We Are Not Powerless: Power Resilience in a Changing Climate

Erin Taylor (she/her) is a passionate advocate for equity and accessibility, dedicated to dismantling ableism and fostering belonging. Her work centers disabled people’s voices, honors intersectionality, and ensures access needs are recognized and met. With deep expertise in creating accessible, inclusive training materials, Erin has presented throughout Oregon, nationally, and internationally on disability justice, anti-ableism, health promotion, and disaster preparedness.

In 2022, she co-founded AIM-4-Access with her partner, and in 2023 helped launch the nonprofit Upstream Access, which creates spaces for social connection while advancing inclusive disaster preparedness and cross-disability collaboration throughout the state of Oregon. Through this work, Erin has helped position Upstream Access as the first organization in the United States to pilot Person-Centered Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP), a strengths-based curriculum developed in Australia.

A core focus of Erin’s disaster preparedness work is power resilience. Through community listening and direct engagement, she has highlighted a critical and often overlooked gap: many disabled people lack access to backup power or solar-powered devices during extreme weather events and power outages. Her work addresses this inequity by integrating disability justice, climate resilience, and practical solutions that support autonomy, safety, and interdependence. Taylor was a recipient of the Natural Hazard Workshop Disability and Disasters Award in 2026.

A proud member of the disability and LGBTQIA+ communities and with non-apparent disabilities, Erin holds an M.A. in Disability Studies from the City University of New York and a B.A. in Communication Studies from Western Oregon University. Beyond advocacy, she is a lifelong musician and enjoys hiking, kayaking, and capturing the beauty of the Pacific Northwest through photography.