Creating Welcoming Places and Practical Pathways

Linda Cummins

Linda Cummins was born in Liberia, where children with disabilities were too often hidden from public life. As a girl she accompanied her mother—a midwife who repurposed scrap wood and bicycle parts into makeshift mobility aids—discovering both the practical skills and the compassion that would shape her life’s work.

Civil unrest eventually led Linda’s family to resettle in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There she threw herself into local adaptive-sports leagues, group homes, and respite-care programs, learning firsthand how accessible play—a turn on a swing, a pass on the basketball court—can unlock confidence, friendships, and fresh possibilities for people who have been sidelined.

In 2025 Linda transformed that conviction into action by founding Joyful Spaces and hosting the city’s first adaptive-recreation festival. What began as a one-day event has already grown into an international nonprofit that delivers person-centered supports, vocational pathways, caregiver cooperatives, and inclusive recreation hubs serving thousands each year.

Linda still spends part of every week providing direct care for adults with profound disabilities, keeping her leadership grounded in lived experience. Her next milestone is establishing a flagship inclusive playground and community center where every participant—regardless of ability, age, or background—can gather, play, and have fun in a space designed for them from the ground up.

Guided by the West African principle of ubuntu—“I am because we are”—Linda mentors emerging disability advocates worldwide and reminds the Joyful Spaces team that meaningful innovation always begins with listening to the dreams, strengths, and stories of the people we serve.