Disability & Neurodiversity Keynote Speakers
Redefine what able
means in your room.
More than 1.3 billion people live with disability worldwide. When you add their families, carers, and colleagues, that's 2.3 billion people and $13 trillion in annual disposable income. Inclusion isn't charity. It's strategy. And these speakers will make your audience feel both the urgency and the joy of getting it right.
Why Outspoken
We are not booking “inspiration porn.”
We are booking change agents.
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"Overcoming" disability as a metaphor for everyone else's problems.
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A tearful story with no business case attached.
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Awareness without action — and empathy without accountability.
Dylan Alcott AO
2022 AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR | GOLDEN SLAM | FOUNDER, DYLAN ALCOTT FOUNDATION
Physical Disability ★ Workplace Inclusion ★ Resilience
The only male player in any form of tennis to achieve the Golden Slam — winning all four Grand Slam titles and Paralympic gold in a single year. Four Paralympic gold medals across two sports (wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis). 2022 Australian of the Year. Founder of the Dylan Alcott Foundation, which empowers young Australians with disabilities to achieve their goals in work, sport, and education. Also the founder of Ability Fest — a fully accessible music festival with pathways for wheelchairs, quiet areas for sensory disabilities, and sign language interpreters. His keynote is not a story of triumph over adversity. It is a challenge to every organization: more than 1.3 billion people live with disability, representing $13 trillion in annual disposable income — and most organizations are leaving all of it on the table without even realizing it. Hilarious, disarming, honest, and strategically urgent. Regularly described as the best keynote a conference has ever booked.
Cara Yar Khan
UN HUMANITARIAN | 2025 DOLE--HARKIN AWARD | DISABILITY RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Physical Disability ★ Courage ★ Disability-Inclusive Investing
Diagnosed at 30 with a rare progressive muscle-wasting disease and told to go home and move in with her parents, Cara Yar Khan went to the Sichuan earthquake response instead. A former UN humanitarian who worked in 10 countries across five continents, White House political appointee on international disability rights, and the subject of a documentary executive-produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. Recipient of the 2025 Dole-Harkin Award for distinction in public service to the global disability community, joining past honorees Judy Heumann and Senator John McCain. Her TED Women closing talk with nearly 3 million views and translated into 27 languages is one of the most watched disability-focused talks on the TED platform. CEO of The Purple Practice, she is working to unlock $100 million in accessible and assistive technology investment. For disability, inclusion, and women's leadership audiences, she is among the most powerfully credentialed and personally moving speakers available.
Caroline Maguire
ADHD & SOCIAL SKILLS EXPERT | AUTHOR | FRIENDSHIP SKILLS COACH
ADHD ★ Social-Emotional Learning ★ Neurodiversity
A Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with a Master of Education, Caroline Maguire is one of the leading practitioners in the world on ADHD, social emotional learning, and what it means to support neurodivergent people across the lifespan. Her book Why Will No One Play With Me? — endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, CHADD, and ADDitude Magazine — has helped tens of thousands of families and educators understand and support children with ADHD and social difficulties. Her corporate and association keynote translates these principles to the workplace: what neurodivergent employees actually need, what managers misunderstand about ADHD and executive function, and how to build teams where neurodiverse thinking becomes a genuine competitive advantage rather than a tolerance exercise. An especially important voice for HR, education, and healthcare audiences.
Dr. Cori Lathan
NEUROSCIENTIST | ROBOTICS INVENTOR | HUMAN PERFORMANCE INNOVATOR
Assistive Technology ★ Disability Innovation ★ AI & Health
MIT PhD neuroscientist whose 22-year research career at AnthroTronix was built around a radical premise: technology should amplify human capability, not replace it—beginning with building robots for children with autism and developmental disabilities, and FDA-cleared diagnostic platforms for soldiers and healthcare providers. Named to MIT Technology Review's Top 100 Innovators and permanently installed in a Smithsonian exhibit on women in STEM. Author of the bestselling Inventing the Future: Stories from a Techno-Optimist, Cori's keynote explores what happens when we design technology starting from the most complex human needs (disability, injury, cognitive impairment) and discover that those solutions end up serving everyone. A powerful and optimistic voice for disability-forward innovation, universal design, and the future of human-technology partnership.
Molly Kawahata
BIPOLAR 2 ADVOCATE | PATAGONIA FILM SUBJECT | PSYCHOLOGY OF HOPE
Mental Health ★ Invisible Disability ★ Authentic Leadership
Obama White House Climate Advisor. TIME 100 Next honoree. Subject of the Patagonia film The Scale of Hope. Mountaineer. And one of the most courageous voices on invisible disability and mental health in professional settings. Molly lives openly with Bipolar 2 — a diagnosis she has shared publicly with the specific intention of changing the conversation about who gets to lead, what leaders are allowed to struggle with, and what genuine authenticity in high-stakes roles actually looks like. Her keynote sits at the intersection of climate leadership, resilience, and mental health disclosure — asking audiences in every field to reconsider the cost of the masks we wear at work, and the extraordinary things that become possible when we put them down. For ERG events, women's leadership programs, and mental health in the workplace conferences, Molly's talk is among the most singular and affecting available.
Nidhi Tewari, LCSW
AUTHOR, WORKING WELL | CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER | MENTAL HEALTH THERAPIST
Invisible Disability ★ Workplace Belonging ★ Neurodiversity
Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 13 years specializing in high-performing leaders coping with trauma, anxiety, stress, burnout, and invisible conditions. Thinkers50 Radar 2026. Author of Working Well: How to Build a Happier, Healthier Workplace Through the Science of Attunement, with a foreword by Amy Cuddy and endorsement from Marshall Goldsmith—who calls it "a powerful reminder that empathy and connection aren't soft skills—they're essential ones." Her dedicated invisible disabilities keynote teaches leaders how to recognize how ADHD, depression, anxiety, trauma, chronic pain, and other invisible conditions actually present in the workplace, how to have meaningful conversations while maintaining appropriate boundaries, and how to build cultures where people don't have to choose between their health and their careers.
Chantale Zuzi
FOUNDER, REFUGEE CAN BE | EDUCATION ACTIVIST
Albinism ★ Visual Disability ★ Refugee & Human Rights
Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo with albinism, a condition that in her community was considered a curse, and in parts of Africa makes people targets for violence and killing. At 13, her village was attacked. Both parents were killed. She fled to a refugee settlement in Uganda with her nine siblings, became their primary caregiver, navigated life with severely limited vision and the constant threat of violence specific to people with albinism, and at 14 was elected president of the camp's albinism community to represent their needs to the UN. The UNHCR prioritized her for resettlement to the United States because of the dangers faced by albinos in their home countries. She graduated from Wellesley College and gave a TEDWomen 2023 talk that was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Now founder of Refugee Can Be, providing secondary education and leadership training to girls in the Rwamwanja refugee settlement where she once lived. Her keynote on albinism, disability, forced displacement, and what it means to build a life through radical resilience and advocacy is among the most singular and affecting talks available anywhere.
Who Books These Speakers
Disability and neurodiversity are relevant to every organization. These speakers make that case.
Corporate ERGs & D&I Programs
Disability ERG events, inclusion summits, accessibility awareness months, and D&I leadership programs.
Healthcare Organizations
Hospital systems, medical associations, and healthcare leadership conferences where disability inclusion intersects with patient care and workforce equity.
Technology & Innovation
Tech conferences focused on accessibility, universal design, assistive technology, and AI ethics in disability contexts.
Education & Universities
Student affairs events, disability services programs, faculty development, and campus disability awareness weeks.
HR & People Teams
SHRM conferences, HR leadership summits, and organizational development events focused on neurodiverse hiring and invisible disability accommodation.
Government & Policy
Federal and state disability rights conferences, ADA compliance summits, and public sector inclusion leadership programs.
Sports & Fitness Industry
Adaptive sports conferences, Paralympic program development, and inclusive event design summits.
Nonprofit & Foundation
Disability-focused foundations, YWCAs, family offices, and human services organizations building more accessible and inclusive programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I look for in a disability or neurodiversity keynote speaker?
The most important quality is authenticity without exploitation — speakers who share their own experience as a platform for insight and action, not as a performance of suffering for able-bodied audiences to feel moved by. The best disability speakers leave audiences with a business case, a behavior change, or a framework, not just a feeling. All six speakers on this page have demonstrated exactly that. Tell us about your event and audience and we'll help you choose.
What's the difference between a disability speaker and a neurodiversity speaker?
Disability is a broad category that includes physical, sensory, cognitive, and invisible conditions. Neurodiversity refers specifically to neurological differences like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and related conditions and the movement to understand these as natural variations in human brain function rather than deficits to be fixed. Some speakers, like Caroline Maguire and Nidhi Tewari, specialize in neurodiversity and invisible disabilities. Others, like Dylan Alcott and Cara Yar Khan, speak from the context of physical disability and broader inclusion advocacy. We'll help you match the right speaker to your specific theme.
Do these speakers work for both disability-specific events and general inclusion conferences?
Yes. Dylan Alcott, Cara Yar Khan, and Nidhi Tewari in particular are regularly booked for general inclusion, diversity, and leadership conferences where disability is one of several themes. Dylan's business-case keynote on disability inclusion is one of the most effective general D&I talks available anywhere. Caroline Maguire's neurodiversity and ADHD keynote crosses equally well to general HR, education, and leadership audiences. We'll help you find the right angle for your specific event.
How do I book a disability or neurodiversity keynote speaker?
Fill out our speaker inquiry form with your event date, audience type, disability or neurodiversity focus, and budget range. We respond within one business day with specific recommendations and handle all contracting and logistics from there.
Inclusion isn't charity.
It's the smartest thing you can do.
Tell us about your event and your audience. We'll send tailored recommendations within one business day — no obligation, no pressure.