activism and of Myers Fork Consulting: providing HR support, ADA coordinator services and equity workshops to businesses and organizations across the Puget Sound. Their expected launch in Summer 2021, is a continuation of Christine’s commitment to positive identity development, equity and access for the disability community.
