About Us

The mission of Inclusion Works Foundation (Inclusion Works)  is to promote Equity and Access to a Quality Inclusive Education for children of ALL ABILITIES.

Welcoming Environments for Youth

Full Inclusion: “All People Educated The Same!” Inclusion is a philosophy of education based on the belief in every person’s inherent right to fully participate in society. It implies acceptance of differences and access to the educational experiences that are fundamental to every student’s development.

WHO WE ARE 

The Inclusion Works Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Educational Public Charity. We endeavor to provide services nationally and take pride in offering the best resources, parent support, advocacy, scholarships and training services on Inclusion. We also partner with groups that support direct support and therapeutic services to children and families in need. We are dedicated to serving the needs of the children, our community and national partners each and every day.

WHY INCLUSION: OUR STORY

Inclusion Works Foundation, a 501(c)(3) Educational Pubic Charity was initially inspired by Tanya Williams, a retired NYC police officer, youth advocate and parent of a child with a learning disability and sister of Kim A. Williams Clark. Clark a New York licensed  attorney and higher education administrator, became the parent of “Wesley” - a loving, caring and intelligent  boy with Down Syndrome.  Clark faced many obstacles in identifying caring and welcoming schools for her son Wesley.  As a result, she decided to create an environment where no parent would suffer discrimination based on disability.  She believes that all children should have access to the same quality education as children without disabilities.

 Early on, in an effort to identify a school for Wesley – one well known national educational institution was discovered to have placed her child alone in a basement classroom with the front desk clerk.  Clark only became aware of this when a teacher called to secretly alert her.  Thereafter, Clark decided to place Wesley in a nearby religious based school.  The headmaster admitted denying Wesley’s admission because of his disability. ​Wesley was soon enrolled in “a Whole New World Academy.” an inclusive private school setting where the children, faculty and parents  treated him fairly. Further, providing a nurturing and “welcoming”  environment where Wesley could thrive and grow. Today, Wesley is advancing in a general education kindergarten classroom in a New Jersey Public School.  This placement has been beneficial to Wesley and the Williams Clark family.  Most importantly, it has benefitted the children in his classroom that often look forward to his arrival each day, working together to meet their educational benchmarks and playing together as friends do!

 WHAT WE DO

• Serves as a educational and business resource to all parents seeking to identify inclusive friendly schools for youth and identify support services by quality and welcoming providers of occupational, speech and/or physical therapy services;
• Enables service providers, educational and business communities to register as “inclusive friendly” which means that they welcome and encourage persons with disabilities to attend their school, and participate in all events;
• Provides educators, providers and concerned partners with the training tools and resources needed to become inclusive friendly environments;
• Serves as a public charity for individuals in need of financial assistance and scholarship to primarily support educational goals; and
• Supports Disability and Inclusion related events locally and nationally. 

Kim Williams Clark is the Founder & Chair of Inclusion Works Foundation a 501(c)(3) Non-profit public charity.  Clark is also the parent of Lee Wesley Clark II ("Wesley") who was born in 2008 and diagnosed with Downs Syndrome at birth. He is the joy of her life and lights up the world of the entire family. Clark’s life challenges and discriminatory experiences – as a parent of a child with special needs prompted her to form INCLUSION WORKS! It is her hope that it will serve as a continual system of support and national resources for parents, providers and friends of children with special needs.

Clark a NYC Attorney, Educator and Community Leader was most recently the Dean of Institutional Advancement & Student Affairs at the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University. Responsible for overseeing the offices of student activities, psychological/counseling services, international students, university health and medical services (a Brooklyn Hospital Center partnership), residence life and housing, campus ministry, institutional advancement, interacting with student government association and handling all disciplinary and judicial hearings. In this capacity, she also builds corporate and foundation support, creates new collaborations geared towards increasing funding for university projects, advances student centered and web based initiatives, supports retention and builds external networks to advance the diverse interests of over 11,000 urban students enrolled at the Brooklyn Campus. Previously, Clark served as Associate Dean of the Center for Continuing and Professional Education at Georgetown University. Clark is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law at Camden and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

At an early age Clark discovered that the child care provider for her infant Wesley was hiding him in the basement classroom away from other children.  This unfortunate incident, led Clark to form INCLUSION WORKS in an effort to change thoughts and perceptions about persons with disabilities and to spread the word that Inclusion works!  Today, that infant  is thriving in a general education classroom and last yearWesley was the "top speller" in his classroom and the only child enrolled in the class with a disability! Please join us in our efforts to change the Life of a child today.

-  JOHN EYERMAN. ESQ.,  

-  TANYA WILLIAMS

- NANETTE FUENTES

-  DR. MARCELLA MAXWELL

-  DONEL SUARES, ESQ.

- SHANDEL JOHNSON

- DARNELL COLLIER