Caroline Casey is the businesswoman and activist behind The Valuable 500, the world’s largest CEO collective and business move for disability inclusion. She is a system shaker driving the transformational change needed to create a more inclusive world.
Recently appointed President of the IAPB, Caroline also sits on several diversity and inclusion boards to include L’Oréal, Sanofi and Sky and is a much sought-after speaker. She has received an honorary doctorate as well as multiple awards and accolades for her work as a disability activist.
Christopher Patnoe
Head of Accessibility and Disability Inclusion – Google
Pronouns: he/him
Christopher Patnoe is the Head of Accessibility and Disability Inclusion for EMEA at Google. He leads Google’s efforts around the accessibility of product, people, policy and partnerships across EMEA – with a particular focus on Emerging Markets. He has more than 25 years experience in Tech working at companies like Apple, Sony Ericsson and Disney where he’s built hardware, software, and services. His current passion is Accessibility at the intersection of immersive technologies (xR) and consumer hardware. He is the chair for the Immersive Captions Community Group with the W3C, is the Accessibility Working Group Chair for the XR Association, sits on the Board of Trustees for the American Foundation for the Blind and the GAAD Foundation. Christopher has a degree in Music from UC Berkeley.
Claudia Gordon
Senior Accessibility Strategy Partner – T-Mobile
Pronouns: she/her
Claudia Gordon is a dedicated advocate for people with disabilities with nearly 30 years of versatile professional expertise, with a personal mission to level the playing field and ensure the same opportunities are provided for all. She currently serves as the Senior Accessibility Strategist with T-Mobile US, Inc. In this role, she drives strategies for a disability inclusive culture and an accessible plus equitable work environment. Gordon has held senior leadership positions with Sprint Corporation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the National Council on Disability, and the National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center. During the Obama-Biden Administration, Gordon served as the Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and the Associate Director of Public Engagement for the White House Office of Public Engagement. Notably, in November 2022, Gordon was appointed by President Biden to serve as a Council Member on the National Council on Disability, and she was subsequently tapped to serve as the Council’s Vice Chair.
Adding to Gordon’s professional expertise is her lived experience as an immigrant at the intersections of race, disability, and gender, which is the foundation for the strong emphasis on disabled individuals with multiple marginalized identities that she brings to her work. For her unrelenting commitment to advocacy, compliance, civic engagement, and mentoring, Gordon has been recognized by the American Association of People with Disabilities, Google, AT&T Humanity of Connection, National Disability Mentoring Coalition, National Association of the Deaf, National Black Deaf Advocates, and The Root 100. Gordon is a native of Jamaica, graduate of Howard University, and graduate of the American University’s Washington College of Law.
Derek Featherstone
VP of Accessibility & Inclusive Design – Salesforce
Pronouns: he/him
Derek Featherstone is the VP of Accessibility & Inclusive Design at Salesforce, and is an internationally known author, speaker, practitioner, and authority on accessibility and inclusive design. Derek has spent the last decade creatively guiding enterprise organizations towards sustainable and proactive accessibility programs through inclusive design methods, creating processes that shift left, and facilitating culture change.
Kathy Martinez
VP of Global Disability Inclusion – Expedia Group
Pronouns: she/her
Kathy joined Expedia Group in October 2022 and leads the development of the travel tech company’s disability inclusion and equality strategy, weaving awareness and accessibility into all physical, digital, and cultural aspects across the organization.
Kathy is an internationally recognized disability inclusion thought leader. She most recently served as President & CEO of Disability Rights Advocates (DRA). Throughout her extensive career, she has also served as SVP, Head of Disability and Accessibility Strategy for Wells Fargo, and as Assistant Secretary of the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) at the U.S. Department of Labor, putting policy priorities into practice. Kathy is on the board of The American Association of People with Disabilities and has served on the boards of the National Council on Disability, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the State Department’s advisory committee on disability and foreign policy.
Ted Drake
Accessibility and Inclusive Design Leader – Intuit
Pronouns: he/him
Ted Drake is the Accessibility and Inclusive Design Leader at Intuit, a financial software company that creates TurboTax and QuickBooks. Ted leads a distributed team of Accessibility Champions; working together to power prosperity. Prior to Intuit, Ted co-founded Yahoo’s Accessibility Lab and was a developer evangelist. Ted speaks regularly at technology and design conferences and is a board member of Magical Bridge Foundation, steering committee for Web4All, and program chair for CSUN Assistive Technology Conference.
Jeff Wissel
Chief Accessibility Officer – Disability:IN
Pronouns: he/him
Jeff has a distinguished career with Fidelity Investments over the past 28 years. Jeff started Fidelity Investments as a Mutual Fund Representative and worked in a variety of roles including multiple Pilot Start up Roles. In March of 2010, Jeff obtained the Certified Financial Planning Certification, and in 2016, Jeff Founded the Fidelity Investments Enable Employee Resource Group. Today there are 5,147 active members.
Jeff is proud to say he is legally blind with a degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), and has been an avid user of assistive technologies including Screen Readers and Magnifiers for over two decades. Jeff has the IAAP CPACC Certification, the ADA Title II, III Coordinator Certification and is completing the DHS Trusted Tester Certification.
Frances West
Founder – FrancesWest&Co
Pronouns: she/her
Frances West is the founder of FrancesWest&Co, a global strategy advisory company focusing on operationalizing diversity inclusion through digital transformation. Frances and her expert partners help public, private, non-profit, and start-ups thrive and grow through digital inclusion and purpose-driven innovation strategy.
Frances has 30+ years of global business management, technology sales, emerging market development and organizational leadership experience. She held numerous executive positions, including being IBM’s first Chief Accessibility Officer where she managed a global team from IBM Research to establish IT accessibility standards, shape government policies, and develop human first enterprise technology and solutions enabling all people to reach their highest potential, regardless of their age or ability. Because of her expertise, Frances was invited as the sole IT industry representative to testify before the US Senate on the need to pass the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
Charlotte Dales
Co-Founder and CEO – Inclusively
Pronouns: she/her
Charlotte Dales (She/Hers) is the Co-Founder and CEO of Inclusively, the workforce inclusion platform empowering employers with accommodation insights, access, training and the support they need to attract and retain previously hidden talent. Charlotte’s cousin Cameron became the first licensed aesthetician in the state of Florida with Down syndrome and after witnessing Cameron’s career fulfillment, she became passionate about replicating her employment success story for disabled talent and started Inclusively.
Before launching Inclusively, Charlotte started her career in finance with Deutsche Bank in London working with trading desks around the world. After five years, she left her bank job and co-founded her first company, CAKE Technologies, a mobile payment and reservation application for restaurants and bars which scaled to over 200 restaurants in London and was acquired by American Express. Charlotte’s experience in technology and startups has allowed Inclusively to provide a new technology solution to drive authentic diversity and inclusion in the workplace–helping employers acquire and retain top talent based on job seekers’ needed accommodations to build sustainable livelihoods and careers. Under Charlotte’s leadership, Inclusively is proud to be modernizing recruitment by creating structure and transparency around accommodations, benefitting all job seekers. Charlotte graduated from University of Colorado, Boulder and lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son.
Theo Hildyard
VP of Global Demand Generation – Brightcove
Pronouns: he/him
Theo Hildyard is the VP of Global Demand Generation at Brightcove, the trusted leader in streaming technology. He oversees global campaigns and marketing operations as well as regional, partner and customer marketing. A results-driven analytical marketing leader, Hildyard has over 15 years of experience in B2B and enterprise software including PaaS and SaaS based products. Hildyard is a motivational and pragmatic leader with a proven track record of improving cross-functional collaboration and partnering with sales to ensure GTMs are actionable across every stage of the sales cycle.
ACCESS 2023 SPEAKERS
Soren Hamby, Senior Manager of UX and Digital Design - Benjamin Moore & Co.
Pronouns: they/them
Soren designs inclusive and accessible systems, communities, and products. As a Senior Manager of UX, Soren Hamby is making the design industry more equitable. They have a focus on accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity while simultaneously building a strong and diverse team.
They also guest speak, educate, consult, and write about inclusive design, employee equity in tech, and accessibility. Otherwise, you can find them eating large amounts of plants and collecting enamel pins in the NYC metro.
Catarina Rivera, Founder - Blindish Latina
Pronouns: she/her
Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH, CPACC is a disability public speaker, DEI consultant, and content creator with over 14 years of experience in the public sector. Catarina works with companies to improve disability awareness, inclusion, and accessibility. She is the founder of Blindish Latina, a platform smashing disability stigmas through storytelling and advocacy. Catarina has worn hearing aids from a young age and was diagnosed with a progressive vision disability at 17 years old. She has a BA from Duke University, an MSEd from Bank Street College of Education, and an MPH from Hunter College. Catarina is a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (IAAP).
Albert Kim, Lead Consultant - AK Digital Accessibility Consulting
Pronouns: he/him
Albert Kim is an award-winning accessibility subject matter expert and public speaker who previously worked with Doordash, Intuit, ServiceNow, Korn Ferry, Siteimprove, and Fable. He is also the founder of Global Accessibility NextGen Initiative, a global community of future accessibility champions and leaders. Albert pioneered the Neurodiversity & Mental Health inclusion in digital accessibility and currently serves as an invited expert at W3C Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Task Force as well as Mental Health Sub-Group.
Josh Loebner, Global Head of Inclusive Design - Wunderman Thompson
Pronouns: he/him
Josh Loebner, PhD, is a 20-year brand, advertising and inclusive design pro and supports global brand initiatives centering on inclusive design, disability, and accessibility. He joined Wunderman Thompson in May 2022 as Global Head of Inclusive Design to lead the Inclusive Experience Practice, which provides inclusive and accessible consulting, strategy, creative, experience, and design expertise for clients.
Samuel Proulx, Accessibility Evangelist - Fable
Pronouns: he/him
Samuel Proulx is the Accessibility Evangelist at Fable, a leading accessibility platform powered by people with disabilities. As a blind individual, Sam knows and values the importance of accessibility in all aspects of life and is a strong advocate for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the digital world. Sam brings his previous experience as Fable’s community manager, plus life-long advocacy for himself and others, to his role as Evangelist.
Ella Callow, ADA/504 Compliance Officer - University of California, Berkeley
Pronouns: she/her
Ella Callow is the ADA/504 Compliance Officer for the University of California, Berkeley. She has a J.D. from Berkeley School of Law and has practiced law since 2001. Prior to working for UC Berkeley, Ms. Callow served for 12 years as Legal Director for the National Center on Parents with Disabilities and their Families, a NIDILRR funded research, policy and legislative program. She has written federal reports, peer-reviewed articles, and book chapters on the topics of disability rights, the intersection of disability/indigenous nations, and the parenting rights of persons with disabilities in the U.S. judicial system.
Ms. Callow has organized and keynoted national and international disability parenting rights conferences, participated in White House panels on eugenics, disability, tribal nations and child welfare, and successfully participated in multiple state legislative efforts to increase protections for parents with disabilities and their children.
Zainab Alkebsi, Policy Counsel - National Association of the Deaf
Pronouns: she/her
Zainab Alkebsi is Policy Counsel at the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), the largest and most influential membership organization of deaf and hard-of-hearing persons in the United States. As Policy Counsel, Ms. Alkebsi is responsible for providing analysis, recommendations, and advice to the NAD on policy issues affecting people who are deaf and hard of hearing. Ms. Alkebsi regularly interfaces with government agencies, Congress, coalitions, media, and businesses on all issues affecting deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.
Ms. Alkebsi also represents the NAD at conferences, on advisory committees and panels, and through presentations. Ms. Alkebsi also serves as the President of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association and Chair of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network. Before joining the NAD, Ms. Alkebsi served as Deputy Director at the Maryland Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing coordinating the office’s legislative and policy efforts. Ms. Alkebsi has a BA in political science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law.
Blake Reid, Clinical Professor - Colorado Law
Pronouns: he/him
Blake writes, teaches, and practices at the intersection of law, policy, and technology. He is a Clinical Professor (Associate Professor of Law starting Fall 2023) at Colorado Law, where he serves as the (outgoing) Director of the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic (TLPC) and as the Faculty Director of the Telecom and Platforms Initiative at the Silicon Flatirons Center.
Before joining the faculty at Colorado Law, Blake was a staff attorney and graduate fellow in First Amendment and media law at the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown Law and a law clerk for Justice Nancy E. Rice on the Colorado Supreme Court.
Lily, SVP of Marketing - 3Play Media
Pronouns: she/her
Lily Bond is the Vice President of Marketing at 3Play Media, the industry’s leading provider of video accessibility services. 3Play provides premiere closed captioning, transcription, translation, and audio description services to make digital video content more accessible, searchable, and engaging. Lily has published content on the topics of closed captioning and accessibility for over 8 years, and currently oversees all marketing programs and strategy.
Kiah Amara, Founder - IndieVISIBLE Entertainment
Pronouns: they/them
Kiah Amara is a Disabled, Queer, and nonbinary producer, activist, and production accessibility coordinator. Originally from the rural Midwest, they now work globally expanding ideas of Accessibility, Disability, and all things deviant from normal through their company IndieVISIBLE Entertainment. Kiah is the PAC on Best Foot Forward (AppleTV+) which was featured in The New York Times and awarded a 2022 Ruderman Seal of Authenticity. Other work includes the Netflix x RespectAbility Children’s Content Lab, The Greatest ad (Apple x Somesuch), Rosie’s Rules (PBS Kids), CBS and WarnerBros. Discovery Talent Initiatives, and Accessibility Lead for the Far Out product launch at the Steve Jobs Theatre.
Cashmere Jasmine, Writer/Director
Pronouns: she/her
Writer-Director Cashmere Jasmine is an Afro-Caribbean creative who blends genres with dark comedy. She tells disability-inclusive queer stories featuring unexpected anti-heroes you’ll love to hate. Cashmere has written, directed, and produced several festival official selections and will direct a short film for Disney Launchpad that will air on Disney+ in 2023
Adriano Araújo dos Reis Botega, VFX Artist, Technical Director, and Motion Designer
Pronouns: they/them
Born a Brazilian Paulista, Adriano brings the “gambiarra” spirit of alternative engineering to their international work as a VFX Artist, Technical Director, and Motion Designer. Concocted through a Latinx, Immigrant, Queer, and Neurodiverse lens, their creative solutions take an alien approach to uncovering the natural world through new technologies. Adriano’s work spans from commercials, interactive projection, documentary, and narrative (BMW Spain, Time Square Broadway event premieres, Illuminarium Experience, Selva Brasil, Ride the Omnibus). Their solo animated short Flow, a journey of adult neurodiversity discovery, is currently in post production.
Nasreen Alkhateeb is an Emmy award-winning Cinematographer who illuminates historically excluded voices. Her ability to motivate audiences is a direct result of approaching story through multiple identities: Multi-heritage, Black, Iraqi, 1st gen, raised Muslim, LGBTQ, including being a person with multiple Disabilities. Her work has been featured by Apple+, FX Networks, NASA, Kamala Harris, Oprah, the United Nations, and the Tribeca Film Festival. An alumna of the Sundance Accessible Futures Intensive, The Disruptors Fellowship, the RespectAbility Lab, and a fellow of the Ford Foundation’s Disability Futures, Forbes described her as “breaking barriers.”
Christopher Land, Senior Accessibility Technical Program Manager - Oracle
Pronouns: he/him
Christopher Land is a Senior Accessibility Technical Program Manager with Oracle and a founder of the San Diego Accessibility & Inclusive Design group. Chris has experience in training, coding, design, UX and enterprise systems. He sees digital accessibility as crucial in providing people with disabilities an unprecedented level of independence. Chris is fascinated with AI, technology and the range of potential utopian / dystopian futures ahead of us.
Roger Zimmerman, Chief of Research and Development - 3Play Media
Pronouns: he/him
Roger Zimmerman has been with 3Play since 2011, and has been the Chief of R&D since 2016. Mr. Zimmerman focuses on research and development of machine-learning, speech and natural language processing technology. Prior to 3Play Media, he held research and technical leadership positions at Nuance, eScription, Philips Speech Processing and Voice Processing Corporation. He has authored numerous patents and publications on speech and language processing. He holds a B.S. from Brown University.
Coty Craven, Captioning Producer at Epic Games
Pronouns: they/them
Coty Craven is a Producer focused on accessibility and inclusion for Unreal Engine at Epic Games. A longtime champion of game accessibility, they work on the Epic Developer Community team to help make Unreal Engine learning content accessible by ensuring that all video content is accurately captioned. They are also on the leadership committee for the new Epic Disability Alliance employee resource group, which focuses on supporting disabled employees, their loved ones, and allies.
Solomon Romney, Accessibility Program Manager for the Inclusive Tech Lab - Microsoft
Pronouns: he/him
Solomon is the Accessibility Program Manager for the Inclusive Tech Lab at Microsoft. He joined the Inclusive Tech Lab (ITL) in 2020 to help design and develop products like the Surface Adaptive Kit and the new Microsoft Adaptive Accessories. Prior to that, he worked for Tobii Dynavox selling and supporting Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices for people with speech impacting disabilities. He originally started with Microsoft in 2014 in their Physical Stores during which time he was honored to be part of the Xbox Adaptive Controller team. His background, though, is not in technology. He is a classically trained actor and scholar. He has two master’s degrees in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance, wrote about Shakespeare’s business model, and was an accomplished stage fighter. Being a limb different actor, and having a need for various prosthetic hands, ultimately led him to transition to tech. He was recently accepted to the Mythological Studies Ph.D. program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. He is an avid gamer, storyteller, and poet who spends way too much time collecting antique storybooks.
Karen Peltz Strauss, Disability Access Consultant
Pronouns: she/her
Karen Peltz Strauss has spent nearly four decades leading nationwide efforts to adopt federal policies designed to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to communications and video programming services and equipment. Currently consulting for consumer organizations, researchers, and service providers, Strauss previously served two tours of duty as Deputy Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, first from 1999-2001, and more recently from 2010-2018. While at the FCC, Strauss oversaw implementation of the Commission’s disability policies on telecommunications, video programming and Internet access, and spearheaded the creation of the FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee.
Derek Throldahl, Director of Realtime Services - 3Play Media
Pronouns: he/him
Derek entered the media accessibility industry in 2007 as a live closed captioner for news, sports, education, and corporate events. He now heads the live captioning department at 3Play Media Minneapolis where he oversees workflows, meets with existing and prospective clients, and pushes industry advancement to provide high-quality captioning and language accessibility for live events.
Josh Summers, Senior Manager, Training, Development and Technology - 3Play Media Canada
Pronouns: he/him
Josh trained as a live and offline closed captioner in 2003, working in the broadcast television industry. He helped implement and develop 3Play Media Canada’s voice-captioning department, and managed its team for several years, before moving into a multi-pronged, customer-facing role with a focus on live and offline workflows, production efficiencies, and best practices.
Karen Russell, Director - Adaptive Yoga LIVE
Pronouns: she/her
Karen Russell has made helping people to live a fitter, healthier, lifestyle her passion for more than 25 years. After a long career as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer, Karen qualified as a Fitness Instructor and worked as a Personal Trainer. She qualified as a yoga teacher in 2005 – and has since trained with the top teachers at Stoke Mandeville Sports Centre, home of the Paralympics, in the UK. She is currently a director of Adaptive Yoga LIVE.
James Berg, Senior Technical Program Manager - Xbox Gaming
Pronouns: he/him
James worked in AAA game development for more than 15 years, shipping 40+ games & projects at Electronic Arts. During a decade of work as a games researcher, he was elected to lead the IGDA Games Research organization for several years, and then transitioned to helping establish and build the games accessibility practice across EA games. He’s now a Senior Technical Program Manager at Xbox, lending his knowledge of gamedev to an incredible team that’s focused on improving accessibility across the Xbox platform & ecosystem – letting him help gamedevs everywhere make their games playable by as many players as possible.
He’s autistic and has ADHD, which he would have appreciated figuring out 40 years earlier than he did. Unsurprisingly, he’s an avid gamer, but he’d actually rather be scuba diving (poorly) than whatever it is he’s currently doing – as long as it’s somewhere warmer than his Canadian home. He’s a frequent speaker on the intersections of games, research, and inclusively designed games.
Tessa Kettelberger, Senior Data Scientist - 3Play Media
Pronouns: she/her
Tessa Kettelberger is a Senior Data Scientist at 3Play Media. Tessa has worked in research and development at 3Play Media for almost 4 years, and often focuses on using natural language processing to improve 3Play Media’s captioning, transcription, and audio description services. Tessa produces the annual State of Automatic Speech Recognition report.
Clark Rachfal, Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs - American Council of the Blind
Pronouns: he/him
Clark Rachfal is the Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs for the American Council of the Blind (ACB). In this role, he leads ACB’s legislative and regulatory agendas, as well as member-driven and individual advocacy efforts, to further the organization’s mission of security, independence, equality and opportunity for all people who are blind and experiencing vision loss.
Clark embraces the ACB core values of integrity and honesty, respect, collaboration, flexibility, and initiative in all that he does to support the necessary changes required for successful interventions of equality. He represents ACB on various corporate technology and communications accessibility boards as well as the Federal Communications Commission’s Disability Advisory Committee and Consumer Advisory Committee.
Prior to joining ACB, Clark served in public policy positions for National Industries for the Blind, and Verizon Communications, Inc. In addition to his policy background, Clark is a Paralympian and World Champion in the sport of tandem cycling. Clark holds a bachelor of science degree from Towson University in political science and economics, and lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife, Greta, and their two dogs, Summit and Cricket.
3Play Media
Code of Conduct
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Contact Us:
77 N. Washington Street
2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02114
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 617-764-5189
About 3Play Media:
ACCESS is an event put on by 3Play Media. 3Play Media is an integrated video accessibility platform with patented solutions for closed captioning, transcription, live captioning, audio description, and subtitling.
