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Know Better. Do Better. Build Belonging.

Belonging doesn’t happen by accident. We help schools, nonprofits, corporations, and policymakers move beyond compliance into cultures of genuine belonging. Disability is human — and when it’s centered from the start, no body is left behind.

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Beyond compliance into belonging.

We help organizations move beyond compliance into cultures where disability is recognized as human, valuable, and essential. Our work draws on 20+ years in disability advocacy, education, and public service, including consulting with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Administration for Community Living, and years of equipping nonprofits, schools, and communities to center access and belonging.

Our facilitation style is rooted in honesty, strategy, and care. We use plain-language clarity and an invitational approach to create spaces where leaders can reflect without shame, wrestle with hard truths, and take meaningful action. Grounded in disability justice and informed by both professional expertise and lived experience with disability, we know that belonging doesn’t happen by accident. It is built through interdependence, collective care, and the courage to do better once we know better.

Know better. Do better. Build belonging. That’s not just our tagline, it’s the heart of this work.

Founder
Build Belonging is led by Mary Kate Brown, M.Ed., a strategist who thrives on connecting ideas, people, and systems to drive change. She connects deeply with the disability community through her own lived experience as a disabled person, and also as a parent, ally, and champion of voices too often left out of the room.

Mary Kate leads with empathy and conviction. Whether addressing policymakers, guiding a nonprofit board, or facilitating a small group, her goal is the same: to move people from awareness into action—and from compliance into belonging.

copy of “i did then what i knew how to do. now that i know better, i do better.” maya angelou

Our Services

We offer consultation, facilitation, and education designed to spark transformation.

Consulting
One-to-one and leadership coaching to embed belonging in policy and practice.
Speaking
Keynotes and presentations that inspire organizations to see disability as human and essential.
Educational Programming
Small-group workshops and interactive sessions that build awareness, skill, and action.

Topics I Can Help You With

Disability as Human Diversity

Reframing disability from deficit to a natural and vital part of what it means to be human.

Moving Beyond Compliance

Shifting from checklists and legal minimums toward cultures of belonging, access, and interdependence.

Building Inclusive Leadership

Equipping leaders with the mindset and tools to anticipate access, foster belonging, and create sustainable change.

Honest Conversations About Ableism

Facilitating dialogue that names bias, addresses barriers, and invites growth without shame.

Belonging in Education & Community

Creating classrooms and community spaces where disabled students, families, and participants are centered as leaders and contributors.

Disability Justice in Practice

Applying the principles of disability justice, interdependence, collective care, and leaving no body behind, in everyday organizational contexts.

Designing for Access from the Start

Planning for access and accommodations ahead of time, so belonging is built into systems rather than added as an afterthought.

Communicating Disability with Confidence

Developing plain-language, respectful, and empowering communication about disability across internal messaging, public events, and policy.

Grounded in Disability Justice

Our work is guided by simple but powerful truths:
All bodies are unique and essential.
All bodies are whole.
All bodies have strengths and needs that must be met.
We are powerful not despite the complexities of our bodies, but because of them.
We move together, with no body left behind.

White woman with blonde hair wearing glasses and smiling at the camera.

“The real work begins when we stop asking who fits in and start asking how we build spaces where everyone belongs.”

Let’s Build Belonging Together.

If you embrace diversity but ignore disability, you’re doing it wrong. Let’s build systems where every body belongs.