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Meet Mia Ives-Rublee: An Endorphin Junkie Who Made The Women’s March Accessible

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Mia Ives-Rublee grew up surrounded by adults who were worried about her well-being. She has Osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic bone disorder more commonly known as brittle bone disease, and uses a wheelchair to get around. 
From a young age she pushed back against others’ worries about her body and continuously challenged her own physical limitations. She played competitive sports and competed at an international level in wheelchair track, fencing and adaptive CrossFit.

Mia Ives-Rublee joins women activists on stage at the 2017 Women's March on Washington.
Credit Rebecca Cunningham / Courtesy Mia Ives-Rublee

Today Ives-Rublee fights to make spaces more accessible for people with disabilities. She founded and coordinated the Women’s March Disability Caucus and works with a range of organizations as an independent consultant on accessibility issues.

Ives-Rublee talks with host Frank Stasio about athletics, activism and exploring her identity as a transracial Korean American adoptee. Note: This program originally aired June 3, 2019.
 

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Laura Pellicer is a digital reporter with WUNC’s small but intrepid digital news team.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
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