Meet Vickie Brett and Amanda Selogie | Co-Founders and Civil Rights Attorneys

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vickie Brett and Amanda Selogie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vickie Brett and Amanda Selogie, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?

The Inclusive Education Project’s primary focus is to ensure that all students, including those living with disabilities, are given an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY to access an appropriate public education. More often than not, children living with disabilities are denied this equal opportunity that their typical peers are given and the Inclusive Education Project seeks to change this.

Ensuring this equal opportunity at a local level, will in turn promote a more inclusive and understanding society and world. We believe if we are more inclusive and understanding of each other’s needs, we can better work together to create a brighter future.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are civil rights attorneys practicing in the area of special education law, which means we advocate on behalf of children with special needs. While there are few attorneys that practice in this area of law, we are one of the only non-profit law firms striving to promote change on a more global scale instead of one case at a time. One of the ways we are able to promote change, and something we are most excited and proud of, is our podcast, the Inclusive Education Project Podcast. Through our podcast we strive to “start the conversation” and “change the conversation” about education, civil rights, and modern activism. There is a special set of challenges as a women-owned business. From the beginning, we were unable to get something as simple as a business loan, which forced us to be more creative in how we marketed ourselves and developed our business structure. Along the way, we have also faced challenges going against the grain of what a typical “law firm” should be which often times people see as having to be “stuffy,” “greedy,” and “rigid.” Lastly, a continuous hurdle is the endless bureaucracy of the educational system itself and the archaic way of labeling a child as the sole way of defining how that individual will be taught and can learn.

The biggest thing that we have learned along the way is to rely on each other and that we needed to create our own little village of like-minded people that we can continue to learn and draw inspiration from.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The first stop would simply have to be Disneyland. No trip to Southern California is complete without visiting the Happiest Place on Earth.

Next, would be a stop at the beach and one of our favorite sushi restaurants we would dine in would be Slow Fish. We would have to indulge in their Sake Bombs and any of the rolls made with their signature black rice.

We would have to end the trip with a weekend in Catalina Island. There are so many good restaurants and things to do (such as fishing, hiking, and lounging by the beach); it is a great little escape from the city.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Lauren Reveley, founder of Rose Street Creative, shares and embodies our passion and goals for the future for our business and ultimately how we want to impact the world. Her design and digital marketing agency for ethical and sustainable e-commerce brands has helped our business in ways we could have never imagined.

Lauren is the ultimate hype-woman and has given us a higher platform from which to “shout” our vision to the community.

Website: https://www.inclusiveeducationproject.org/

Instagram: @InclusiveEducationProject

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inclusive-education-project

Twitter: https://twitter.com/iepcalifornia?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IEPcalifornia/

Image Credits
Madeline “Maddy” Javier