Highlights

Disability Pride Month and Disability Employment Awareness Month: “We Want a Life Like Yours”

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As disability rights activist Emily Ladau writes in her book Demystifying Disability: “More than one billion people around the world are disabled. In fact, we’re the world’s largest minority.” Disabilities have always been part of the human experience and yet, people with disabilities still face barriers and exclusion.

Meet the passionate speakers and activists who share their personal stories and equip organizations for inclusion and allyship during Disability Pride Month in July, National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, and all year round.


Emily Ladau: Disability rights activist, writer, and speaker

Emily Ladau

Emily Ladau is an internationally celebrated disability rights activist and author of Demystifying Disability. Ladau engages with organizations of all sizes and across all industries about how they can help make the world more accessible and inclusive. She empowers audiences to practice informed and thoughtful allyship, recognize ableism, speak respectfully, and break patterns of discrimination toward disabled people. 

Lachi: Award-winning recording artist, disability rights activist, and CEO/Founder of RAMPD

Lachi

Born legally blind, Lachi uses her platform in music, storytelling, and fashion to amplify identity pride and disability culture to the mainstream narrative. Named “Woman of the Year” by USA Today, a “new champion in advocacy” by Billboard, and a “foot soldier for Disability Pride” by Forbes, she brings her passionate and entertaining keynotes on disability culture, workplace inclusivity, and identity to brands, organizations, and college campuses. 

Sara Hendren: Design researcher and author of  What Can A Body Do?

Sara Hendren

How accessible is your organization really? That is a question that design researcher and artist, Sara Hendren helps organizations answer. She examines the lack of accommodation in current tools, furniture, and our environment, and helps companies and communities bridge the gap between the built world around us and our actual physical abilities. 

John Hendrickson: Staff Writer for The Atlantic, author of  Life on Delay

John Hendrickson

In 2019, John Hendrickson wrote a groundbreaking story for The Atlantic about a disability that affects nearly 70 million people in the world, including himself: stuttering. The article was read by millions and inspired Hendrickson to tell his personal story in his memoir Life on Delay: Making Peace With a Stutter. Hendrickson talks candidly about overcoming the resentment that his stutter caused and inspires audiences to be more inclusive towards disabilities and differences. 

Tara Moss: Bestselling Author and Human Rights Activist

Tara Moss

Tara Moss is an internationally bestselling author whose crime novels have been published in 19 countries and 13 languages. As a disabled woman and ambulatory wheelchair user living with chronic pain, she is committed to addressing the stigma and stereotypes surrounding disability, and talks about why true diversity must include disability. Tara Moss has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2007 and is making significant contributions to discussions around women’s and children’s rights. 

Maya-Camille Broussard: Netflix’s  Bake Squad  star and Owner of Justice of the Pies

Maya Camille Broussard

Maya-Camille Broussard is one of the stars of Netflix’s Bake Squad, a community activist, and owner of the Chicago-based bakery Justice of the Pies. Being hearing impaired, she wants to encourage others with the story of her struggles and successes. In her engaging talks, Broussard shares how she uses her bakery and role as a small business owner to advocate for people living with disabilities. She hopes that her presence as a Black woman living with a disability on the series will show others that anything is possible. 

Steve Silberman: Author of NeuroTribes, award-winning science writer  

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Steve Silberman‘s articles have appeared in Wired, the New Yorker, MIT Technology Review, and many other publications. He is the author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, which explores hidden autism studies. In his talks, Silberman expands upon autism research and advocates for those with learning differences to have access to resources that will help them flourish.

Katherine May: Best-selling author and speaker on neurodivergence   

Disability Awareness

Katherine May is the New York Times best selling author of Wintering, The Electricity of Every Living Thing , her memoir on a mid-life autism diagnosis, and Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, her novel on anxiety and fear. She speaks about neurodivergence and burnout, people with autism in academia, and rest, growth, and introspection. 

 June Eric-Udorie:  Speaker on social justice, feminism, and disability  

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June Eric-Udorie has been a trailblazer in activism since she was a teen. Author of Can We All Be Feminists? Eric-Udorie advocates for gender equality and speaks about the exclusion disabled women face. She educates many on the inadvertent discrimination of disabled women in both the medical field and the feminist movement. 

Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau