CNIB Podcast Network

The Lens: Living Diverse welcomes Adam Brown, a talented voice actor and social media influencer. In their conversation, Adam openly discusses his journey as a young Black man living with Retinitis Pigmentosa, highlighting his passion for music production, advocacy efforts, and his experiences in the voice acting field. Together, they explore the significance of diversity and representation in ani...

In the fall, we interviewed four students who entered the 2023 CNIB Braille Creative Writing Contest and also attended the Writing With Feeling Retreat at CNIB Lake Joe. Hear from Aiza, Ali, Donna-Lynn and Fajer about their experiences.

The Lens: Living Diverse, welcomes Azhar Karim, Founder of DEEN: Disability Empowerment Equality Network. DEEN is a Canadian charity founded by Muslims with Disabilities that operates a number of programs and services for people with disabilities in Mississauga, Ottawa and Scarborough. Azhar discusses his Muslim faith, the importance of technology and language learning, and how it has evolved over...

The Lens: Living Diverse welcomes Stephanie Pilon, CNIB program lead and passionate advocate for social justice, as our special guest. We’ll discuss diversity inclusion, and disability justice. Plus, hear from Steph about her intersecting identities and lived experience as a person with sight loss who is part of the 2SLGBTQ community.

In Episode 21 of The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben and Vivi chat with Assistive Technology Trainer Alex Barnes. Alex shares his experience living as a bi-racial individual with multiple disabilities who immigrated from the United Kingdom to Canada. Hear Alex talk about the importance of incorporating diversity and inclusion into the ways we engage with technology, whether through speech synthesizers,...

In the latest episode of the Lens: Living Diverse, Ben kicks it with the super talented Ramya Amuthan, co-host of AMI’s “The Kelly and Ramya Show.” Ramya talks about her intersecting identities as a Sri Lankan-born woman with sight loss and shares her journey working in media as a racialized woman. Ramya and Ben also have thoughtful discussions about appropriately pronouncing names that are ethnic...

CNIB Lake Joe On The Go! – Accessibility at Lake Joe by CNIB / INCA

In the latest episode of The Lens: Living Diverse podcast, Ben sits down with Elaine Harrison, an advocate, volunteer, and member of the community. Elaine delves into the various facets of her identity, including her Korean ethnicity and her experiences as a mother. Listen to Elaine’s powerful journey, where she explores her passion for inclusive advocacy and embraces the concepts of self-discover...

Hosted by The German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (DBSV) and VIEWS International, the International Low-Vision Song Contest (ILSC) is a music contest for blind and visually impaired musicians. The contest provides a global platform for musicians to share their art and talent, to inspire and entertain. Organizations representing their respective countries submit a song to compete i...

In the latest edition of The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben sits down with community member, Martin Springer. During their discussion, Martin reflects on his sight loss journey, offers his perspective as a single black father and grandfather, and his lived experiences as a black man losing his vision. Martin also shares his tips and strategies for raising a family as a blind parent and the essential ro...

In this episode of The Lens: Living Diverse, Neisha, Vivi and Keya continue their in-depth conversation about toxic femininity with a focus on the workplace. Listen to real conversations about appearance at work, internal and external perceptions, pressures of working in conjunction with colleagues of different identities and so much more. The trio share their personal experiences as racialized wo...

Celebrate Black History Month with The Lens: Living Diverse. As Black individuals raised in Canada, Neisha, Vivi and Ben discuss their opinions of Black History Month, Black History curriculum, pivotal Black figures, powerful literature and modern-day celebrations to commemorate the month. You won’t want to miss this honest and thought-provoking discussion, where we examine our Black history, pres...

In this thought-provoking episode of the Lens: Living Diverse, Ben speaks with Nav Dhillon – a passionate advocate and founder of 1iCollective, a not-for-profit aimed at empowering and instilling hope in individuals impacted by vision and ocular adversities. Nav shares her experiences as a South Asian woman living with an artificial eye, her journey navigating the sight loss community, and her ini...

In this episode of the Lens: Living Diverse, Ben and Vivi welcome Lily – a vocal advocate and community member – to share her story of immigrating to Canada from China. In this candid conversation, Lily breaks down the experience of immigrating with sight loss and highlights the cultural differences and language barriers that come with navigating a new country. Lily also chats about an experience...

The Lens: Living Diverse welcomes Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai, Vice President of Research & International Affairs and Chief Accessibility Officer at CNIB, to the podcast. In this in-depth conversation, Mahadeo discusses the importance of research, analysis, and evaluation for diverse communities. He also tells the story of his family’s migration from the Caribbean to Canada and the experience of achieving...

In the podcast series finale, Jacob meets with college student, advocate and influencer, Alicia Chenier, and human rights and employment lawyer, Hina Ghaus, to discuss legal rights related to post-secondary education and advocacy strategies. To access links to external resources referenced in Episode 9, visit www.cnib.ca/knowyourrights Disclaimer: Content covered in the Know Your Rights podcast se...

In Episode 12 of The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben, Vivi, and special guest Kat Hamilton have a candid conversation about allyship. Kat is a strong supporter of many diverse communities, which include people living with disabilities, women’s rights, racialized communities, BIPOC and the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Listen to the trio chat about entitlement vs. advocacy and effective methods for promoting empow...

In Episode 8, Jacob meets with guide dog handlers, Patti Ellis, Guy Carriere, and Federal Crown Attorney, Jason Mitschele, to discuss the rights of guide dog handlers and some of the strategies that can be used to challenge discrimination. To access links to external resources referenced in Episode 8, visit www.cnib.ca/knowyourrights Disclaimer: Content covered in the Know Your Rights podcast seri...

In our latest episode The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben chats with the ultra-talented George Quarcoo (aka DJ GQ) – an inspiring DJ and producer who is already leaving his mark on the music industry. George reflects on his journey as a black male living with sight loss entrenched in the Ghanaian culture, his passion for music, and what it’s like being a DJ who lives with partial sight.

In the latest episode the The Lens: Living Diverse, Neisha, Vivi and Keya examine toxic femininity. Listen to the trio discuss navigating the world as racialized women, the countless expectations associated with being feminine, and different techniques they use to combat toxic femininity. Show notes: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11337.The_Bluest_Eye Survival...

Episode 9 of The Lens: Living Diverse, celebrates Guide Dog Access Month and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Special guests Stephen McKinney and Andrea McIvor share their lived experiences as guide dog handlers from an Indigenous perspective. Listen and learn about the barriers of being a guide dog handler, the successes of having a guide dog, extinguishing misconceptions about guid...

In Episode 8 of The Lens: Living Diverse, we introduce our new co-host, Vivi Dabee! Hear our conversation about our favourite cultural events, the accessibility of events, fun and memorable moments. CNIB Diversity & Inclusion website: https://cnib.ca/en/support-us/advocate/diversity-inclusion-we-are-cnib

To mark Guide Dog Access Awareness Month, Ryan Hooey spoke with Blair Young about his experiences as a guide dog handler. Listen to their conversation about about guide dog rights in the workplace, physical and attitudinal barriers, education, advocacy, and more. Transcript: https://cnib.ca/en/blog/guide-dog-access-awareness-month-meet-blair

Ryan Hooey caught up with Taylor Bauer, a first-time guide dog handler, to chat about guide dogs in the workplace, barriers to employment, misconceptions, and advocating for your rights.

In Episode 7 of The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben becomes young again as he chats with two incredible youth living with sight loss, Maggie and Daren. The teens share their perspectives on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as their own lived experiences with their intersecting identities. At the end of the insightful discussion, Ben plays a word association game with his guests. CNIB Diversity...