IDA Ambassador – North Carolina

Mayia Warren is a 24 year old advocate who lives with Oculocutaneous Albinism, Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, Chronic Migraine Disease and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In the Spring of 2021, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology.

Mayia spends her time advocating for oculocutaneous albinism, invisible disabilities, and chronic illnesses. She is also a music artist, visual artist, digital content creator, YouTuber, podcaster, writer, speaker, and more. Some of her current endeavors include: being a panelist for the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation Career Corner, membership on the Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center Youth Advisory Team, and a featured writer for the 2022 Chronic Joy Ministries Blog. In December 2021, she began partnering with the North Carolina Division of Services for the Blind to establish a community for Young Adults within the caseload of the agency. This year she will be launching several campaigns including a Disability in Black History presentation for Black History Month.

Becoming an ambassador for IDA is important to me because I believe in the mission of making invisible disabilities visible. As a lifelong volunteer in my local community, my philosophy of generosity through the modicum of time will be transferred in my experiences with IDA.

Just because you have physical proximity to an individual, or a community; it doesn’t mean that you have actually positioned yourself to be receptive, discerning and appropriately responsive to their needs. It takes active learning, loving and listening. Individuals and communities are not projects.

This is my goal, to be an advocate that actively learns, loves and listens to the communities that I serve and that I myself am a part of, in order to create tangible and lasting change.