Investing In Accessibility
We aren't waiting for change, we are investing in it. Investing in Accessibility is dedicated to exploring the intersection of accessibility, entrepreneurship, and impact investing. Join hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher as they speak with entrepreneurs and thought leaders who are focused on empowering people with disabilities and creating a more accessible world. Kelvin Crosby is CEO of Smart Guider Inc., which develops navigation technology enabling deafblind individuals to travel independently. Known as The DeafBlind Potter, he funded his first invention, the See Me Cane, through pottery sales. Kelvin lives with Usher Syndrome type 2 and is a staunch advocate for accessibility. Chris Maher is the Founder & General Partner at Samaritan Partners, a public benefit venture fund that invests in the disability sector. Chris founded Samaritan after spending 25 years as an operator and multi-time CEO at a variety of venture capital-backed companies, and 20 years raising two daughters with disabilities.
Episodes
In this special year-end episode of Investing in Accessibility, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher take a moment to reflect, celebrate, and look ahead.
As 2025 comes to a close, Kelvin and Chris revisit highlights from the podcast’s first full year—25 episodes featuring entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and innovators who are shaping a more accessible and inclusive world. From memorable guest conversations and shared laughs to meanin...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher sit down with Angela Lean, Senior Accessibility Program Lead at Microsoft, for a powerful conversation about turning disability into a true competitive advantage. Angela shares her lived experience of having a stroke at age 12, how her perspective shifted from “succeeding despite disability” to “succeeding because of it,” and why she now sees disa...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher kick off the holiday season with something special: a recorded panel from the RALLY Innovation Conference in Indianapolis.
Moderated by Jennison Asuncion (Head of Accessibility Engineering Evangelism at LinkedIn and co-founder of Global Accessibility Awareness Day), this conversation brings together four leaders shaping the future of disability tec...
In this episode, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher welcome a very special guest: Chris’s oldest daughter, Charlotte Maher—an EMT-turned-emergency management professional whose life with spastic hemiplegia has forged extraordinary resilience. Charlotte shares early memories (and family stories) of therapies, leg and back braces, and the infamous “constraint camp,” then traces how those experiences shaped her confidence, leaders...
Join hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher for an inspiring conversation with Cara Yar Khan, founder & CEO of The Purple Practice, former UNICEF humanitarian, filmmaker, and fierce disability advocate. Cara traces her multicultural roots and early activism, the winding journey to a rare diagnosis of hereditary inclusion body myopathy, and how she learned to lead, pitch, and live with radical authenticity.
This episode dives into C...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher explore how The Accessibility Lab at The Schoolhouse Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia is transforming the travel and hospitality industry for people with disabilities.
Chris shares how this innovative partnership between Samaritan Partners, The Schoolhouse Hotel, and TravelAbility is turning a boutique hotel into a living lab for testing ...
In this inspiring episode of Investing in Accessibility, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher sit down with Chris Soukup, CEO of Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), for a powerful conversation about advocacy, innovation, and the future of accessibility.
Chris shares his family’s remarkable legacy—from his grandfather’s struggles with discrimination as a deaf farmer in South Dakota to his father founding CSD with a $15,000 grant...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher welcome Mike May—entrepreneur, Paralympic athlete, navigation technology pioneer, and, as Chris calls him, “the most interesting man in the world.”
Mike shares his remarkable journey, from losing his sight at age three to regaining partial vision decades later, working for the CIA, competing on the world stage in skiing, and founding companies like Se...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher dive into the evolution of accessibility tech with Josh Miller, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of 3Play Media—a leading media accessibility company that started at MIT and grew into an industry trailblazer.
Together, they unpack how 3Play Media emerged from a real-world need to caption complex academic videos into a scalable tech-driven company that combines A...
In this dynamic episode of Investing in Accessibility, Host Kelvin Crosby introduces a special panel session from the Wawability 2025 Summit, celebrating 35 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Titled “Design, Capital, and Impact: The Future of Disability Startups,” the panel is moderated by Co-Host Chris Maher and features three visionary disability tech entrepreneurs:
- Tomer Aharoni – Co-founder & CEO of Nagi...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher welcome Levin Sliker, co-founder and CEO of Point Designs, a pioneering company that creates durable, 3D-printed prosthetic fingers. Levin shares his inspiring journey from academia to entrepreneurship, detailing how a university project aimed at solving a real-world problem evolved into a mission-driven company reshaping prosthetic care for people w...
In this powerful episode of Investing in Accessibility, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher welcome Ben Ogilvie, Head of Accessibility at ArcTouch and board member of the GAAD Foundation. Ben shares his deeply personal journey into accessibility—from adapting technology for his father after a life-changing accident to advocating for inclusive design following the birth of his son with a brain injury and epilepsy.
The conversation ex...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, we sit down with Larry Goldberg—media pioneer, policy shaper, and trusted advisor to the next generation of accessibility innovators. Larry shares his remarkable four-decade journey, from launching closed captioning at WGBH to shaping landmark accessibility legislation, leading corporate accessibility at Yahoo, and now mentoring mission-driven startups and nonprofits.
Hosts Kelvin Crosb...
In this powerful episode, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher sit down with AnnMarie Killian, CEO of TDIforAccess, to explore her personal journey as a deaf woman and longtime advocate for accessibility and inclusion. AnnMarie shares her experience growing up in a hearing family, discovering American Sign Language later in life, and the challenges and triumphs that shaped her leadership.
The conversation covers:
- The richness of D...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher dive deep into the investment process at Samaritan Partners, exploring how they evaluate businesses in the disability sector. The conversation covers the fund's unique structure as a public benefit fund, focusing on social good while achieving strong financial returns.
Chris breaks down the key criteria Samaritan Partners uses when considering...
In this powerful episode of Investing in Accessibility, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher sit down with digital accessibility pioneer Mike Paciello, Chief Accessibility Officer at AudioEye and founder of The Paciello Group. Mike shares his remarkable four-decade journey—from converting print documentation into Braille in the 1980s to shaping web accessibility standards and launching multiple successful ventures.
Now at the for...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher dive into the difference between a Lifestyle business and Exit business. Kelvin shares his personal experience with his company, See Me Cane, explaining how he chose to build a Lifestyle business rather than pursue rapid growth through venture capital. He highlights the benefits of having more control, balancing social mission with financial goals...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher sit down with Mike Buckley, CEO of Be My Eyes, to explore how the company is blending cutting-edge technology with human kindness to empower the blind and low vision community. Mike shares his unconventional path from corporate consulting and angel investing to leading one of the most impactful accessibility tech companies in the world.
Kelvin, a l...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher sit down with two true leaders of the accessibility movement: Joe Devon and Jennison Asuncion, co-founders of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Together, they share the incredible story of how a blog post, a tweet, and a Saturday night on Twitter sparked a global movement that now reaches over 200 million people annually.
Joe and Jennison ...
In this episode of Investing in Accessibility, co-hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher welcome Hale Pulsifer, Vice President of Customer Insights, Inclusion, and Advocacy at Fidelity Investments, to explore the intersection of business, accessibility, and economic opportunity. Hale shares his transformative journey from corporate finance strategist to a leader in disability inclusion, revealing how companies that embrace accessibili...
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