Rahsaan's passion for disability inclusion took root in Jamestown, New York when he was just sixteen years old.

As a Varsity athlete, Rahsaan was invited to volunteer at the local Special Olympics, where he helped a fellow student with Down’s Syndrome complete the 100-meter dash. From that day forward, Rahsaan took great care to ensure the athletes from the Special Olympics had a seat at the ‘jock’s table’ in the cafeteria, marking the beginning of his lifelong commitment to inclusion.

After high school, Rahsaan pursued a degree in psychology, followed by a master’s in occupational therapy. His 27-year career as a disability practitioner has focused on children in under-resourced situations where early intervention is key to their developmental trajectory.

In 2012, Rahsaan began leading an international relief and development organization’s $25M child protection and education portfolio across 20 countries. His team made disability inclusion a cornerstone of their projects, and Rahsaan’s advocacy helped expand the organization’s reach to $125M across more than 30 countries.

In this role, Rahsaan saw firsthand the lack of systems and safeguards for people with disabilities in the global south. “There were no laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, no systems to protect or advocate for those with disabilities,” Rahsaan explains. This realization planted a seed that would one day lead Rahsaan to start Avail Ability International. 

Rahsaan eventually left the international development sector and continued to advance disability inclusion as a consultant. During this time, he returned to his hometown school district to design and support the implementation of an inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) initiative across the district’s nine schools. He facilitated professional development workshops on the connections between household poverty, adverse childhood experiences, and disability, and he designed programs for early childhood intervention, financial literacy, and youth entrepreneurialism. In 2024, the initiative was awarded a $700,000 My Brother’s Keeper grant. “I was humbled and privileged to support the efforts of so many in my hometown who care for the district’s most vulnerable children, and particularly those with disabilities.”