When
May 21, 2016
Starting 09:00 AM
Where
Ed Roberts Campus
3075 Adeline Street Berkeley, CA 94703

About Ability in Tech Summit

Exploring innovative solutions to tech inclusion for people with visible and invisible disabilities.


As technology continues to affect every sector of business and innovation, there’s a growing concern for the lack inclusion across the tech ecosystem: from the pipeline to the boardroom to Capitol Hill. While we work to correct this through a growing focus on diversity and inclusion, we often leave out populations of capable people in tech like those with visible and invisible disabilities.

The Ability in Tech Summit will address barriers and biases for people with different physical and mental abilities in tech – through workshops, panel discussions, a technology showcase, a career fair and a safe space to learn and meaningfully connect.

Accessibility Needs
We are working to make our events as inclusive as possible. We will have ASL interpreters on site. If you have additional accessibility requests, please contact contact@changecatalyst.co

Ability In Tech Topics Covered


  • The Business case for accessibility inclusion
  • Creating an accessible recruitment program
  • Supporting employees with hidden & visible disabilities
  • Educational Workshops
  • How to partner with vocational training programs
  • Innovative Accessible Technology
  • Career Fair Showcase
  • Stories from tech founders with hidden or visible disability
  • How to make an impact in disability in tech
  • How can tech companies work with disability programs
  • Technical Career pathways for individuals with disabilities
  • How to create a universal accessible workplace
  • Building human focus technology solutions
  • Hiring in the accessible diversity and inclusion pipeline
  • Where’s the data around disability in technology
  • Who’s succeeding with a disability in tech

Speakers


Accessible Technology Showcase


linkedin

twitter

exo

brainaid

cforat

Career Fair Companies


Kaiser Permanente

yelp

PG&E

Alameda County

pivotal

ssbart

Advisory Committee 


The Ability In Tech Summit Schedule


Sarah Clatterbuck
Director of Enginering, LinkedIn

9:45 – 10:00 The Big Picture – Inclusiveness from the Outside In

15 minutes
Solo
A technology team is like a jigsaw puzzle. It takes many unique pieces to create the big picture. Conversely, a team that consists of many of the exact same piece has a hard time making something compelling. I will talk a bit about our journey at LinkedIn – how we started at first with building awareness of how people with disabilities use technology, to building inclusive product, to looking inward at how to create inclusivity in our organization, which will ultimately result in a more compelling product.
Sam Sepah
Technical Recruiter, Google

10:00 – 10:45 Morning Keynote: Give People a Chance to Thrive

45 minutes
Keynote
With Sam’s expertise in Human Resources, he offers sage advice for hiring managers, executives, advocates, and community members on including, mentoring and becoming an ally for a diverse technology-evolution workforce. He'll also address how people with disabilities (PwDs) can rethink their success through career development – to remain competitive in a rapidly changing world.
Sarah Granger, Julia Nguyen, Chad Taylor
Sarah Granger, Julia Nguyen, Chad Taylor

11:00 – 11:45 My Life In Tech

45 minutes
3 Solo Talks + Q&A
Three individuals share their journey in the tech industry: triumphs, struggles, breakthroughs and turning points. Sarah Granger, Digital Media Innovator & Author; Julia Nguyen, Developer & Storyteller; Chad Taylor, Queen Bee, Linguabee.
The Town Kitchen
The Town Kitchen

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

Join us on the rooftop deck for a locally-sourced lunch provided by The Town Kitchen.
Thibault Duchemin, Zuby Onwuta, Matthew Kleiman
Thibault Duchemin, Zuby Onwuta, Matthew Kleiman

1:00 – 1:45 Accessible Technology Startups

45 minutes
3 Solo Talks + Q&A
Three innovative tech entrepreneurs share their stories and discuss their startup companies that serve and assist people with disabilities. Zuby Onwuta: CoFounder & CEO of ThinkAndZoom, Thibault Duchemin: Founder & CEO of Ava and Matthew Kleiman: Software Engineer at Pivotal Labs.
Marc Zablatsky
Marc Zablatsky
VP and GM, Sitecues by Ai Squared

2:00 – 2:45 Making Online Recruitment More Accessible

45 minutes
Solo Talk + Q&A
Employers committed to disability recruitment often struggle to maintain websites and application processes that are usable to target applicant groups.... To effect real cultural change within the organization, Human Resource needs to drive online recruitment accessibility – not the IT group. Human Resources needs to create the vision, set the requirements and make all of its digital content more accessible and usable. This will drive wider cultural change that embraces inclusion and encourages self-disclosure. ...
David Ortiz, Cortnee Jensen, John E. Moore, Sumayyah Emeh Edu, Michael Coyle
David Ortiz, Cortnee Jensen, John E. Moore, Sumayyah Emeh Edu, Michael Coyle

3:00 – 3:45 Retention Invention

45 minutes
Panel Discussion
Building communities where people with disabilities feel included - through internal retention, promotion and inclusion programs. Discussion of what companies are doing to entice their employees with disabilities to stay on board, feel safe to disclose, and seek accommodations from a human resources, ERG leadership and employee perspective.
Susanne M. Bruyère, Ph.D., CRC,
Professor of Disability Studies and the Director of the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability at the Cornell University ILR

5:00 – 5:45 Afternoon Keynote: Disability & Inclusion: Best Practices on Where to Start

45 minutes
Keynote
How do you begin to improve recruiting, retention, training and inclusion of people with disabilities? Susanne will discuss some of the tried and true low-hanging fruit you can use to build momentum, show measurable results and gather internal support for diversity and inclusion initiatives. Inclusion is a journey. Let’s get started!
Rachel Williams and Abby Maldonado
Rachel Williams and Abby Maldonado

5:45 – 6:00 Closing

Join Rachel Williams of Yelp and Abby Maldonado of Pinterest for a special closing of the day.

11:00 – 12:00 Disability 101

45 Minutes
Talk
Are you awkward or uncomfortable interacting with someone with a disability? Have you misjudged someone’s talent without even knowing it? Join our interactive session to learn practical steps to confidently and comfortably interact with people with disabilities and challenge misinformed assumptions.
The Town Kitchen
The Town Kitchen

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

Join us on the rooftop deck for a locally-sourced lunch provided by The Town Kitchen.
Aubrey Green, Liz Howard, Barry Nelson, Leonardo Sosa, John Cavano
Aubrey Green, Liz Howard, Barry Nelson, Leonardo Sosa, John Cavano

2:00 – 2:45 Community-Based Partnerships

45 minutes
Panel Discussion
A discussion around the importance of building partnerships between the corporate private, academia and nonprofit sectors to improve diversity and inclusion for people with disabilities in tech - from the pipeline to the boardroom.
Y-Vonne Hutchinson & Liz Jackson
Y-Vonne Hutchinson & Liz Jackson

3:00 – 3:45 Building Bridges from Pipeline to Workplace

45 minutes
Workshop
In this workshop, we invite educators, nonprofits and tech companies to come together around solving the skills gap and opportunity gap for people with disabilities in tech. This interactive session is for tech companies (HR, recruiters, hiring managers, D&I), educators (k-12, higher ed, bootcamps, code schools), service providers and people with disabilities.
Joshua Klipp
Accommodations Program Manager, Salesforce

4:00 – 4:45 Beyond Compliance: Accommodation in the Workplace

45 minutes
Workshop
We'll discuss how to effectively accommodate people with disabilities in the workplace – from compliance (the legal minimum) to what creates a truly inclusive environment. Real examples and scenarios will be discussed, as well as paths to get where you want to be over time.
Rachel Williams and Abby Maldonado
Rachel Williams and Abby Maldonado

5:45 – 6:00 Closing

Join Rachel Williams of Yelp and Abby Maldonado of Pinterest for a special closing of the day.
Join us for the Ability in Tech Career Fair!
Join us for the Ability in Tech Career Fair!

11:00 – 2:00 Career Fair

Join us for a Career Fair connecting companies who care about diverse talent and tech candidates with visible and invisible disabilities. Candidates: meet inclusive tech companies who are hiring, receive 1:1 resume help, take part in Mentor Office Hours with key tech company recruiters. If you're an inclusive tech company, contact us to join the Career Fair!
The Town Kitchen
The Town Kitchen

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

Join us on the rooftop deck for a locally-sourced lunch provided by The Town Kitchen.
The Town Kitchen
The Town Kitchen

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

Join us on the rooftop deck for a locally-sourced lunch provided by The Town Kitchen.

Venue location


Venue Location

Ed Roberts Campus
3075 Adeline Street
Berkeley, CA 94703


Summit Sponsors


Interested in becoming a sponsor? Get in touch

Media Partners


innov8social

ava

city of berkeley

Anita borg institute

berkeley startup cluster

Contact us


Accessibility Needs
We are working to make our events as inclusive as possible. We will have ASL interpreters on site. 

Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Join us in supporting Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 19th.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day

  • DATE

    Saturday, May 21, 2016
  • LOCATION

    Ed Roberts Campus
  • Accessible

    To everyone
  • SPEAKERS

    30+ Awesome Speakers

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