Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Oct 05, 2025

Meet The Model Pushing For Opportunities For Creative People With Disabilities

Meet The Model Pushing For Opportunities For Creative People With Disabilities

"If your whole team looks like you, that’s a problem. The world is so diverse, and that should be celebrated. "

Disability has been an issue that society has been grappling with, even as diversity is now at the forefront of people's’ attention — but Jillian Mercado has been thinking about this form of representation for a long time. The model and actor has used a wheelchair since childhood as a result of muscular dystrophy. As her modeling career took off, she worked with friends studying photography and began to notice the lack of physical diversity on sets. Now, she is using her platform to open doors for other creatives with disabilities who may otherwise get overlooked in the fashion industry.

This past summer, Mercado, along with her sister and a close friend, started the Black Disabled Creatives database in order to connect people with companies and brands who were preaching the values of diversity amid the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. The site offers a roster of creatives from all different backgrounds and will begin posting job listings soon. Mercado spoke with BuzzFeed News about this initiative in a phone interview that touched on the power of representation, and the need for greater discussion around disability.

How did you get started?


I had always felt like the loneliest person on the planet. I would go to school in a wheelchair and be like, OK, where are the rest of us? So I had this idea in my mind from a very long ago to expand representation. After an ad campaign with Diesel went viral, people were messaging me, being like "I always wanted to be a model, but I didn’t think I could be," and they were right. Unless it was for a hospital or a charity, the opportunities just weren’t there. I was pretty lucky at the time that the creative director and I met at an event and hit it off, and it went from there. I’m still pushing true representation, which is not about checking boxes; it’s about actually giving chances and realizing that this should have been the way to go from the beginning.



I had dabbled in being the creative director of a magazine called We the Urban, where I created photo shoots and editorials. I always noticed being on set, both in front of and behind the camera, it was always the same kind of people. It wasn’t diverse at all. It was really frustrating to know that my friends and the people that I went to school with are out there, and these magazines just don’t give opportunities or see beyond the box that is given.

When I was behind the scenes, I made sure to give opportunities to others and provide access to everyone, knowing that it is really, really hard to break in. It was just like, I had to help my Latin community out; I had to help my LGBTQ community; I had to help my disabled community. The fashion industry has this really bizarre style of hiring models who are really tall, really thin, and Eurocentric, and America is more diverse than that. That’s not what I see when I go out, when I meet people. So when I had the opportunity to mix that up and show that there is beauty in every single person, that we shouldn’t be limiting the definition, I took that opportunity in full force.


Multidisciplinary Artist The Lady Ms. VaginaJenkins is one of the artists involved with Black Disabled Creatives.


Where did the Black Disabled Creatives database come from?


I was looking through my stories on Instagram, and I noticed that a lot of people were posting about Black-owned restaurants, Black-owned bookstores, with the emphasis that they were Black-owned. I unfortunately noticed that disability was left out of the conversation.

In my lifetime so far, it’s always been hard to bring disability into the forefront, for reasons that honestly I still don’t know myself. As someone with a physical disability, I do my best to talk about it as much as possible. I come from a background of Dominican parents. My dad is Black and Dominican, so I know firsthand how different the world is for us out there — and especially combining that with my disability, I know of so many disabled Black people out there.

There was no way for others to really understand how magical this group of people is, and they don’t get the opportunity to really exercise and showcase their work. I chose to focus on creative people because that’s my background. I wrote down a few ideas I had, and it started as a Google Excel sheet, and I called out to people who follow me on Instagram, asking for recommendations.

I want to use the opportunities that are given to me to help connect those brands and companies that are preaching about being more inclusive, being more diverse, and being like, “Hey, why don’t you include people with disabilities in your workplace? If you’re a creative director, if you’re putting together a photo shoot for a magazine, how about hiring a photographer who’s disabled?” Just so that we can move the needle forward. We also need a conversation about disability because 1 out of 4 people have a disability, and it’s insane how we don’t talk about it.

A friend of mine who is a web developer was like, “Hey, I’d love to help you with this.” The website is fully accessible as far as disability goes, so there are apps for [people who are] hard of hearing, or if someone is blind, for that matter. I wanted to create a platform and a place where not only can creatives and brands hire these people, but people themselves who are submitting their work can get to know there’s a community like them, who are dedicated to their work, so that they can create a sort of community.



Are you coordinating with other collectives or groups on this?


At the moment, no, but it’s something that is definitely in our list, as our organization gets bigger and reaches more people. We are in talks with a few people about joining forces, but it’s literally only been a few months, so that is likely to happen later this year or next. At the moment, we’re all alone.

Can you talk about the Instagram account?


Social media can be such a beautiful place. It really helps people visually connect with other people. We did this account so that we can educate who may not know or what to learn about the community, to further the conversation, so that people can come across a post, feel that they’re not alone if they relate to it, and to know that there are so many great disabled people out there as far as famous people who maybe you didn’t know had disabilities, and also people who are living their best lives and need an extra push to access their to a larger community.

We hope that people can understand that disability has always been here, and we should not disregard such a huge group, especially since anyone could become disabled at any time. That is not something that should be feared, but should be accepted. And we hope that we can provide support that even if that happens, if things are not the same as they were before, they can still enjoy life just the way they are. We always come together as a community and help each other out. I wanted to remove the fear of disability, which, unfortunately, is so implemented in us, in representation, so I wanted to highlight these talents in the most beautiful way.


Activist, model and speaker Wesley Hamilton

Last year, we really noticed the power of social media with any protests or social justice movements, and last year was really about showing images and getting into that emotional connectivity as far as how close we all are in reality. Especially with this presidency, everyone is saying we’re so divided, and in many ways we are. But if we stop and listen, we’re also so interconnected and intertwined. The great thing about this country is how much we’re willing to help each other through empathy and sympathy.


Any final thoughts on representation of people with disabilities?


If your whole team looks like you, that’s a problem. The world is so diverse, and that should be celebrated. There is not one type of look. It’s a positive thing to include those people and to speak up for those people who don’t have access. A lot of companies are really ableist and do things that impact us mentally, and that should be addressed. Our community is huge, and we welcome anyone who is curious or who is afraid, and know that we have a lot of patience and a lot of creativity to give.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×