StartAbility is an event for people with disabilities who are interested in entrepreneurship. It is organised by waytoB, Rehab Group and L’Arche, as part of Startup Week Dublin.
The event aims to inform, support and inspire people with disabilities who want to start their own business, by showcasing success stories and having an informative panel about the first steps to become an entrepreneur.
The event will take place at Zendesk, located in 55 Charlemont Place, on the 20th of November, from 6pm to 8:30pm.
Agenda:
6:00 to 6:30 Registration & Networking
6:30 to 6:35 Opening
6:35 to 6:50 Ailbhe Keane & Izzy Keane, co-founders of Izzy Wheels
6:50 to 7:05 Adam Harris, founder and CEO of AsIAm
7:05 to 7:20 Fireside chat with speakers
7:20 to 8:00 Panel discussion with Gerry Ellis, Niamh Malone, Fionn Angus and Matt McCann
8:00 to 8:30 Networking
About the speakers:
Ailbhe Keane & Izzy Keane (Twitter: @izzy_wheels)
Izzy Wheels are a brand of stylish wheel covers for wheelchairs created by Irish sisters Ailbhe and Izzy Keane. Their mission statement is ‘If you can’t stand up, stand out!’. It all began as a final year art college project for Ailbhe in 2016 and has since exploded into a global brand.
Adam Harris (Twitter: @AdamPHarris)
Adam is the founder and CEO of AsIAm, having set up the organisation based on his own experiences growing up as a young autistic person in Ireland. AsIAm aims to give autistic people a voice and starting a national conversation. Over the past five years, Adam has played an incredibly important role in building a more autism-aware and understanding Ireland.
Gerry Ellis (Twitter: @gellisie)
Gerry is blind and is an accessibility and usability consultant under the name Feel The BenefIT. He has worked for over 35 years as a Software Engineer and Mainframe Technical Specialist at Bank of Ireland and is a Fellow of the Irish Computer Society. He was a founder member and first Chairperson of the Visually Impaired Computer Society (VICS) and a founder member of the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD). Gerry spoke at the 2018 Inspirefest conference about using technology to develop a more inclusive world.
Niamh Malone (Twitter: @BraineyApp)
Niamh used to work as a clinical nurse specialist in stroke rehabilitation and had a life threatening rare type of stroke called a sub arachnoid hemorrhage, which changed her life instantly. She now lives with ongoing cognitive impairments and chronic fatigue. Based on her own personal experiences, Niamh created Fatigue Friend, which is a smartphone app that prevents full blown episodes of chronic fatigue through a series of alerts based on recognising the early warning stages of fatigue onset.
Fionn Crombie Angus (Twitter: @fionnathan)
Fionn is the co-founder and CEO of the social enterprise Fionnathan Productions. Fionn, who has Down Syndrome, always had a passion for filming, music, nature and a love for life. Fionnathan is a collaboration between Fionn and his father, Jonathan Angus. Through music, live presentations, videos, and visual arts, they seek to collaborate with diverse people who are passionate about what they do.
Matt McCann (Twitter: @Access_Earth)
Matt McCann is the CEO and founder of Access. Matt has Cerebral Palsy and has struggled with accessibility challenges his entire life. He used his Masters in Software Engineering to create a platform that people could use to easily access accessibility information and upload their own feedback on places they had visited.
Please note: the venue is fully accessible for wheelchairs. Pizza and drinks will be provided, with vegetarian options available.