Welcome to The Nora Project!
Our Mission
We’re on a mission to promote disability inclusion by empowering educators and engaging students and communities.
The Nora Project trains and coaches educators and offers a suite of SEL programs that dive deeply into the concepts of empathy and inclusion, explicitly addressing disability and difference as a part of human diversity.
Our programs connect what students are learning to the real world, offering them authentic opportunities to practice what they learn during direct instruction.
Five young, diverse girls walking together on a school playground. Nora is in the middle, holding the hands of the girls on either side of her.
Our story
Lauren Schrero never learned about disability growing up. None of her teachers talked about it, ever, and she grew up confused about and fearful of disability. In fact, she didn’t start to study disability until she found out her daughter Nora was disabled. The more Lauren learned, the more she realized that disability isn’t scary at all—it’s a natural part of human diversity. She saw an opportunity to create a dignified place for disability studies in every child’s education, so that myths and stereotypes and harmful attitudes about disability can be dispelled in favor of a more accessible, more inclusive future. She co-founded this organization, to do just that.
CLICK TO VIEW LAUREN’S TED TALK ON THE ABILITY INCLUSIVE MINDSET
Our values
Empathy: Listening to others’ stories, imagining life from their point of view, and standing by them in times of need and celebration.
Inclusiveness: Believing that diversity, accessibility, dignity, and genuine love and care are always required, no matter the context.
Impact: Incorporating best practices, embracing creativity and innovation, welcoming feedback, and adjusting course when needed to maximize outcomes and transform lives.
Integrity: Placing honesty, transparency, friendship, and reliability at the heart of all stakeholder relationships.
“Thank you for making this. It has truly made a difference in my students’ lives. One third grade class didn’t have the opportunity [to participate] and you could tell that they didn’t know how to engage with children different from themselves. The teacher was always asking how my class was so good, and I kept saying, ‘The Nora Project.’ So thank you.”