Learn How to Build A More Inclusive & Accessible Workplace
Thank you for joining us! See you next year!
25 Prospect Street, Ridgefield CT
Conference Materials
$15
Includes:
Access to Conference materials after the event (except for Keynote)
Join the Prospector for a full-day, hybrid conference detailing how diversity, inclusion, and accessibility can better your business and bottom line.
Participants will learn strategies for creating competitive and inclusive employment and universally-designed customer experiences. Featuring keynotes and panels, the Do Good Business Conference will be a collaborative space for mission-driven businesses to learn from accessibility experts, game-changing entrepreneurs, HR professionals, IT innovators, non-profit start-ups, and industry leaders.
Why Do Good Business?
Around 80% of Americans with disabilities have no job. We can work, want to work, and add tremendous value. Through universally designing workplaces and businesses, we can tap into a talented workforce and a consumer market with over $500B in discretionary income. What we’re doing isn’t nice; it’s good business.
Since opening, the Prospector has received hundreds of replication inquiries. Employment opportunities are still hard to find for many people with disabilities. Automation is on the rise, sheltered workshops are closing their doors, and more parents than ever are wondering what happens after the post-transition cliff. We need to make a larger impact at a quicker rate.
The Do Good Business Conference is a forum where we can share our successes and strategies, helping employers to understand how inclusion and accessibility can better their business and bottom line. Through this collaboration, we will create a community like-minded organizations who can work together to address everyday obstacles and systemic change. It’s time we all sparkled together. Are you ready to Do Good Business?
Who we want to join us:
Businesses (small and large)
Transition programs at high schools
Change-makers & innovators
HR & IT professionals
Non-profits executives and leaders
Educators (pre-K through PhD)
Agencies & support providers
Anyone who wants to learn how people with disabilities add value to business!
AGENDA
9:00AM - WELCOME: “The Prospector’s Vision for a Sparklier Tomorrow” (In-Person)
Ryan Wenke, Director of Operations & Technology, Prospector
Juliana Fodera, Grants Manager, Prospector
9:15AM - KEYNOTE: "People with Disabilities Bring Value and Leadership to Your Organization: Who Are You Employing?" (Pre-Recorded)
John D. Kemp, President & CEO, Lakeshore Foundation
10:15AM - PRESENTATION: “The Power of Potential” (Real-Time Virtually)
Tom D'Eri, Co-Founder & COO, Rising Tide Car Wash
11:15AM - PRESENTATION: “Seven Core Skills Everyone Needs for Work and How to Acquire Them” (In-Person)
Marjorie Madfis, Founder, Yes She Can, Inc.
12:00PM - LUNCH (catered by The Porch at Christie's) & PROSPECTOR POPCORN TASTING
1:00PM - PANEL: Sweet P Bakery, The Porch at Christie’s, Team Woofgang Co., Coffee for Good, & Westport Book Sale Ventures, Inc. (In-Person)
“How Sweet It Is” - Andrea Pecoriello, Owner/Founder, Sweet P Bakery & The Porch at Christie's
“Intro to Team Woofgang” - Kelly Maffei, Co-Founder & Program Manager, Team Woofgang Co.
“Paid Training to Create a More Diverse Workforce” - Deb Rogan, Executive Director, Coffee for Good
“Library Book Sales with a Dual Mission: The Westport Book Shop” - Jocelyn Barandiaran, President and Director, Westport Book Sale Ventures, Inc.
2:00PM - PANEL: “Accessibility & Inclusion for People with Diverse Abilities by IBM” (Real-Time Virtually & In-Person)
Diane Delaney, Global Diversity & Inclusion Leader, People with Diverse Abilities, IBM
Phill Jenkins, Accessibility Executive, IBM Design
Lorranie Trapani, Government & Regulatory Affairs Executive, IBM
3:00PM - PRESENTATION: “Fully AAC-tivated and Thriving in an AAC-cessible World” (Real-Time Virtually)
Otto Lana, The MOD Squad (Mastering our Destinies)
Isabella "Bella" Santoyo, The MOD Squad (Mastering our Destinies)
William Del Rosario, The MOD Squad (Mastering our Destinies)
3:45PM - BREAK
4:00PM - PRESENTATION: “The Myths & Realities of Disability Inclusive Employment” (Pre-Recorded)
Patrick Bardsley, Co-Founder & CEO, Spectrum Designs Foundation
4:45PM - PRESENTATION: “The Power of Accessibility in Your Online Presence” (In-Person)
Sam Burkardt, Creative Content Manager, Prospector
5:00PM - PRESENTATION: “Sparkle Mine - The Prospector’s Hiring Platform” (In-Person)
Ryan Wenke, Director of Operations & Technology, Prospector
5:30PM - CONCLUSION