While every founder has their trials and tribulations, those who are disabled face even more obstacles than their peers. But through sheer will – and maybe even a little spite – these entrepreneurs want you to know they’re here to change the world, no matter who tries to stand in their way.
Here are 6 game-changing founders – and also happen to be disabled.
1. Brandon Winfield
About iAccess Life
At iAccess Innovations, we’ve launched a lifestyle app that lets users rate and review locations—like restaurants, stores, and hotels—based on accessibility features, including parking, entrances, interior space, and bathrooms.
Our goal is to create a trusted platform that highlights accessibility and builds a family of loyal users!
Founder Story
In 2008, Brandon Winfield was injured in a motocross accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Faced with a life-altering decision at just 14 years old, Brandon chose to triumph over tragedy, continuing his passion for racing and winning numerous kart racing events nationwide.Through his start-up, Brandon, and his co-founder Sayeed Mehrjerdian, aims to empower users to “know before they go” and feel confident making plans with their friends, colleagues, and loved ones.
2. Tiffani Martin
About VisioTech
VisioTech is a leader in accessible AI solutions, dedicated to advancing inclusivity through technology. As a disability-owned, women-owned, and minority-owned business, we provide web and digital accessibility services, education and training, and product development to help organizations achieve their accessibility goals.
As a 100% women-owned, minority-owned, and disability-owned business, we specialize in web and digital accessibility, education and training, and product development. With a mission to empower organizations to create inclusive digital experiences, we leverage the Accessible AI Quotient framework to provide cutting-edge, ethical, and responsible solutions.
Founder Story
I didn’t start in tech with a title—I started with a mission: to challenge systems that weren’t built with people like me in mind. As a STEM advocate, speaker, Instructor, and executive living without my sight, I quickly realized that innovation could either deepen inequality or drive equity. That realization has shaped every step of my journey.
Today, I’m the Founder and CEO of VisioTech, where I developed the Accessible AI Quotient (AAIQ) Framework—a scalable blueprint helping teams embed barrier-free systems, ethics, and human center design into artificial intelligence & tech from the ground up. We’ve launched no-code AI programs, cyber security solutions, led digital transformation strategies across sectors, and advised on policy and product in universal design.
I also cohost The Blind Spot podcast, where we dive into real-life experiences and bridge them to areas in AI, cybersecurity, and social impact. As a national speaker, I bring a systems-thinking approach to the stage, with topics including responsible innovation, human-centered design, and accessible tech ecosystems.
3. Michael Zalle
About YellowBird
YellowBird is a technology platform transforming the Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) and Risk Management landscape for companies with diverse employee risk and geographic spread. We specialize in delivering efficient, tech-driven solutions that empower the insurance industry to better serve their clients and streamline safety and risk mitigation in operations.
Founder Story
Michael Zalle is the Founder and CEO of YellowBird. He was born with an underdeveloped right hand and a spinal cord injury, which has given him a unique perspective on the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities.
He is responsible for creating, building, and launching new concepts and companies, resulting in multiple successful exits over a 25-year tech career. He has built a career through a unique balance of commercializing novel business models, operationalizing innovative technologies and platforms, rapidly scaling operations, and building market-shaping ecosystems. Michael’s companies and purpose are ever focused on serving others. Whether it be satellite systems for First Responders, environmental products for flood and spill response, or time and economic support for difference-making organizations, Michael believes in “doing well while doing good.”
Michael’s college journey began at San Francisco State University and completed at Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School while working full-time and traveling at age 19. As a lifelong member and mentor for the Amputee Coalition of America, he enjoys the time he’s able to invest in mentoring kids with physical challenges.
Michael Zalle, YellowBird, on-demand platform that connects companies with Risk and Environmental, Health, and Safety professionals.
4. Samantha Scott
About
JuneBrain, Inc. specializes in developing optical coherence tomography (OCT) products that expand the reach of neurology and ophthalmology into underserved communities around the world.
Our mission begins in the neurological disease community with hardware and AI software solutions to support disease research. JuneBrain is developing tools to remotely and quantitatively evaluate the progression of diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) using retinal image data.
Founder Story
“When Dr. Scott was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a chronic neurological disorder, she found an immediate flaw in our healthcare system: her neurologist only had the bandwidth to see her once a year. As a result, she was left on her own to understand how her disease was changing and communicate those changes to her doctor. This common clinical practice places a great burden on patients to monitor their own diseases but provides clinicians with only subjective information.”
“She founded JuneBrain in response to this challenge, which is shared by a diversity of individuals living with eye and brain disease, including multiple sclerosis and macular degeneration.”
5. Nikolas Kelly
Co-Founders and CPO, Sign-Speak
Location: New York
Total Funding: $350K
About Sign-Speak
We are Sign-Speak, an AI-driven technology company dedicated to developing reliable and innovative solutions. Our primary offering is our sign language API, which simplifies the integration of sign language interpretation as seamlessly as voice recognition.
Founder Story
Nikolas Kelly arrived at the Rochester Institute of Technology / National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID) with a clear goal: to become a Supply Chain Manager. But daily communication barriers made that journey more difficult than it needed to be. Instead of settling, he saw an opportunity to create lasting change.
In 2021, Niko made a bold move—leaving his MBA program to build something that would transform how he and millions of others access information. He joined forces with two uniquely talented partners who believed in the mission just as deeply. Nicholas Wilkins, a machine learning expert and interpreter, brought a rare blend of technical expertise and human insight. He left a high-paying position at Google to help turn the vision into reality.
Sign-Speak, a sign language translator and avatar made to bridge the gap between deaf and hearing communities. (Yamillet Payano, Nikolas Kelly, and Nicholas Wilkins.)
6. Rebecca Rosenberg
Founder and CEO, ReBokeh Vision Technologies
Location: Maryland
Total Funding: $420K
About ReBokeh Vision Technologies
ReBokeh provides accessibility tools for individuals and organizations to improve the lived experience of people with low vision, and to empower them to achieve their goals independently.
Founder Story
Rebecca was only a few months old when she was diagnosed with Oculocutaneous Albinism. Going through school, she was offered many different assistive technologies that just didn’t quite fit her needs. Despite having significant residual vision, she was only offered tools that attempted to bypass her vision altogether – defaulting to audio only options.
At 17, she walked into the offices of a Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired for what had been called a “technology meeting.” She was directed to a large room filled with devices aimed at assisting college-bound students with visual disabilities.
Her options? An enormous, overhead-projector-like textbook enlarger with its own computer screen; effectively a huge digital camera/magnifier, and 3 feet tall, for nearly $5,000 – the alternative? An audio recorder.
In that moment, she realized how far behind modern day these technologies really were, and how much room there was to improve them. Rebecca founded ReBokeh so that every person with a vision impairment can feel seen, knowing that there is technology available that is truly meant for them.
About the Author: Tess Danielson is a journalist and writer focusing on the intersection of technology and society.
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