Week One with Birdability as a non-profit

Phew! What a big week it’s been in the story of Birdability!

Last Thursday, Birdability became a registered non-profit in the State of Texas. Then that night, the Board of Travis Audubon, in Austin, Texas, voted to become the fiscal sponsor of Birdability. This means that Birdability now sorts of ‘sits under the wing’ (as it were…) of Travis Audubon, and any donations, grants and sponsorships go to them… and they send them to us. (It’s a totally legitimate way for new organizations to get a boost at the beginning, before later launching into their own 501(c)3 non-profit.)

What this all means is that now Birdability has the funds to pay someone full-time to do the work required to ensure birding truly is for everybody and every body — and that someone is me. (Hi! I’m Freya!)

Birdability logo, designed by Alex Tomlinson at National Audubon.

It’s been a full-on week, with meetings and collaborative opportunities, and a lot of figuring things out. As an Occupational Therapist, I know how to conduct clinical interviews and make recommendations on how to modify the physical environment, but I’ve never written a press release before! (If you want to see my first effort, it’s right here!) We had our first ever Birdability Board meeting, and started a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and re-vamped the Birdability account on Instagram too! (Please give us a follow if you don’t already!)

Planning is underway for some exciting virtual events, and some long-term (hopefully in-person!) events too, with a few big organizations. We’re reaching out to potential sponsors (if you’d like to sponsor us, please let us know!), and will soon be able to take donations right here on our website.

We’re working on a monthly newsletter, and our monthly virtual accessible field trips with Georgia Audubon, as well as booking in lots of speaking engagements with Audubon chapters and others across the country (see our Events page for the ones that are confirmed). And this is just in one week!

I can’t wait to see all the amazing things we can accomplish together to help make the birding community and the outdoors more inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities and other health concerns — we’re really only just getting started!