ACCESS 2024 Speakers

ACCESS 2024 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Neil Milliken

Vice President and Global Head of Accessibility & Digital Inclusion – Atos

Pronouns: he/him

Neil is Vice President and Global Head of Accessibility & Digital Inclusion at Atos. His role is to help organisations move from disability confidence to disability competence; setting strategy and providing governance at group level, simultaneously delivering change programmes that resulting better technology for customers and staff, embedding inclusive practice into the processes of organisations with thousands of employees and turnovers of billions. He firmly believes that accessibility and disability inclusion is a business topic and created the ESG aligned framework that Atos deploy for their accessibility program.

Katy Talikowska

CEO – The Valuable 500

Pronouns: she/her

Katy is CEO of the Valuable 500, the global business partnership of 500 companies working together to end disability exclusion. She played an instrumental role in the initiation of the Valuable 500 when she partnered with Dr Caroline Casey to launch the programme at DAVOS 2019. With over a decade of experience at AMV BBDO, Katy held leadership roles, including Chief Client Officer, Chair of BBDO EMEA Talent Engagement Council, and Head of Account Management and Managing Partner. She played a key role in the ground-breaking 2016 Maltesers Disability campaign, which garnered prestigious awards and became Maltesers’ most successful campaign in 18 years.

Katy’s expertise extends to multi-discipline communications across 25 markets and includes serving as the Global Omnicom lead for Rexona, and the Global BBDO lead for Snickers. She has been acknowledged as a Marketing Trailblazer of 2019 and has recently served as a Leadership Mentor for Disability Rights UK. More recently, Katy has made valuable contributions to the executive leadership team at PINWHEEL, a corporate sustainability company.

Susan Mazrui

Director, Global Public Policy – AT&T Services, Inc.

Pronouns: she/her

Susan Mazrui began work in Communications in 1994 at Pacific Bell in Disability Marketing. In 1998, she moved to the wireless field, where she developed corporate strategies for state and federal legal and regulatory compliance. Under her leadership, Cingular Wireless became the first national carrier to offer “talking” cellphones and establish a task force on accessibility. Mazrui worked closely with Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. and the Hearing Loss Association of America and other industry members to address hearing aid and TTY compatibility with digital wireless handsets.

At AT&T, Mazrui was instrumental in establishing the Corporate Accessibility Technology Office which assessed over 50,000 AT&T products and services. She was the architect of AT&T’s Accessibility and Inclusion Program with cross company teams addressing the needs of deaf and disabled employees and their family members. In 2021, she received AT&T’s Connection Award recognizing significant individual achievement toward organizational priorities that demonstrate AT&T’s cultural pillars.

AT&T has consistently received scores of 100 in the Disability Equality Index and the National Organization on Disability’s Leading Disability Employer. Mazrui was named a Corporate Fellow by the Summit on Leading Diversity and inducted into the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2013, she was recognized as Employee of the Year by Careers and the disABLED, and in 2014 by AT&T as a Champion of Diversity. In 2016, she received the Digital Accessibility Leadership Award from G3ict and the Stephen Garff Marriott Award for mentoring from American Foundation for the Blind. In 2019, Mazrui was honored by The Community of Connection and TDI for her work in the disability field.

She has served several terms on Federal Advisory Committees and currently serves on the board of G3ict and the World Institue on Disability. When not working, Mazrui enjoys dragon boating, trivia games, and cozy mysteries.

Joe Devon

Co-Founder & Chair – GAAD Foundation

Pronouns: he/him

Joe Devon, is a technology entrepreneur and web accessibility advocate. He co-founded Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) and serves as the Chair of the GAAD Foundation, focusing on promoting digital accessibility and inclusive design. Joe also explores AI’s potential to revolutionize digital accessibility, developing AI solutions to enhance online experiences for people with disabilities.

Kate Kalcevich

Head of Accessibility Innovation – Fable

Pronouns: she/her

Kate Kalcevich started as a digital accessibility practitioner in 2001. Since then she’s led design teams, managed products, and built accessibility programs. Kate is currently the Head of Accessibility Innovation at Fable, a leading accessibility company enabling the development of inclusive digital products. In her role at Fable, she focuses on helping large organizations practice innovative approaches to accessibility. Kate has lived experience with disability as a life-long hearing aid wearer.

John Slocum

SVP of Product – 3Play Media

Pronouns: he/him

John Slocum serves as the Senior Vice President of Product at 3Play Media, a leading media accessibility company. He leads the product teams in the development of cutting-edge accessibility solutions. John’s expertise in product management drives innovation in digital content accessibility, ensuring individuals of all abilities can access media without barriers. He advocates for inclusivity in the tech community, shaping the industry’s approach to accessibility and fostering a more equitable digital landscape. John may still introduce himself as a recovering engineering, and relies on data, pivot tables and market research to find the best problems.

Ryan Haddad

Actor, Playwright, and Autobiographical Performer

Pronouns: he/him

Ryan J. Haddad is an actor, playwright, and autobiographical performer based in New York. His acclaimed solo play Hi, Are You Single? was presented in The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival and continues to tour the country. He has a recurring role on the Netflix series “The Politician.” Additional television: “Bull,” “Madam Secretary,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Haddad is a recipient of IAMA Theatre Company’s Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission and Rising Phoenix Repertory’s Cornelia Street American Playwriting Award.

His work has been developed with The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Noor Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Primary Stages, and Pride Plays. His writing has been published in the New York Times, Out Magazine, and American Theatre. Ryan is an alum of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group and a former Queer|Art Performance and Playwriting Fellow, under the mentorship of Moe Angelos. @ryanjhaddad and ryanjhaddad.com.

ACCESS 2024 SPEAKERS

Korey Singleton, Deputy ADA Coordinator for Accessibility and ATI Manager- George Mason University

Pronouns: he/him

Korey Singleton is the Deputy ADA Coordinator for Accessibility and Assistive Technology Initiative (ATI) Manager for George Mason University (GMU). Operating under Mason’s Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the ATI is tasked with guiding and implementing a university-wide strategy for addressing the information and communications technology (ICT) accessibility needs of students, staff, faculty, and visitors with disabilities. This includes providing assistive technology supports and services for individuals with disabilities, ensuring media content is accessible (i.e., captions, transcripts, audio description), reviewing websites and documents for accessibility, alternate formats for textbooks and assessments, and training. He is also an adjunct professor in the College of Education and Human Development’s Learning Design and Technology Dept. teaching web accessibility and design. His education credentials include a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering (Mechanics) from Northwestern University, Master of Education (Special Education/Assistive Technology) from George Mason University, and a PhD in Education (Learning Technologies Design Research) from George Mason University.

AnnMarie Killian, CEO - TDI

Pronouns: she/her

AnnMarie Killian is a trailblazing leader and advocate with over 20 years of experience championing accessibility and inclusion in information communication technology (ICT). As the first Deaf woman to lead TDIforAccess (TDI), she made history and continues to pave the way for greater representation and accessibility. Prior to joining TDI, AnnMarie served as Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at ZP Better Together, where she leveraged her expertise to drive impactful initiatives. In her role as CEO, she is deeply involved in ensuring the voice of the deaf and hard of hearing community is heard.

Jeff Shaul, Co-Founder - GoSign.AI

Pronouns: he/him

Jeff Shaul, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, now resides in Rochester, NY. With a background in biochemistry and bioinformatics, he transitioned into software development and entrepreneurship, focusing on accessibility tools and solutions. As the co-founder of GoSign.AI, Jeff specializes in the gamification of sign language data collection, striving to make communication more inclusive and accessible for all.

Star Grieser, CEO - RID

Pronouns: she/her

Star has served as the Chief Executive Officer of RID (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf) since July of 2021 and truly enjoys the wild ride of this position. Star grew up in south Florida – Stuart and Jensen Beach, Florida – where she developed her love for the outdoors and the open sea. She attended NTID (SVP ‘94) and graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Professional and Technical Communication, and McDaniel College with a Master’s in Deaf Education (2001). Star has always been active in advocacy and has worked among the Deaf and interpreting communities, be it medical, mental health care, Deaf education, legislative advocacy, interpreter education before becoming the Director of Testing for CASLI in 2017, and the CEO of RID 2021. She holds a RID certification as a Certified Deaf Interpreter. Star is also ICE-CCP, a Certified Certification Professional by the Institute of Credentialing Excellence. She enjoys traveling, bicycling, and walking the streets of Washington, DC – where she lives with her partner and two kittens – in search of new books from Free Little Libraries.

Tim Riker, Senior Lecturer in American Sign Language - Brown University

Pronouns: he/him

Tim Riker is a Member of the Advisory Group (AG) on AI and Sign Language Interpreting. He is a Senior Lecturer in American Sign Language at Brown University and research co-investigator with the DeafYES! Center for Deaf Empowerment and Recovery. Through his Deaf-led team’s community-engaged research, Riker has collaborated to develop linguistically and sociopolitically correct methods of inquiry when conducting Deaf qualitative research. The research team leveraged technology so they could analyze sign language data while reducing bias found in traditional methods of inquiry.

Elisa Lewis, Senior Brand Marketing Manager - 3Play Media

Pronouns: she/her

Elisa Lewis is the Senior Inbound Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, a full-service media accessibility solution that delivers on quality, turnaround, and support.Elisa’s passion for making the world a more accessible and equal place inspires her work at 3Play Media, where she leads content strategy and hosts the Allied podcast. In her spare time, you can find Elisa hanging out with her rescue dog or tackling her latest craft or DIY endeavor.

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.

Alice Pan, Project Coordinator - The Disability Foundation

Pronouns: she/her

With a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and experience in the import/export industry, Alice is applying her diverse skills to her role as a Project Coordinator at the Disability Foundation. As Alice led the Youth Leadership Initiative, she find her purpose in leading a transformative national project that champions the growth and success of young individuals with disabilities in their employment journeys. Once being a young adult living with a disability, Alice found her mission in allying with young adults who are paving the way for more inclusive and accessible workplaces, fostering a brighter and more equitable future. Valuing its diverse culture, Alice currently resides in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Mark Hasegawa-Johnson, William L. Everitt Faculty Scholar - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Pronouns: he/him

Mark A. Hasegawa-Johnson received his Ph.D. degree from MIT, was an NIH post-doctoral fellow at UCLA from 1996-1999. He joined the Illinois ECE faculty in 1999, where he is currently the M.E. Van Valkenburg Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research converts facts about speech production into low-resource transfer learning algorithms that can be used to make speech technology more fair, more inclusive, and more accessible. His research has been featured recently in WSJ’s The Future of Everything, in a special report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and in the Atlantic. Dr. Hasegawa-Johnson is a Fellow of the IEEE, of the Acoustical Society of America, and of the International Speech Communication Association, and he is currently the incoming Editor in Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing.

Susi Miller, Founder and Director - eLaHub

Pronouns: she/her

Susi Miller is an industry-leading expert on accessible learning design and the author of Designing Accessible Learning Content. Through her role as founder and director of eLaHub, she champions the cause of making all learning content accessible and inclusive – as the default.

Clarion Mendes, Speech-Language Pathologist and Clinical Assistant Professor - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Pronouns: she/her

Clarion Mendes is a speech-language pathologist and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She received her M.A. in speech-language pathology from UIUC and brings 14 years of SLP experience to the Speech Accessibility Project team. Mendes’s rich clinical and teaching portfolio includes health equity, treatment protocols for gender-diverse individuals seeking voice modification, and quality of life improvements for individuals with acquired communication disorders and differences. She is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and is OutCare Health certified.

Marisa Hamamoto, Founder - Infinite Flow Dance

Pronouns: she/her

Marisa Hamamoto is the first professional dancer named People Magazine “Women Changing the World.” A leading authority on disability inclusion and building a culture of belonging, Marisa was recently named LinkedIn Top Voice, and has been featured on Good Morning America, NBC Today, Forbes, Fast Company, amongst other media outlets. As a sought-after international speaker and performing artist, Marisa has shared the stage with Tim Cook at Apple HQ’s Steve Jobs Theater, and her clients and partners include Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Red Bull, Deloitte, adidas, PayPal, Farmers Insurance, Kaiser Permenente, among other forward-thinking brands. Marisa is a stroke survivor, a late-diagnosed Autistic, and a proud fourth-generation Japanese American. She is the founder of Infinite Flow, an award-winning dance company and nonprofit that employs disabled and nondisabled dancers with a mission to create a more inclusive world, one dance at a time. Marisa is bilingual and bicultural. She completed her BA & MA from Keio University, Tokyo.

Sambhavi Chandrashekar, Global Accessibility Lead - D2L

Pronouns: she/her

Dr. Sam is an accessibility champion and an award-winning inclusive educator/researcher with over 15 years of strategic and operational experience in implementing technology-based accessibility projects in academia, non-profit sector and industry. She holds academic positions with 3 universities in Canada and supervises Masters and Doctoral research.

Dr. Sam actively influences policy and legislation as Vice Chairperson of Accessibility Standards Canada’s Accessible & Equitable Artificial Intelligence Committee, Vice Chair of Global Leadership Council of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, Advisory Council Member of the Canadian Accessibility Network and many more.

Brenden Gilbert, Technology Leader and Accessibility Advocate

Pronouns: he/him

Brenden Gilbert’s 20+ year journey as a Technology Leader and Accessibility Advocate is rooted in his mother’s strong belief in his abilities.

As a Deaf person, he’s experienced the challenges of a world that doesn’t consider the needs of people like him. His mother never allowed these challenges to define him and constantly reminded him that he could achieve anything he set his mind to.

His experience spans multiple roles at companies such as IBM, Meta, Convo Communications, VSL Labs, and Tive Technology. Today, Brenden is driven to create a world where everyone can thrive. He collaborates with companies to revolutionize accessibility through technology and loves to speak on various technical and accessibility topics.

Chris Antunes, Co-Founder & Co-CEO - 3Play Media

Pronouns: he/him

Chris Antunes is the co-Founder and co-CEO of 3Play Media, a pioneering technology company established in 2008. Through innovative integration of machine learning (ML), automatic speech recognition (ASR), and human review, Chris and his team have redefined the media accessibility landscape. 3Play Media stands as the industry leader in providing highly accurate solutions, including closed captioning, transcription, live captioning, audio description, and subtitling.

Josh Miller, Co-Founder & Co-CEO - 3Play Media

Pronouns: he/him

Josh Miller is the co-Founder and co-CEO of 3Play Media, a technology company founded in 2008 that revolutionized the media accessibility industry by combining machine learning (ML) and automatic speech recognition (ASR) with human review to provide innovative, highly accurate services. Under his leadership, 3Play Media is the market leader in media accessibility, with patented solutions in closed captioning, transcription, live captioning, audio description, and subtitling.

Carly Anderson, Director of Operations - Deaf Services Unlimited

Pronouns: she/her

Carly Anderson is the seasoned Director of Operations at Deaf Services Unlimited (DSU), where she has dedicated over a decade to ensuring equal communication access for all. With her strategic leadership, Carly enhances DSU’s offerings, streamlining processes and optimizing resources to better serve diverse communities. Passionate about inclusivity, she actively advocates for equal communication access beyond her role, making her a respected leader within DSU and the broader community.

Brenna Thompson, Disability Access Consultant

Pronouns: she/her

Brenna Thompson, DSU’s Director of Business Development, brings extensive expertise in marketing and business development to the organization’s Leadership Team. She drives growth by forging strategic partnerships and identifying new opportunities to enhance DSU’s services. Brenna’s dedication to advancing equal communication access underscores her role as a proactive advocate within DSU and the broader community.

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