National Disability Institute (NDI) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to building a better economic future for people with disabilities.
NDI is the first national organization committed exclusively to championing economic empowerment, financial education, asset development and financial stability for all persons with disabilities. NDI affects change through public education, policy development, training, technical assistance and innovative initiatives. Visit nationaldisabilityinstitute.org.
MEET OUR STAFF | PAST PROJECTS
Meet Our Staff
Nikki Powis is the Director of Small Business Programs for National Disability Institute (NDI). Nikki is responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of NDI’s multiple small business initiatives serving entrepreneurs and small business owners with disabilities. Her role includes championing NDI’s efforts to expand Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the entrepreneurial eco-system and supporting entrepreneurs with disabilities to start, build and grow their businesses.Nikki Powis brings over 30 years of experience managing programs to advance economic opportunities for underrepresented and underserved populations at the local, regional, statewide, and national level. Nikki brings both extensive professional experience, and as a parent of a child with a disability, personal knowledge and passion into her work toward supporting positive change efforts.
npowis@ndi-inc.org
Ruth Chavez is a Small Business Specialist at the National Disability Institute (NDI) with extensive experience leading initiatives that empower entrepreneurs and small business owners. As a person with disabilities, she brings both professional and lived experience to her work, helping shape programs that provide business counseling, training, and access to resources for entrepreneurs with disabilities. Ruth has guided numerous small businesses through planning, marketing, and funding strategies while fostering partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies to expand opportunities for inclusive economic growth. With more than a decade of expertise in business development, program coordination, and inclusive entrepreneurship, Ruth has organized large-scale conferences, delivered bilingual trainings, and led collaborative projects aimed at removing barriers to accessibility and capital for underserved entrepreneurs. Before joining NDI, she served as a Bilingual Business Consultant and Training Coordinator with the University of Maryland Small Business Development Center and Hispanic Business Center (Centro Hispano de Negocios), where she supported entrepreneurs statewide with business planning, digital marketing, e-commerce development, and funding preparation. Ruth has also owned and operated several ventures in income tax preparation, marketing, business consulting, and micro manufacturing. Her passion lies in creating pathways that ensure equitable opportunities and lasting community impact.
Caroline Bolas, Small Business Specialist, provides technical assistance, training and case consultation to state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) leadership, VR counselors, entrepreneurial support organizations and entrepreneurs with disabilities. Caroline has had a varied career, including being an international small business owner, a nonprofit consultant, mental health social worker and a direct service provider to people with disabilities. She has extensive project management, policy development, and curriculum development experience. Prior to joining NDI, most recently Caroline served as the Maryland State SOAR Lead, providing technical assistance to the SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery program. Caroline holds a master’s degree in Occupational Psychology from London Guildhall University and a master’s degree in Social Policy and Social Work from the London School of Economics.
cbolas@ndi-inc.org
Alexis (Lexi) Jones is the Navigator for the Small Business Team. She is a Licensed Social Worker with 15 years of experience working with vulnerable and underserved populations. Lexi previously worked overseeing the intake process and enrichment programs for an organization that provided direct services to people who are blind or visually impaired. She has also served as the Advocacy Department Head for an organization serving crime victims and Resident Services Coordinator for an Independent Living Community serving seniors and adults with disabilities. Lexi holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is an artist and avid gardener, who enjoys spending as much time as possible in nature and with her family.
ajones@ndi-inc.org
Laura Thrasher is the Small Business Project Coordinator for the National Disability Institute. She has worked with adults with disabilities as part of a clinical trial at the University of Alabama, which studied the use of over-the-counter hearing aids in rural Alabama. Laura spent several years teaching college English and is an experienced copywriter. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
lthrasher@ndi-inc.org
Past Projects
Small Business Ownership by People with Disabilities: Challenges and Opportunities Report
This report was made possible through funding from JPMorgan Chase & Co. The findings and recommendations reflect the views of National Disability Institute. The report offers recommendations for improving and expanding the ecosystem that can improve and expand support for entrepreneurs and small business owners with disabilities. Sources for the report included Census Bureau survey data, entrepreneurs with disabilities, state Vocational Rehabilitation agency (SVRA) leaders and experts from organizations in the ecosystem of disability-owned business enterprises. The entrepreneurs were asked to identify the facilitators and barriers to developing their small business, including the support services available to them, and which additional supports were needed to help grow and sustain disability-owned small businesses.
Read the full report with findings and recommendations.
Watch the launch webinar on YouTube.
Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP)
In November 2021, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) funded National Disability Institute to implement a Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP). This two-year program brought together over 40 government agencies, financial institutions, community nonprofit organizations and SBA-funded resource centers. These agencies made a commitment to work together to provide resources and improve responsive, customer-sensitive services for entrepreneurs and small business owners with disabilities. NDI Small Business provided webinars and training sessions to an audience of almost 16,000 and provided one on one counseling to over 847 business owners with disabilities from December of 2021 through May 2024, when the pilot project ended. NDI also supported eco-system partners in ensuring their services were responsive and accessible to the needs of entrepreneurs and small business owners with disabilities through disability sensitivity and awareness training.
Disability Owned – Streaming Channel
NDI has been working with Boston Media to create a free streaming TV channel providing business, education, and motivational information for business owners with disabilities. The channel also celebrates disability owned businesses. Content on the channel includes videos and resources that entrepreneurs with disabilities can use to start, build and grow their business and discover non-profits, government agencies and other entrepreneurial support organizations committed to building disability business enterprises.
The Biz-Ability Show
Funded by TD Bank produced by Boston Media and hosted by NDI, this streaming TV chat show features savvy entrepreneurs with disabilities sharing their stories of their road to business. Viewers experience the journey of small business owners with disabilities at various stages of business and hear the why behind their business startup, the challenges and successes, the ups and downs and everything in between through a candid and spontaneous dialogue with the host.
Support the Financial Health of Small Business Owners with Disabilities
Funded by MetLife Foundation, NDI brought together two cohorts of entrepreneurs with disabilities to form learning communities. The series was aimed at entrepreneurs with disabilities who had an established business and had started trading, and who wished to improve their financial health skills. The format of the community included two meetings per month. One session includes educational content related to business financial health topics such as business tax filing, pricing, profit and loss, preparation for accessing capital with interactive Q &A, the second session provided an opportunity for the participants to share with each other and included an NDI small business specialist as a mentor for the group.
Marketplace Feasibility Study
Funded by Wells Fargo, this project explored the feasibility of developing an online marketplace to support the sale of products and services by small business owners with disabilities. NDI research identified that there are more than 1.8 million small business owners with disabilities nationwide. The exploration of development of an online marketplace was done because it could enhance opportunities for outreach to potential customers that expands sales and reach for small business owners with disabilities who have limited marketing budgets.
Training and Technical Assistance to CDFIs
Funded by Wells Fargo, this project responded to the identified need of small business owners with disabilities for access to capital in the form of loans and grants to help start and grow their businesses in terms of staffing, technology, equipment acquisition and financial payment and accounting systems. A small number of CDFIs are targeting low and moderate income (LMI) owners of small businesses who are individuals with disabilities. Beginning in February 2023, NDI partnered with CDFIs to provide a series of five webinars to help increase entrepreneurs with disabilities’ understanding of the role that CDFIs can play and improve CDFIs’ awareness of this unmet market need. Additionally, NDI provided follow-up technical assistance to CDFIs wishing to improve their supports, services and access to capital to business owners with disabilities.