AXSChat Podcast

 Access Israel, established in Israel in 1999, is the first non-profit organization in Israel whose main mission is to promote accessibility and inclusion to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and the elderly Access Israel strives to make Israel a place where people with various disabilities are integrated into society with dignity, respect, equal rights and maximum independen...

  Neil has been recognised as one of Britain’s most accomplished entrepreneurs. Alongside his business successes he is well known on the international disability stage, himself being blind.​ ​ GoodMaps revolutionary indoor navigation solution transforms the built environment into an inclusive space for everyone. Making a wide variety of locations; office, transport hub, educational setting, hospit...

  With more than a decade of experience developing and demonstrating accessible technology in mobile, web and artificial intelligence, Heather Dowdy is passionate about connecting the dots across disability, race, and tech. She currently manages Accessibility Skilling at Microsoft, with a focus on making the future of work more inclusive. Heather is responsible for the global partnership strategy...

  Dr. LaMondre Pough  LaMondre is a passionate speaker, mentor, and a recognized leader for the community of People with Disabilities.  As CEO of Billion Strong, he brings to the position his natural ability to empower audiences to embrace diversity and create environments where people genuinely belong.  Diagnosed before his second birthday with spinal muscular atrophy, Pough challenges people to...

  Orla has been involved with live captioning delivery for nearly 30 years.  15 years with the BBC as part of the team managing 5%-100% subtitled content across the BBC.  Orla was responsible for managing captioners and researchers, delivery and project management looking at the varied broadcast content on the channel: drama, game shows, political chat shows, 24-hour news, music festivals, sports...

  When Cigdem Knebel struggled to find decodable “big-kid” chapter books a young dyslexic could painlessly read, she began to write one herself for her son. Cigdem is the founder of Simple Words Books. Her mission is to help young dyslexics and early readers with fluency, comprehension, but most importantly, reading-confidence. She accomplishes this by using many carefully chosen words in her book...

  Rosemary Musachio’s life has been based on miracles and dreams.  Like any other birth, Rosemary’s was a miracle but with a twist.  Since she developed cerebral palsy at birth due to brain damage, Rosemary was presumed a vegetable by the doctor who delivered her.  Yet, another miracle happened when Rosemary proved that doctor dead wrong.  For every limitation she has, she has been able to overcom...

 Elaine Katz oversees Kessler Foundation’s comprehensive grant making program and its communications department. During her tenure, the Foundation has awarded $49 million for national and community-based employment programs. Katz works with non-profit organizations in board development, fundraising, marketing, and business development. She serves on the boards of JESPY House , New Jersey Associati...

 Dr. Rachele Hendricks-Sturrup is a health scientist and Health Policy Counsel at the Future of Privacy Forum. Dr. Hendricks-Sturrup’s work involves exploring and addressing ethical, legal, and social issues and implementation barriers at the forefront of health policy and innovation. Her research centers on generating best practices for the use and processing of health and genetics data across th...

After graduating from the Vienna University of Economics, Michael Fembek (born 1961) joined GEWINN, an Austrian business magazine, serving between 2000 and 2007 as editor-in-chief. In 2009 he initiated “Sinnstifter”, a project by Austrian philanthropists, and launched the annual Austrian CSR-Guide on corporate responsibility. In 2010 he joined the Essl Foundation as Programme Manager and – until 2...

Kate Nicholson, JD, is a health policy and civil rights attorney and a nationally-recognized expert on the Americans with Disabilities Act .  She served in the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights division for 18 years, where she litigated and managed cases, coordinated federal disability policy, and drafted the current ADA regulations.  Kate developed intractable pain after a surgical mishap...

  Antony has been part of the AT industry since 1999, working with manufacturers, publishers, standards organisations and service providers to deliver first class products and customer experience. In addition to being the co-founder and CEO of Aventido Limited, he has also provided volunteer support for the British Standards Institute, co-created ATEC (the Assistive Technology Exhibition and Confe...

Nataliya is passionate about an idea of creating a partnership between AI and human intelligence, fusion of a machine and a human brain. She obtained her Ph. D in 2015 in the domain of non-invasive Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) as a part of EHCI team of Université Grenoble-Alpes, France. Most of her projects are focused around EEG-based BCIs in the context of consumer grade applications. Before...

  Kate is the world’s leading authority in ‘Networkology’.   The science behind the growth of workplace networks and resource groups.  In April 2014 her book ‘Secrets & Big News’ was published tackling the issue of ‘disclosure’ of disability and what employers can do to help people be themselves at work.    Kate launched PurpleSpace in October 2015 as the world’s first and only professional de...

Matt is the founder of Kakana, a ground-breaking streaming fitness platform for people of all abilities.  Matt previously founded Fitbound and Nvision.  He is also the founder of Fitbound for All, a non-profit that’s mission is to impact the health and well-being of individuals with and without disabilities and make sure all individuals have the opportunity to be included in the health and wellnes...

Married to Jennifer and father of two children Georgia & Noah, and as a family, Michael enjoys travelling, going to the theatre and cinema, as well as live music and scouting events. He first became interested passionately in health service provision when his son was diagnosed with Autism in 2009.  The following year, Michael was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease the following year and quic...

Originally from the Los Angeles area, Joan started her career with KPMG before relocating to Paris, France where she embarked on a 25+ year international career with Disney. A seasoned commercial finance executive, with a CPA, she has held leadership roles across a wide range of businesses – from Film Distribution & Acquisitions to Consumer Products & Retail – at both the Regional and loca...

    Simon Minty has delivered consultancy, training and public speaking in the field of diversity, specialising in disability, since early 2000s. Based in London, his work is international. He works with many clients from a small NGO to a multinational corporation. This international work has helped Simon develop a broader under-standing of different cultural approaches to disability. He also has...

 Sarah Stites is the Development Officer for Caritas Aregak Foundation, an organization devoted to supporting young people with disabilities in Gyumri, Armenia. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Sarah is passionate about communication, human dignity, cultural exchange and empathy.    Their primary fundraising needs right now are for three projects, in order of highest - lowest need (in ot...

Paul Carter is a journalist who works as senior producer and technology reporter for the BBC.  He was born without lower arms or legs. He has produced BBC Newsnight, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Travel Show and is a regular member of the team at BBCCLick the flagship technology show for the corporation. Click has a worldwide audience of around 80 million and is shown on BBC News and BBC Worldwide.  The s...

 Andy Imparato began work in February as the Executive Director of Disability Rights California (DRC) after a high impact career in Washington, DC in disability advocacy and policy. DRC is the federally funded legal services agency that serves Californians with all disabilities across the age spectrum.  While in DC, Imparato served as the Disability Policy Director for Chairman Tom Harkin on the U...

  Tara Moss is a Canadian-Australian author of 13 books of fiction and non-fiction, a documentary maker, and an outspoken advocate for human rights and the rights of women, children and people with disabilities. She is an Edna Ryan Award winner and UNICEF Australia’s National Ambassador for Child Survival, and has visited hospitals, maternity wards, refuges and schools as well as Syrian refugee ca...

The James Emmett brand is one of the most recognizable in the field of disability inclusion. James has worked on many of the most visible disability inclusion initiatives with companies like Walgreens, Best Buy, Office Depot/Max, PepsiCo, and Mercy Health. James is the Founder of James Emmett & Company ( www.jamesemmettandcompany.com ) that provides disability inclusion services to major compa...

On this episode of axschat, Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken do a short review of 2020 and changes occurred in relation to accessibility and future of work Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow axschat on social media. Bluesky: Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.com Debra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.social Neil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.social axschat...

  Diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of nine, Abi has used computers and technology to help her succeed throughout her education and in employment. Driven by her own experiences Abi has spent the past 2 decades working to make technology accessible and inclusive for everyone including leading R&D projects into assistive technology innovation and supporting organisations in the public, private...