2026-08-27T11:25:29-05:00 2025-12-31 390974031 WEGNER CPAS LLP 419 N LEE ST ALEXANDRIA VA 223142301 990 2025-01-01 830836835 COMMUNICATION FIRST COMM 2025560573 1629 K STREET NW 300 WASHINGTON DC 20006 TAUNA SZYMANSKI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & LEGAL DIR 2025560573 2026-08-26 1 ADAM KUCZYNSKI CPA P01560606 7035190990 2026-08-25 2025 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z TAUNA SZYMANSKI 1629 K STREET NW 300 WASHINGTON DC 20006 1922819 0 X COMMUNICATIONFIRST.ORG X 2018 DC SEE SCHEDULE O. 11 11 9 22 0 0 511139 1807121 226717 69920 1528 45778 0 0 739384 1922819 0 0 0 0 315545 368143 0 0 11253 151872 90314 467417 458457 271967 1464362 625477 2076746 13336 13435 612141 2063311 X TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS AND ADVANCE THE INTERESTS OF THE ESTIMATED 5 MILLION CHILDREN AND ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES WHO CANNOT RELY ON SPEECH ALONE TO BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD, THROUGH PUBLIC EDUCATION, SYSTEMIC REFORM OF POLICY AND PRACTICE, AND LEGAL ADVOCACY. 0 0 389724 0 69920 SEE SCHEDULE O. 389724 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 11 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 CA CO CT DC FL HI MD ME NJ NY RI VA WA X SHUBHA BALABAER 2025560573 1629 K STREET NW STE 300 WASHINGTON DC 20006 JORDYN ZIMMERMAN CHAIR 10.00 X X 0 0 0 FRANCISCO RAMIREZ DIRECTOR 1.00 X 0 0 0 GITA GUPTA SECRETARY 1.00 X X 0 0 0 M CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS TREASURER 4.00 X X 0 0 0 SUSIE LOTHARIUS DIRECTOR 2.00 X 0 0 0 TOBY LATHAM DIRECTOR 1.00 X 0 0 0 INDIA OCHS DIRECTOR 1.00 X 0 0 0 MELISSA CRISP-COOPER DIRECTOR 1.00 X 0 0 0 TIM JIN DIRECTOR 1.00 X 0 0 0 LATEEF MCLEOD DIRECTOR 1.00 X 0 0 0 ERIN SHELDON DIRECTOR (THRU 6/2025) 1.00 X 0 0 0 GODFREY NAZARETH DIRECTOR 1.00 X 0 0 0 TAUNA SZYMANSKI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & LEGAL DIRECTOR 40.00 X 99500 0 0 99500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1807121 902741 1807121 CONTRACTED SERVICES 900099 68826 68826 MERCHANDISE 900099 1094 1094 69920 29629 29629 16149 0 16149 16149 16149 1922819 69920 0 45778 99500 80595 13930 4975 212197 205339 2404 4454 32702 29999 1714 989 23744 21782 1244 718 29300 29300 23594 23594 826 826 6791 3330 3386 75 18247 16714 1533 720 720 5510 5510 946 946 3605 1260 2303 42 MEMBERSHIP DUES 775 775 458457 389724 57480 11253 168480 185581 301528 682662 138743 0 9089 5552 1962 2376 0 605371 0 590475 5675 4729 625477 2076746 13336 13435 13336 13435 X 456224 1872685 155917 190626 612141 2063311 625477 2076746 1464362 -13192 0 X 0 1 X 1 0 X 255029 402951 180265 511139 1807121 3156505 255029 402951 180265 511139 1807121 3156505 2030615 1125890 1528 29629 31157 3187662 366635 0.35320 0.48620 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 458457 458457 91691 22923 0 0 57171 76967 93483 91691 319312 478968 5000 5000 14293 19242 23371 22923 79829 119744 0 590475 C 590475 1909627 -13192 -13192 1922819 0 1922819 458457 0 458457 0 458457 X 2 913370 FMV 0 0 0 PART I, COLUMN (B): THE NUMBER IS PART I COLUMN (B) REPRESENTS NUMBER OF DONORS. FORM 990, PART I, LINE 1, DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION MISSION: TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS AND ADVANCE THE INTERESTS OF THE ESTIMATED 5 MILLION CHILDREN AND ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES WHO CANNOT RELY ON SPEECH ALONE TO BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD, THROUGH PUBLIC EDUCATION, SYSTEMIC REFORM OF POLICY AND PRACTICE, AND LEGAL ADVOCACY. FORM 990, PART III, LINE 4A, PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: COMMUNICATIONFIRST IS THE ONLY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION LED BY AND DEDICATED TO PROTECTING THE HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS AND ADVANCING THE INTERESTS OF THE ESTIMATED 5 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES WHO CANNOT RELY ON SPEECH ALONE TO BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD DUE TO DISABILITY OR OTHER CONDITION, REGARDLESS OF CAUSE OR AGE OF ONSET. COMMUNICATIONFIRST IS A CROSS-DISABILITY, CROSS-GENERATIONAL, MULTI-RACIAL, AND MULTICULTURAL DISABILITY-LED CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION. WE PROMOTE SYSTEMIC CHANGE THROUGH PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION, POLICY AND PRACTICE REFORM, AND LEGAL ADVOCACY. MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY ARE REGULARLY DENIED THE TOOLS AND SUPPORT WE NEED TO EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE; WRONGFULLY ASSESSED AND STIGMATIZED FOR LIFE; DEPRIVED OF AN INCLUSIVE, EQUALLY EFFECTIVE EDUCATION; SEGREGATED AND INSTITUTIONALIZED; ISOLATED AND EXCLUDED FROM EVERYDAY LIFE, INCLUDING THE EVER-MORE-IMPORTANT DIGITAL WORLD; SUBJECTED TO INFERIOR HEALTH CARE; ABUSED AND VICTIMIZED; AND FAR WORSE. RESEARCH AND LIVED EXPERIENCE SUGGEST THAT BLACK, BROWN, MULTILINGUAL, AND OTHER MULTIPLY MARGINALIZED INDIVIDUALS ARE BOTH MORE LIKELY TO NEED AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC) AT SOME POINT IN LIFE AND TO EXPERIENCE HARSH AND COMPOUNDING FORMS OF SOCIETAL OPPRESSION AND DISCRIMINATION AS A RESULT. THE UNWARRANTED ASSUMPTIONS, STEREOTYPES, AND DISCRIMINATION OUR CONSTITUENTS EXPERIENCE OFTEN STEM FROM OUTDATED AND HARD-WIRED POLICIES AND PRACTICES OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES. IT IS THE NORM FOR US TO BE OSTRACIZED AND PERCEIVED AND TREATED AS LESS THAN: AS HAVING LESS INTELLECT, LESS TO SAY, AND NO NEED OR RIGHT TO DO SO ALL, IRONICALLY, BECAUSE OTHERS CANNOT UNDERSTAND US. COMMUNICATIONFIRST IS TRANSFORMING THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT THE RIGHTS AND EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE WHO NEED AND USE AAC TOOLS AND SUPPORTS. WE ARE ENSURING CONVERSATIONS AT THE FEDERAL AND STATE LEVEL AROUND POLICY ISSUES THAT IMPACT US GUARDIANSHIP, ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE, RESTRAINT AND SECLUSION, EDUCATION, ACCESS TO JUSTICE, INSTITUTIONALIZATION, EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION, AND MORE INCLUDE OUR VOICES AND ADDRESS OUR INTERESTS. WE ARE AMBITIOUS AND UNRELENTING DISABLED ADVOCATES WHO BELIEVE IN RADICAL INCLUSION AND ACCEPTANCE. WE ARE GHTING TO CHANGE HEARTS AND MINDS, AND TO BUILD A WORLD THAT CENTERS JUSTICE, COMMUNITY, DIGNITY, AND HUMANITY. AND WE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED. IN 2025, IN THE AREA OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND AWARENESS, COMMUNICATIONFIRST CONTINUED TO USE THE POWER OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING TO BEGIN TO SHATTER THE DOMINANT SOCIETAL NARRATIVE ABOUT PEOPLE WITH SPEECH-RELATED DISABILITIES. IN TERMS OF VIDEO CONTENT, WE RELEASED "ALL OUR VOICES: HIGHLIGHTING THE DIVERSITY OF AAC." WE ALSO CONTINUED TO DEVELOP AND BEGAN TO DEPLOY THE #VISIBLEAAC IMAGE REPOSITORY TO SHOW THE DIVERSITY OF AAC USERS. WE PUBLISHED INTERVIEWS WE CONDUCTED WITH AAC USERS ABOUT THEIR WORK AND EXPERIENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION. IN 2025, WE ALSO CONTINUED TO PLATFORM SUCCESSES OF MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY, INCLUDING THAT OF OUR BOARD MEMBER TOBY LATHAM, WHO PUSHED THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA TO ADOPT THE FIRST LAW IN THE COUNTRY REQUIRING SCHOOL STAFF TO BE TRAINED TO SUPPORT EACH INDIVIDUAL STUDENT'S FORM OF AAC PRIOR TO THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. IN 2025, IN THE AREA OF POLICY AND PRACTICE REFORM, COMMUNICATIONFIRST CONTINUED TO PROMOTE THE USE OF PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH WITH PEOPLE WHO NEED AND USE AAC. WE CONTINUED OUR COLLABORATION WITH THE REHABILITATION ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER (RERC) ON AAC TO PROMOTE THE SUCCESS OF THE CO-ORGANIZED FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND FUTURE OF AAC RESEARCH SUMMIT IN MAY 2024 (WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THE PRESENTERS WERE AAC USERS) BY WORKING TO PUBLISH THE PRESENTATIONS IN A SPECIAL ISSUE OF AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION, WITH TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOWNLOADS INTERNATIONALLY. SINCE THE SUMMIT, COMMUNICATIONFIRST HAS CONTINUED TO FACILITATE RESEARCHER CONNECTIONS WITH AAC USERS. TO DATE, OVER 170 AAC USERS AND FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE SIGNED UP TO BE CONTACTED ABOUT PROSPECTIVE STUDIES, AND COMMUNICATIONFIRST HAS CIRCULATED 21 OF 28 VETTED RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION. AS PART OF OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FEDERALLY FUNDED LINK CENTER, COMMUNICATIONFIRST HAS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP RESOURCES TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND SUPPORTS FOR PEOPLE WITH SPEECH-RELATED DISABILITIES AND CO-OCCURRING MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS. IN 2025, WE DEVELOPED RESOURCES REGARDING COMPLEX TRAUMA EXPERIENCED BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN DENIED ACCESS TO AAC. IN 2025, WE WERE AWARDED A THREE-YEAR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS GRANT FROM THE WITH FOUNDATION TO DEVELOP CURRICULUM FOR DISABILITY SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS WHO SUPPORT PEOPLE WHO CANNOT RELY ON SPEECH ALONE TO BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD. THIS WORK IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY. AS PART OF OUR TECHNOLOGY FOR EQUITABLE COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION, WE ORGANIZED A FREE WEBINAR IN OCTOBER 2025 ON THE BASICS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS IT MAY IMPACT MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY. SUBSEQUENTLY, WE HELD SEVERAL FOCUS GROUPS WITH DIVERSE AAC USERS AND USED THE RESULTS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A NATIONAL WHITE PAPER IDENTIFYING THE "GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY" THAT PEOPLE WITH A VARIETY OF DISABILITIES INCLUDING AAC USERS EXPERIENCE WITH THE ADVENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. IN 2025, WE ALSO BEGAN A LONG-TERM CAMPAIGN TO CLASSIFY COMMUNICATION AS A FEDERALLY-RECOGNIZED "ACTIVITY OF DAILY LIVING," A STEP THAT WOULD RECOGNIZE THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN THE DAILY LIVES OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND THE CONCOMITANT NEED FOR ACCESS TO AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION TOOLS AND SUPPORTS IF A PERSON IS UNABLE TO BE UNDERSTOOD USING THEIR SPEECH ALONE. IN RESPONSE TO PROPOSED FEDERAL ACTIONS, COMMUNICATIONFIRST IN 2025 JOINED WITH VARIOUS DISABILITY COALITIONS, INCLUDING THE CONSORTIUM FOR CONSTITUENTS WITH DISABILITIES, TO ADVOCATE IN SUPPORT OF ENSURING THAT CRITICAL SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH SIGNIFICANT DISABILITIES BE PRESERVED. IN JUNE 2025, WE ORGANIZED A FREE WEBINAR TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY DEVELOP SKILLS TO ADVOCATE ON POLICY ISSUES THAT THEY CARE ABOUT AT NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS. IN ADDITION TO THE WEBINAR, WE DEVELOPED A WRITTEN TOOLKIT IN PLAIN LANGUAGE. IN THE AREA OF LEGAL ADVOCACY, COMMUNICATIONFIRST CONTINUED TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING ON COMMUNICATION RIGHTS LAW FOR LAWYERS AROUND THE COUNTRY. WE ALSO PARTICIPATED AS AMICUS CURIAE IN COURT CASES ON DISABILITY RIGHTS ISSUES. WITH FUNDING FROM THE WITH FOUNDATION, WE ALSO BEGAN DESIGNING A TRAINING CURRICULUM FOR LAWYERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING ON CASES IN SUPPORT OF PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES WHO CANNOT RELY ON SPEECH ALONE TO BE HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD. FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, LINE 11B A COPY OF THE FORM 990 IS REVIEWED BY EACH VOTING MEMBER OF THE GOVERNING BODY PRIOR TO BEING FILED WITH THE IRS. FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION B, LINE 12C THE SECRETARY AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MONITOR THE ANNUAL AFFIRMATION DEADLINE FOR EACH BOARD MEMBER AND SEND REMINDERS AS NECESSARY. FORM 990, PART VI, SECTION C, LINE 19 GOVERNING DOCUMENTS, CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY, AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ARE MADE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.