An award-winning poet, author, speaker, singer, and advocate for the blind. Diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in 2014, this genetic eye condition left Dave severely sight impaired. Together with his wife Amy, the family grappled with the difficult diagnosis that quickly left Dave an unemployed father of four.
One of the lucky ones, John miraculously survived meningococcal disease (bacterial meningitis) as a sophomore in college. John’s body endured considerable trauma that was mostly healed with physical therapy. But neurological dysfunction and blindness are permanent reminders of his battle with meningitis.
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The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility consultant and disability public speaker works with companies to improve disability awareness, inclusion, and accessibility. Catarina, founder of Blindish Latina, who lives with both hearing and visual disabilities, confronts disability stigmas through her story and advocacy.
Stephanie Renberg was diagnosed with a degenerative vision condition at a young age and struggled with limited support in the education system. Now a digital content creator, Stephanie educates others on blindness and offers advocacy and support to those with visual impairment so they do not have to face the obstacles she once did.
Bérénice Magistretti is a disability activist who has used her writing prowess to advocate for and bring awareness to individuals with “invisible” disabilities. After initially wanting to hide her visual impairments, she is now a proud and vocal activist for the community.
Krista Webb is an artist and social media content creator who forged a wood-burning design business as a way to cope with the progressive vision loss she experienced as a result of Usher syndrome. Krista creates custom wood-burning designs for purchase and uses her platform to educate others on the spectrum that is blindness.
Suffering with chronic illness and lupus-like symptoms for years, Lauren Zalewski started an online gratitude movement through herFacebookgroup Attitude of Gratitude with Chronic Pain where she transformed a harrowing “rock bottom” experience into a journey of practicing gratitude and, in turn, sparking a powerful movement.
Born without legs, ophthalmologist Dr. Eric Saunders, shares how his faith helped him through tough times over the years, including in a situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has since started the process of rebuilding his practice and continuing to rely on faith and family.
Advocate, Eritrea Mussa has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 8 years old and had a frightening experience with diabetic macular edema (DME), a diabetes-related condition that impacts your eyesight. Eritrea educates others on living with diabetes and DME while connecting people to resources to help them manage their condition.
