AXSChat Podcast

 Megan Lawrence is the Sr. Accessibility Technical Evangelist at Microsoft with 15 years of experience working with the disability community. Dr. Lawrence builds trusted relationships with customers, NGOs, and Assistive Technology partners to further Microsoft’s mission of empowering every person and organization to achieve more through the lens of inclusion. Megan works deeply with customers and the disability community to keep them up-to-date on the latest at Microsoft Accessibility including how we can partner with organizations to help build cultures of digital inclusion and how accessibility is the path to innovation.

Dr. Lawrence is the co-chair of the People with Mental Health Conditions discussion group within the Disability employee resource group at Microsoft. She leads the Accessibility User Research Collective (AURC), a partnership with the Shepherd Center, as a way to improve the accessibility of Microsoft products through feedback from people with disabilities. This project engaging the disability community to helps shape the future technology at Microsoft.

Outside of Microsoft, Megan is a board member of the TechSAge Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center focused on developing technology to support people aging-in-place for people living with long term disabilities, and the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment of People who are Blind or Have Low Vision. 

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Rene Perkins is a serial entrepreneur dedicated to using technology for the good of society and the environment.
She holds an M.Sc. in Finance and investment, and she is a qualified chartered accountant with E&Y and has 8 years’ investment banking experience with HSBC.
Since 2013, she established two start-ups around sustainable transportation solutions in smart cities.

She is now focusing on CityMaaS, using innovative technology to achieve digital inclusion and inclusive travel for people with disabilities and their friends and families.

She has been invited to speak in a number of big conferences across the globe.
In her spare time, she has numerous volunteering, mentoring and advisory positions across the charity and the start-up world.
She enjoys painting, travelling and is a keen foodie especially when it comes to seafood.
Most importantly she is a mum of two young girls who keep her grounded!

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axschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.social

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Darryl is an Assistive Technology Innovation Program Manager in the Accessibility Office at Intel.​

He works at the intersection of technology and human experience helping discover new ways for people with disabilities to work, interact, and thrive.​

Darryl’s mission is to connect his passion for AT innovation with Intel’s product development pipeline to make accessible computing experiences available to everyone, regardless of ability.​
 

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Candi Castleberry Singleton is the Vice President of Diversity Partnership Strategy & Engagement at Twitter. She is also the founder of the award-winning Dignity & Respect Campaign, which has helped organizations create more inclusive work environments. As an experienced diversity and inclusion leader, she created The Bolt-On to Built-In Model™ featured in her chapter of Crossing the Divide: Intergroup Leadership in a World of Difference. She has developed successful strategies and initiatives in technology, telecommunications, and healthcare including Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Motorola, and UPMC. Candi has served as adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University. She received an MBA from Pepperdine, a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, and completed the Stanford Executive Human Resources program.

Andrew is a software engineer at Twitter, in London. He made his first website over 20 years ago, and hasn’t looked back since. Over the course of his career, he has worked in desktop software, publishing, e-commerce, social media, and gaming. He has a passion for building an inclusive and accessible web, and leading with empathy.

When not talking about accessibility and software, you can find Andrew riding his bike, or climbing trees with his family. He’s a big kid at heart

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axschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.social

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 Antonio Santos is a Social Media Business Evangelist and Senior Data Intelligence Expert, at Atos, focusing on Digital Inclusion, Social Media Engagement, and Social Business. He is a Sociologist with expertise on Applied Research; he previously worked in the Media, Military, Public Sector and Telecom before joining Siemens IT in 2006 in Cork and Atos in 2011. According to Onalytica who measures online presence and influence, Antonio is the 3rd most influential employee in the world, in Consulting based on data from Twitter and LinkedIn and number one on Sustainability amongst employees of the 48 most important consulting companies globally.

In 2014 with Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken he creates axschat. A weekly Twitter chat on diversity and inclusion, who become the most popular twitter conversation on that topic over the last six years. AXSChat was chosen by Valuable 500 CEO Caroline Casey to become one of their primary media partners and to support their efforts to create a community to revolutionise disability inclusion through business leadership and opportunity. 

 Debra Ruh is a seasoned entrepreneur that focuses on Global Disability Inclusion, ICT Accessibility, EmployAbility, Marketing and Communications Strategies and Digital Media.  She has provided global leadership to governments, corporations, NGOs and DPO’s (Disability Persons Organizations) all over the world supporting research, outreach, marketing strategies, policy and standards initiatives with public- and private-sector.  Policy, Legislative and Technical Experience includes the United Nations Convention of Rights for People with Disabilities (CRPD), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 503, 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, W3C, WCAG 2.0 and ISO.  Debra is also a seasoned Entrepreneur (founder of three firms): Ruh Global Communications, TecAccess, Strategic Performance Solutions. 

 Neil currently works for Atos as Head of Accessibility & Inclusion where his role is to help make the world a better place by delivering better technology for our customers and staff, embedding inclusive practice into the Business As Usual Processes of organisations with thousands of employees and turnovers numbering in billions.

He created the Atos Centre of Competence encompassing Accessibility, Inclusive Design and Assistive Technology Services. This team now services multiple accounts and delivers best practice, support and consultancy for the organisation. www.atos.net/iux 

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Neil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.social

axschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.social

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https://twitter.com/AkwyZ
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https://twitter.com/debraruh

Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. 

Esther Dakin-Poole is a Council member and Coordinator of the current UK Assistive Products List (UK APL) initiative for The British Assistive Technology Association (BATA) and WHO-GATE Programme, designed to establish which are the most essential assistive products in the UK today. Esther is a Director and Secretary of GAATO, The Global Alliance of Assistive Technology Organizations based in Geneva, Switzerland. She is also Head of Education & Development at Smile Smart Technology, her family’s enterprise who innovate and provide assistive technology to children and adults with complex disabilities and specialise in neuro disability switching, controls and linkages between digital access and mobility training. She has grown up as a carer for her younger sister who has Downs Syndrome and sees her as one of the most enlightening people in her life. Esther’s alma mater is SOAS, University of London where she most recently studied international diplomacy and she has historic regional focus on East and Southern Africa and South-East Asia.

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 Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. 

Andy Black has over 30 years’ experience in tech for learning and inclusion. Renowned in the Noughties for his forty gadgets in forty minutes live demonstration and being digitally resident in most things he should be and some he thinks he now possibly should not have been. He floated the idea of the mobile device (phone) as Lord of the ring’s device or as a tech swiss army knife in the 90’s. He worked as a part of a team horizon scanning emerging technologies in the commercial space with potential uses in education.

Andy as a dyslexic dyspraxia diagnosed in his 50’s but writ large through his whole life experience. Passionate about tech for inclusion be that SMS for deaf learners in further education or specialist stem sign language on 1st gen apple iPod touches back in the early 2000’s.

Andy discovered twitter in early 2008 he believes his live tweeting at events may have got Neil Milliken of #AXSCHAT started on his twitter journey.

He now heads a small but incredibly talented team championing business engagement and accessibility for internal staff in a Government department in the UK.

Andy in 2019 co-founded a Cross Government Group Office 365 Accessibility Group looking at leverage best Accessibility features in O365.

Outside of work he is a non-exec director of a community farm, scout leader passionate is cyclist walker climber lover of the outdoors has two fantastic kids and long suffering talented wife.

He used to shy away from describing himself as a polymath but to be honest I am into a lot of stuff. Maybe too many things for my own good.

Passionate believer in us all striving to be Accessible by Default and that the network human or electronic is the answer to anything, now what is the question.

A colleague once described Andy: “to describe Andy as an out of the box thinker misses the point Andy doesn’t understand what a box is. He will make linkage find opportunities and give that commitment to make a difference to learners.  Frankly at times he is exhausting to work with“

He has in the past been tempted to write an “e- book “entitled “what do when the kit doesn’t work apart from tell jokes (my jokes are terrible by the way). 

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Neil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.social

axschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.social

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Robert Scoble works with companies that are implementing Spatial Computing technologies, though he is taking time off after finishing “The Infinite Retina” to spend time with his young kids. He is a futurist and technology strategist and the author of three books about technology trends, being the first to report on technologies from autonomous vehicles to Siri. Previous positions include being a strategist at Microsoft, a futurist at Rackspace, Chief Strategy Officer at Infinite Retina, and the producer and host of a video show about technology at Fast Company. 

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Neil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.social

axschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.social

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Tim Sutton is a 31 year veteran Law Enforcement Officer.  After spending 4 years as a patrolman for the Chesterfield County Police Department VA, he was hired by a Sheriff’s Office in the Richmond Metro area of Virginia.  Tim then worked as a patrol deputy for two years and then spent four years as a Street Crimes Investigator.  He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1999 and has been a patrol Sergeant ever since.  In 2003, he implemented his agencies Project Lifesaver Program to address the issue of individuals wandering or eloping due to cognitive impairment.  He continues to run the program.  He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from James Madison University. 

While overseeing his department’s Project Lifesaver Program, he has interacted extensively with hundreds of families dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease/Dementia or Autism/Intellectual Disabilities.In 2007, Tim was asked to travel throughout Virginia for the Department of Criminal Justice Services as an instructor for the “Alzheimer’s for First Responders” training.  He assisted with the training the training until 2011.  In 2011 he was approached by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to assist in teaching the “Alzheimer’s Initiative” throughout the country.   As the “Alzheimer’s Initiative ended in 2017, he has continued to travel the United States training public safety officers and conducting Train the Trainer courses on Alzheimer’s Disease.  He has partnered with Next Generation Training in co-teaching many of these courses

In 2009, Tim was asked to join the Public Safety Workgroup of Virginia to help develop an Autism Training curriculum for Public Safety in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  In the fall of 2010, the pilot class was presented at the Project Lifesaver International Conference in Virginia Beach.  He became  a member of a team traveling across Virginia conducting the Critical Autism Training (CAT 1).  The team was featured in the Washington Post during the spring of 2011 when they trained members of the Fairfax Police Department.  As the CAT 1 training ended in 2016, Tim has continued to travel throughout Virginia and different areas of the country conducting Autism/Intellectual Disability Training.

In 2011, Tim’s Law Enforcement agency was involved in one of the largest search and rescue missions in Virginia history.  A nine year non-speaking boy with Autism had eloped in a very rural area of the county.  For six days a 24 hour search was conducted with the child subsequently being found alive on that sixth day.  As the search progressed, there was a pouring out of citizens wanting to help.  Tim was assigned to conduct 20 minute classes on Autism for all the citizens who showed up to help with the search.  Over the course of 4 days, Tim trained over 6,000 citizens on the unique characteristics of Autism. 

Tim continues to work in law enforcement as a patrol supervisor and formed A Better Understanding LLC (www.a-betterunderstanding.com) in 2011 to raise awareness in the area of Special Populations.  He continues to travel the country teaching and presenting on topics such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Intellectual Disabilities, and Developmental Disabilities.  Tim has been deemed a subject matter expert by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services and The  International Association of Chiefs of  Police on Alzheimer’s as it relates to Law Enforcement.  The  Virginia DCJS has also declare him a subject matter expert in the area of Autism/Intellectual Disability as they relate to law enforcement.  Tim’s goal with A Better Understanding LLC is to bring a better understanding of these special topics. He is dedicated to promoting “peaceful interaction, leading to positive outcomes”. 

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Bluesky:
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Debra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.social

Neil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.social

axschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.social

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/

Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/akwyz

https://twitter.com/axschat
https://twitter.com/AkwyZ
https://twitter.com/neilmilliken
https://twitter.com/debraruh

 Hosted by Antonio Santos, Debra Ruh and Neil Milliken. 

Darren works at Lilly UK (Pharmaceuticals) as a Global Program Manager and Accessibility Lead

He leads a program called Access Lilly, focused on improving accessibility across the globe, in both physical and digital environments

He also leads the Enable Employee Resource Group for the International region, which covers almost every country outside of the US

Passionate about learning and sharing best practices, Darren has sat on various external taskforces with BDF and PurpleSpace. 

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Bluesky:
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Neil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.social

axschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.social

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/

Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/akwyz

https://twitter.com/axschat
https://twitter.com/AkwyZ
https://twitter.com/neilmilliken
https://twitter.com/debraruh