Speakers
Rua Williams (they/them)
Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Rua M. Williams is an assistant professor in User Experience Design at Purdue University and a former Just Tech Fellow (2022-2024) with the Social Science RESEARCH Council. As Principal Investigator of the CoLiberation Lab, Dr. Williams’s work explores how disabled people imagine and build their own sociotechnical worlds, and investigate how technology policy and research practice interact to disrupt disabled people’s bodily autonomy and access to meaningful public life.
Want to learn more?
Paul DeFazio (he/him)
Artist/Architect
Paul DeFazio is a multidisciplinary artist and architectural designer based in Boston, Massachusetts. His work draws from disability culture and aesthetics through architecture, graphic design, publication design, and critical spatial practice. He currently works with the Institute for Human Centered Design and the Critical Design Lab.
Want to learn more?
Andrew Leland (he/him)
Writer, Audio Producer, Koeppel Fellow in Journalism, Wesleyan University
Andrew Leland is the author of The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, which was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in memoir and named a best book of the year by the New Yorker, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, NPR, and others. He has contributed to the New Yorker, New York, the New York Times Magazine, and other publications with New York in their names. He's a contributing editor of the Believer and teaches journalism at Wesleyan University.
Want to learn more?
Joe Walsh & Team (he/him)
President, Adaptive Sports New England
Joe Walsh, a visually-impaired athlete and native of Braintree, MA, holds degrees from Dartmouth College and UMass Amherst, and serves as President of Adaptive Sports New England. He is a two-time Paralympian in cross country skiing, and former Managing Director of Paralympics for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). Joe served on Team USA’s delegation staff at six Paralympic Games and as Chef de Mission at two Parapan American Games. He coached youth cross country skiing for 13 seasons, and was the first Paralympic athlete representative elected to the USOPC Athletes’ Advisory Council and Board of Directors. Joe served as Vice President of the International Blind Sports Federation from 2013-2017 and is currently a director of Move United.
Want to learn more?
Sara Hendren (she/her)
Associate Professor, Art + Design and Architecture @ Northeastern University
Sara Hendren is an artist, design researcher, writer, and professor at Northeastern University. Her book What Can A Body Do? How We Meet the Built World explores the places where disability shows up in design at all scales: assistive technology, furniture, architecture, urban planning, and more. It was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by NPR and won the 2021 Science in Society Journalism book prize. Her art and design works have been exhibited on the White House lawn under the Obama presidency, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Seoul Museum of Art, the Vitra Museum, and many others, and her work is held in the permanent collections at MoMA and the Cooper Hewitt. Her first short documentary film Simple Machine will play at festivals in the US and abroad throughout 2025. She has been an NEH Public Scholar and a fellow at New America, and her commentary and criticism have been published in Harper’s, Art in America, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere.
Want to learn more?
Manasi Vaidya (she/her)
User Experience Researcher @ The MathWorks Inc
Manasi Vaidya is a user experience researcher specializing in inclusive and accessible design. She holds an M.S. in Integrated Design and Management from MIT, where she researched data privacy in smart home tech for older adults at the AgeLab. Previously, she was a Senior UX Design Consultant at IBM iX in Bangalore, India. She now works at The MathWorks, focusing on making MATLAB more accessible, including testing with screen reader users. Outside of work, she enjoys creating ceramics, particularly teapots and vases.
Want to learn more?
Ciara Morley (she/her)
Director, User Experience Design @ Fidelity Investments
Ciara Morley is a user experience strategist and accessibility advocate working primarily in the technology and financial services sectors. Ciara started her career at Fidelity Investments with roles in data analysis, software engineering, UX Design and UX Research before joining Spotify’s Product Design team in 2022. She is now back at Fidelity, most recently as a Squad Lead for the Fidelity Design System group and Director of User Experience Design for the UXD Accessibility team. As a professional with an invisible disability, Ciara is an active member of the leadership team for Fidelity’s ENABLE Boston resource group and has founded side of desk projects focused on inclusive hiring for the company. After passing the IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Competency (CPACC) exam in 2021, she has continued to specialize in creating accessible and inclusive experiences for both virtual and physical environments. Ciara holds a pair of degrees from Bentley University, graduating with a double-major in Computer Information Systems and Media Arts & Society in 2017 and completing her Master’s in Human Factors in Information Design the following year. Outside of her work in UX, Ciara serves as the Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA.
Want to learn more?
Jonah Goldsaito (he/him)
Principal Designer @ Khan Academy
Jonah is focused on giving classrooms around the world transformative new powers using AI at Khan Academy. His combination of UX, engineering, and a love of play has guided his path through many startups all the way to Google and YouTube, where he brought products from back-of-the-napkin sketches to successful, scaled platforms. Before Khan Academy, he worked with his wife to bring an augmented reality transmission from the future to Tribeca Festival in NYC. Jonah is excited to craft humane technology with you. Yes, you :)
Want to learn more?
Rebecca Erde (she/her)
Designer + Educator
Rebecca is a designer, fabricator and educator. Her work is a wide range of industrial design, furniture, scenic fabrication, glass casting, digital fabrication, architectural design, and design for mental health.
Want to learn more?
Chrissy Glover (she/her)
Assistive technology designer + educator
Chrissy Glover is a designer, entrepreneur, and educator passionate about developing assistive wearable technology. She has worked closely with individuals experiencing sensory challenges and hemiparesis to design products for increased independence, and presently works with high school students developing assistive technology products for members of their community through MIT Beaver Works. Chrissy is excited to share her experiences in the assistive technology space with Interventions: Shift.
Want to learn more?
Darcy G. Gordon Ph.D (she/her)
Instructor of Blended & Online Learning Initiatives @ MIT
Dr. Darcy G. Gordon promotes rigorous and rewarding learning experiences for both learners and teachers through her work in MIT’s Department of Biology and the Office of Open Learning’s Digital Learning Lab. Previously, she completed her Ph.D. at Boston University studying the behavioral ecology and neurobiology of social insects. During her Ph.D. she taught extensively and developed curricula for science outreach programs, in addition to her research projects. These experiences with teaching and mentoring motivated her to combine her love of science and education to pursue a career in learning engineering. As a core member of Biology’s course development team, Dr. Gordon collaborates with faculty to enhance on-campus instruction and build award-winning Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for worldwide use. In this role, she blends her pedagogical and scientific expertise to foster authentic learning experiences, including the creation of educational media and assessments. She implements evidence-based practices in instruction while applying inclusive design to all in-person, hybrid, and online learning experiences she develops. Accessible education that welcomes broad participation is a priority for Dr. Gordon and motivates her to further the educational mission at MIT.
Want to learn more?
Lee Moreau (he/him)
Founding Partner, Other Tomorrows
Lee Moreau is the founding director of Other Tomorrows, a design and strategy studio based in Boston. Over the past two decades, Lee has directed service and experience design projects for leading organizations like Southwest Airlines, BBVA, Google, P&G, Nike, Eli Lilly, Hilton, Kaiser-Permanente, Chili's, Novartis, Jamba, and Lincoln Center that blur the boundaries between content and experience. Before founding Other Tomorrows in 2019, Lee was the VP of Design at EPAM Continuum, the Director of Environments at 2×4, and worked as a designer at IDEO and the Rockwell Group. When he's not in the studio, Lee can be found podcasting on Design Observer or in the classroom at Northeastern University's College of Arts, Media, and Design, where he is the Professor of the Practice, Design teaching courses on design, strategy, and innovation.
Want to learn more?
Fatimah Aure (she/her)
Senior Manager, Networks
Fatimah Aure is The Kelsey’s Director of Field Building & Capacity. With a communications degree from Northwestern University and a Public Policy Masters from UC Berkeley, she leads The Kelsey’s efforts to grow the field of leaders, advocates and champions of disability-forward housing solutions. She dreams of a day when affordable, accessible and inclusive housing is a given for any new developments. She is fueled by The Kelsey’s commitment to a co-led movement by people with and without disabilities. She uses a cane for balance and coordination stemming from a neurological movement condition. Born and raised in San Francisco, she is now an Oakland resident with her husband Seth and dog Duke Ellington.
Want to learn more?