2026 Disability Leadership Summit
DAY 1 - PEOPLE: Empowering Disabled Leaders
Keynote featuring Claudia Gordon
Session Time: February 24, 2025, 10:00-10:45 a.m. CT
Speaker: Claudia Gordon, Disability Rights Attorney and Advocate
Bio: Claudia L. Gordon is a highly accomplished advocate for people with disabilities, leveraging over 30 years of professional expertise to ensure equitable opportunities for all. She currently serves as the Senior Accessibility Strategist with T-Mobile US, Inc., where she drives strategies for a disability-inclusive culture and an accessible work environment
Ms. Gordon has held pivotal senior leadership roles across the corporate and public sectors. She was a key appointee in both the Obama-Biden and Biden Administrations. During the Obama-Biden Administration, she served as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and as Associate Director for the White House Office of Public Engagement.
As a Biden administration appointee, she served on the National Council on Disability (NCD), where she notably held the position of Chair. Her distinguished public service record also includes senior roles at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center
Her work is profoundly shaped by her personal experience as an immigrant at the intersections of race, disability, and gender, with a strong focus on individuals with multiple marginalized identities. Gordon is dedicated to civic engagement, mentoring, and advancing compliance. She currently serves on the ACLU-DC Affiliate Board. A native of Jamaica, Ms. Gordon is a graduate of Howard University and American University’s Washington College of Law.
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Session 1A: OWN It: Embrace, Elevate, Empower
Session Time: February 24, 2025, 11:00-11:45 a.m. CT
Speaker: Alycia Anderson, The Alycia Anderson Company
Blending lived experience with actionable strategies, Alycia Anderson introduces her three-part framework, Embrace who you are, Elevate what you do, Empower where you’re going to turn barriers into breakthroughs. Audiences leave with clear steps to amplify impact, lift others, and confidently own their path forward.
Panel - Lessons in Leadership
Session Time: February 24, 2025, 12:00-12:45 p.m. CT
Moderator: Emily Voorde, INTO Strategies
Panelist: Leah Katz-Hernandez, LinkedIn
Panelist: Chaz Kellem, Highmark Health
Panelist: Shannon Fitzpatrick, Microsoft
Session Description: Attendees will join Emily Voorde, Leah Katz-Hernandez, Chaz Kellem, and Shannon Fitzpatrick for a conversation about how Disabled self-advocacy manifests itself throughout one’s career. Panelists will discuss the power of building and maintaining strong networks, navigating ableism in the workplace, and how to leverage technology to drive personal leadership development.
Session 1B - How to Tell Your Story: Centering Disability in Your Narrative and Leadership
Session Time: February 24, 2025, 1:00-1:45 p.m. CT
Speaker: Keidra Chaney, Disability Culture Lab
Session Description: This session helps participants explore how disability identity can shape an authentic and powerful personal story. Led by Keidra Chaney, this session guides attendees in aligning their lived experience with their purpose and professional brand while setting healthy boundaries for sustainable storytelling.
Networking – Cultivating Connections: Professional Networking with Purpose
Session Time: February 24, 2025, 1:00-1:45 p.m. CT
Speaker: Alexis J. Steals, The Advanced Leadership Institute
Session Description: Join us for an engaging virtual networking session designed to bring professionals together to foster valuable connections and community. This is your opportunity to expand your network, share perspectives, and explore potential collaborations. Cultivate connections that can fuel your passions and lead to new opportunities!
You’ll have the option to discuss a topic that is most relevant to your professional journey in a collaborative space facilitated by Leadership and Life Coach, Alexis J. Steals.
Closing Reflection
Session Time: February 24, 2025, 2:00- 2:30 p.m. CT
Session Description: A session hosted by Disability Lead to convene Summit attendees to reflect on the day's themes.
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DAY 2 - CULTURE: Strengthening Inclusive Workplaces
Keynote featuring Keely Cat-Wells
Session Time: February 25, 2025, 10:00-10:45 a.m. CT
Speaker: Keely Cat-Wells, Founder and CEO, Making Space
Bio: Keely Cat-Wells is the Founder and CEO of Making Space, a platform that has supported over 10,000 Disabled professionals in building meaningful careers. Under her leadership, Making Space made history by training and placing the first-ever Disabled hosts on NBC Sports’ Paralympics broadcast. Other partners include Indeed, Netflix, and Visa. Keely also co-founded Making Space Media, a division producing film and TV content centering Disabled voices, securing a first-look deal with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. Notably, their documentary “Fight To Fly” exposed the inequalities that Disabled travelers face, triggering policy reform.
Before Making Space, Keely founded C Talent, an agency that reshaped disability representation in media and grew a roster reaching more than 50 million people. Acquired in 2022, C Talent became the largest acquisition of a company specializing in Disabled talent. Keely is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Diana Award recipient, and has served on the advisory board of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. She currently sits on the Los Angeles City Major Event Advisory Council, Human Rights Watch LA Committee and holds the distinction of being the youngest-ever Presidential Leadership Scholar. Additionally, she is an Obama Leader USA and inaugural Gloria Steinem Fellow.
Session 2A – Building and Sustaining Neuro-Inclusive Workspaces
Session Time: February 25, 2025, 11:00-11:45 a.m. CT
Speaker: Wesley Wade, Forward Counseling & Consulting
Session Description: This session helps participants learn some of the critical areas of focus, strengths, and challenges per recent research for building and maintaining neuro-inclusive workspaces. Led by Wesley Wade, this session identifies ways to support and engage with neuro-inclusion efforts as both neurodivergent and neurotypical staff.
Networking – Cultivating Connections: Professional Networking with Purpose
Session Time: February 25, 2025, 11:00-11:45 a.m. CT
Speaker: Alexis J. Steals, The Advanced Leadership Institute
Session Description: Join us for an engaging virtual networking session designed to bring professionals together to foster valuable connections and community. This is your opportunity to expand your network, share perspectives, and explore potential collaborations. Cultivate connections that can fuel your passions and lead to new opportunities!
You’ll have the option to discuss a topic that is most relevant to your professional journey in a collaborative space facilitated by Leadership and Life Coach, Alexis J. Steals.
Panel – Digital Accessibility at Work
Session Time: February 25, 2025, 12:00-12:45 p.m. CT
Moderator: Greg Gulledge, HCSC
Panelist: Crystal Preston Watson, Experienced Accessibility Analyst
Panelist: Nandita Gupta
Session Description: Attendees will join Greg Gulledge, Crystal Preston Watson, and Nandita Gupta for a conversation about digital accessibility as a cornerstone of inclusive workplaces. Panelists will discuss the importance of inclusive technology while addressing critical topics impacting the future of accessibility.
Session 2B - Future of Work, Powered by Leaders with Disabilities
Session Time: February 25, 2025, 1:00-2:15 p.m. CT
Speaker: Ana Monga, Google
Session Description: AI will have a transformative impact on the future of the workplace and society at large. Ana Monga will discuss why this revolutionary era needs empowered leaders with disabilities who can be architects in building and collaborating on an accessible AI agenda, driving inclusive products, responsible policy, and human-centered best practices.
This session will end with a Closing Reflection from Disability Lead. A time to convene Summit attendees to reflect on the day's themes.
Registration Rates
Corporate - $600.00
NPO/Government - $450.00
Independent/Student -$125.00
Member - $75.00
Take advantage of an early bird discount from now until January 1, 2026, by using the code, "earlybird20".
