Speaking & Thought Leadership

Talks at the intersection of accessibility, leadership, and the human side of AI.

I speak about accessibility as a business advantage, the realities of modernizing complex systems, and why empathy still matters in an AI-accelerated world. My sessions are practical, plain-spoken, and grounded in real delivery work.

Conferences and organizations book me when they want sessions that move people from awareness to action—without drowning them in jargon.

Invite me to speak View speaking history

Upcoming Engagements · 2026

Detailed session descriptions and learning objectives for my scheduled 2026 conference talks.

CSUN Assistive Technology Conference · March 17–20, 2026

Accessibility for Small Business: A Practical Roadmap

Small & Mid-Sized Business

Accessibility isn’t just for large enterprises. Small and mid-sized businesses often want to do the right thing but feel overwhelmed by cost, complexity, and unclear guidance. This session gives SMB owners, agencies, and developers a simple, doable roadmap to start improving accessibility immediately—without specialized teams or enterprise budgets.

Learning objectives

Identify 5 high-impact accessibility practices SMBs can implement with limited resources.
Understand how accessibility strengthens SEO, customer trust, and conversion.
Use simple, repeatable tests to assess a small business website in under 20 minutes.
Prioritize improvements realistically when teams are small or wearing multiple hats.
Know when to hire outside help—and how to avoid overpaying or overengineering the solution.

Building a Culture of Accessibility Leadership

Leadership & Culture

Compliance can spark awareness, but only leadership turns accessibility into culture. This session outlines a practical approach for embedding accessibility into decisions, communication, and delivery behaviors so it becomes “how we work,” not “what we check at the end.”

Learning objectives

Learn how leaders influence teams without relying on authority or mandates.
Recognize the behaviors that build—or erode—accessibility culture.
Translate accessibility into business language executives and PMs understand.
Integrate accessibility into onboarding, planning, metrics, and team rituals.
Apply a repeatable framework for reducing resistance and sustaining momentum.

Related insights

Accessibility as a non-functional requirement Leader as teacher: instructional design in project communication

University of Illinois · WebCon 2026 · April 9–10, 2026

Building a Culture of Accessibility Leadership

Leadership & Culture

A leadership-centered session focused on helping digital professionals move accessibility beyond policies and checklists. Attendees learn how to create influence, shift team norms, and make accessibility part of everyday practice—especially in environments where maturity varies or resources are limited.

Learning objectives

Understand the leadership behaviors that make accessibility “real” for teams.
Use clear, practical language to position accessibility as part of quality and user experience.
Learn how to influence cross-functional teams without conflict or escalation.
Design meeting, review, and planning rituals that reinforce accessibility.
Develop a long-term culture roadmap leaders can adopt immediately.

AI in Accessibility: Where Tools End and Humans Lead

AI & Human Judgment

This session explores how AI can accelerate accessibility work—and where its limitations require human judgment, ethics, and empathy. Attendees gain clarity on the boundary between assistive automation and responsible decision-making.

Learning objectives

Understand what AI tools can reliably do today in accessibility workflows.
Recognize where AI can fail or mislead due to missing context or nuance.
Apply a simple decision model for knowing when to trust AI outputs.
Identify the accessibility tasks that must remain human-led.
Communicate the role of AI clearly to PMs, leaders, and contributors.

Signature topic · Available for 2026+ bookings

Modernization & Change Leadership in Regulated Environments

Enterprise Systems & Risk

This session is built from years of leading modernization work in regulated, high-visibility environments— from claims systems to data center programs. It focuses on the practical side of leading change when you’re balancing risk, regulatory constraints, technical debt, and very real delivery pressure.

The full abstract is in progress. When complete, it will connect directly to my upcoming insight on seeing the whole enterprise, not just the project plan in front of you.

Session focus

Understanding the “system behind the project” — incentives, dependencies, and constraints.
Translating modernization risk into language executives and regulators understand.
Balancing speed with resilience when outages or failures are not an option.
Leading under pressure without burning out teams or eroding trust.

Related insight (in progress)

Seeing the whole enterprise: incentives, risk, and quiet dependencies

Recent featured session

PMI Global Conference – Phoenix · 2025

Interview with an AI: Why Empathy Still Drives Project Success

A live, interactive “interview with an AI” exploring where AI excels in project work, where it falls short, and why human leadership, ethics, and empathy remain non-negotiable.

• Demonstrated how AI can support project planning, risk identification, and communication.
• Showed real scenarios where AI misses context, nuance, or ethical implications.
• Gave project leaders language and models for deciding when to trust tools—and when to slow down and think.

Curious about the thinking behind this format? I expand on the balance between AI and human leadership in my instructional design & communication insight .

Speaking history

A selection of conference and chapter talks on accessibility, leadership, agile delivery, and distributed teams.

2025

PMI Global Conference – Phoenix

Talk: Interview with an AI: Why Empathy Still Drives Project Success

University of Illinois – WebCon 2025

Talk: How to Incorporate Accessibility into Your Agile Sprints

CSUN 2025

Talk: How to Incorporate Accessibility into Your Agile Sprints

2024

University of Illinois – WebCon 2024

Talk: Future Trends & Innovations in Accessibility

2022

Deque axe-con 2022 / AccessU 2022

Talk: Change Management in Accessibility

2021

Deque axe-con 2021 / AccessU 2021

Talk: 14 Seconds from Failure: What Apollo 11 Can Teach Us About Accessibility Transformations

2016

PMI Global Conference – San Diego

Talk: Agile, The PMBOK® Guide, and Agile Tools

PMI Central Illinois Chapter Conference

Talk: Leading Distributed Teams & the Role of Controlled Innovation

I’m currently accepting speaking invitations for conferences and internal leadership events focused on accessibility leadership, modernization, and AI-supported delivery. Session ideas often start as posts or articles on my Insights page and are then adapted for your audience.

Planning your next event?

If you’re organizing a conference, summit, or internal leadership day and want sessions that blend accessibility, delivery, and human-centered leadership, I’d be glad to talk.

I work closely with organizers to tailor talks to their audience—whether they’re developers, designers, product leaders, or executives.

Discuss a speaking opportunity

In your note, include the event name, location (or virtual), audience profile, and any themes you’re emphasizing this year. If you’d like a talk adapted from a specific Insight , mention that as well.