In this inspiring episode of Podcasts by Dr. Kirk Adams, Dr. Kirk Adams talks with Victoria Hillard, founder of Blind Professionals Network (BPN), about her journey since going totally blind at 30 from neuromyelitis optica, a rare disease she says went unidentified for nine years; she was even treated for multiple sclerosis for a whole year. She describes the despair of early blindness, the day one of her children asking for food jump-started her, her training at the San Diego Center for the Blind, the 13 years she says she was ashamed of her cane, and the two-year steps that took her through psychology and then human services, followed by work as a switchboard operator, a quality analyst and, for over 15 years, a personal and professional development coach.
Victoria Hillard explains how BPN grew from a monthly Zoom support group of 40 members in 2019 to about 290 within a month of the pandemic, and to almost 1,000 members now, all served free through one-on-one assistive technology training, eight-week courses, development workshops, employment services and support groups, plus an in-person Professional Empowerment Conference in Houston that she says drew over 100 people. Dr. Adams recalls being turned away from high school chemistry when neither he nor his parents knew how to advocate, the two compare notes on choosing battles and the spoon theory, and Victoria Hillard describes BPN Workplace Solutions, the commercial division that hires blind and visually impaired professionals to deliver inclusivity training, custom JAWS training and accessibility testing, with everything funneling back into BPN. Dr. Adams closes by pointing listeners to https://blindpronet.org and inviting them to explore the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion.
TRANSCRIPT:
Podcast Commentator: Welcome to Podcasts by Dr. Kirk Adams, where we bring you powerful conversations with leading voices in disability rights, employment and inclusion. Our guests share their expertise, experiences and strategies to inspire action and create a more inclusive world. If you’re passionate about social justice or want to make a difference, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in with your host, Dr. Kirk Adams.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Welcome, everybody, to another episode of Podcasts by Dr. Kirk Adams. I am that Dr. Kirk Adams talking to you from my home office in Seattle, Washington. And today I have a guest that I’ve known for several years, but getting to know much better. I have Victoria Hillard, founder of Blind Professionals Network, here today. Hi, Victoria.
Victoria Hillard: Hello. Thank you for having me.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah, you bet. So I can’t remember how I encountered Blind Professionals Network, but I remember joining a Facebook group, and there were maybe about 150 people in it. And there was virtual gatherings monthly, and I had the opportunity to speak about cybersecurity careers to the group. And then about a year and a half later, I checked in again, and there was something like 800 members, so.
Victoria Hillard: [laughs]
Dr. Kirk Adams: Victoria has really grown the network and the value to people who are blind. And I just asked Victoria to be with us today and tell us about her personal journey. So where have you been, Victoria? Where are you at now? Where do you see things going? And I would love to just hand you the microphone.
Victoria Hillard: All right. Well, thank you. It is such an honor. And yes, it has been many years. And I think when you first spoke to the group, we were just starting, right? And so it was a really small thing. And then pandemic happened, and we blew up, right? And I’ll get to that a little bit later, but for myself, I am totally blind, and I went blind older in life. I went blind when I was 30. And once I came out—
Dr. Kirk Adams: Victoria, you’re just breaking up just a little bit. I don’t know if there’s anything you can do about that.
Victoria Hillard: Okay. Let’s see. I’m gonna try. Let’s see here. Can you—
Dr. Kirk Adams: I think that’s—
Victoria Hillard: Can you hear me now?
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah.
Victoria Hillard: I’m gonna be still.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah, that sounds good.
Victoria Hillard: Am I good? Okay. [laughs]
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah. So why don’t we start over with your being a totally blind person?
Victoria Hillard: Okay. So I am totally blind. I actually went blind at the age of 30. And like most of us—
Dr. Kirk Adams: What was the cause, Victoria?
Victoria Hillard: So the funny part about that is I didn’t know the cause for nine years into my blindness. I had been tested for pretty much everything in the book. And I can tell you what I didn’t have, but didn’t know what I had. And I was even diagnosed for a whole year with multiple sclerosis. I gave myself a shot every day for a whole year because they said I had multiple sclerosis. Come to find out I had, at the time, was a rare disease called neuromyelitis optica, which is in the MS family. They say it’s like a cousin to MS, right? And so that affected my optic nerve and damaged my optic nerve. Sad story about that is if they would have known what it was sooner, they could have saved my sight. But as I have come to feel and truly believe is there is a reason, a purpose for me being blind, and I am just going to accept that and embrace that, and that is what I’ve done. But it did not come very easily. Of course, when I first went blind, I was like, “Oh my God, my life is over. I might as well die. There’s nothing I can do. What am I gonna be able to do?” And so I actually went through that for some time and then had to realize that my life is not over. Because I sat there and thought about somebody closing their eyes and still being able to do half of the things that we do, most of the things that we do every day. Cooking, cleaning, putting your pants on one leg at a time.
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs]
Victoria Hillard: Right? All of these things. And I’m like, “Wait a minute. There—” And so I finally… One of my children came in, and during part of my depression, was like, “Mom, I’m hungry.” And I’m like, “Oh my— what is wrong with me?” Right? I just can’t see. Am I supposed to let my kids starve because I can’t see? So that jump-started me, right? And it started in the home. And then I thought, “Well, if I can do this in the home, what can I do outside the home?” So I tested myself. I went to college, and I got a degree, and then I was surprised that I did that as a blind person. I’m like, “Wait, whoa.”
Dr. Kirk Adams: Now, what did you do about blindness skills? I assume you needed to get some orientation mobility and some technology.
Victoria Hillard: So I did do that. So I am from San Diego, California. And so they had a center there, where I… But the thing is, when I went to that center, I was pretty—
Dr. Kirk Adams: You mean the San Diego Center for the Blind?
Victoria Hillard: Yes, exactly.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah. I’ve been there.
Victoria Hillard: Yes. Exactly what it is. So, [laughs] when I went there, I knew… So they were like cooking, so I was a little bit advanced in what they were teaching me, ’cause I taught myself a lot of things, right? But what I did not teach myself was the confidence. And especially seeing other people like me. I thought I was so alone, right? When I seen and got around other people that were… We’re all just people who happen to be blind, and I couldn’t see that before. And that’s what the center helped me. It helped to empower me and the confidence. And it did teach me things. I actually learned braille. I still don’t know braille two. I just know my alphabet and stuff, enough to play cards. [laughs]
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah, there you go.
Victoria Hillard: And so I did go there. I sit there for about two years. That was the other thing that I learned too, the O&M skills, which is the orientation and mobility because—
Dr. Kirk Adams: Are you a cane person or a guide dog person?
Victoria Hillard: I am a cane person, but I will share that I was so ashamed of my cane for probably 13 years. I would not bring that cane out. And finally, when I did, I was mad at myself because I had robbed myself of that confidence for 13 years. When I finally started using that cane, I stopped caring about what other people thought about the cane and pitying the poor little blind girl, ’cause that’s what I always thought it was gonna bring to me, right? That attention. And so now I don’t go anywhere without my cane, which is a big change. So I learned those skills. I don’t know. I really embraced the fact that this is my new normal, right? Because there’s nothing I can do to get my sight back. If it’s meant to be for me to see again, I will. Until then, I need to do this. And so the college came, and then employment came. And—
Dr. Kirk Adams: What did you study?
Victoria Hillard: So I did my associate’s. I had to do it in steps, right? ‘Cause remember, I couldn’t believe I can do it. And so, [laughs] I said, “Well, let me just try two years,” right? And so I did two years of psychology. And then I said, “Ooh, I got it. I graduated and I did it.” And so I said, “Oh, okay. Well, let me try another two years,” right? [laughs] So I looked at the syllabus for psychology. Ugh, it was… I did not like it. And [laughs] I didn’t really wanna learn that much about the brain, right? So [laughs] I switched it over to human services. So I did two years of that, and I said, “Ooh, wait, I finished this.” So I got excited again. I stopped there, though, because I’m done. School is done. [laughs] I did not want to, so—
Dr. Kirk Adams: You reached the goal.
Victoria Hillard: Right. Exactly. And prove to myself that I could do it, right? That’s what it was really, is what I was trying to do. So I did employment. I started off… Actually, my first job was a switchboard operator at a hotel. And I did that for quite some time. And then I moved over to other jobs that were—
Dr. Kirk Adams: Within the hospitality industry?
Victoria Hillard: Actually, no. I then became a quality analyst where I was scoring people’s cards. I did customer service, which grew to management customer service. I did that. Then I actually did something where I started my own, and I did development coaching. I started my own business with that, which people call life coaching, I guess. But development coaching is a lot better, so I did personal and professional development coaching for over 15 years. I did that and helped people start businesses, but also helping people to realize their potential within, whether blind or sighted. I did it for profit for many years, and most of that was sighted people. When I started BPN, I stopped doing it for profit and turned it into a service that BPN offered, and I did it for free for BPN members.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And tell me how BPN came to be.
Victoria Hillard: So in—
Dr. Kirk Adams: That’s Blind Professionals Network, that’s what—
Victoria Hillard: Yes. Blind Professionals Network. So in 2019, I’m from California, but I moved to Houston. I moved to Houston in 2015. And so I got connected, and I was working out here. And really it was mostly to say, “Hey, where are the blind professionals where we can come together, kind of discuss work-related things, the challenges and obstacles that are in the workplace? Somebody who can understand what I’m going through,” right? “And we can just understand each other.” So there were so many things out here for social things, other things that were great and I enjoyed, but I really wanted to have a meeting with my peers. And so I started a support group. One support group once a month, and it was on Zoom. That was in 2019. And so I was Zooming before Zooming was a thing, right? [laughs] So 2019, 40 members. We just kind of got together once a month and just discussed work-related stuff. And sometimes I would have a topic and things. Well, when pandemic came, we were all forced to be at home, right? And so what do we do now? So I said, “Hey, let’s do some workshops. Let’s do some development. Let’s work on us while we’re here and doing nothing.” So I did some development workshops. I started doing some trainings. I was a AT trainer for a few years, and so I did some classes, did some trainings. From that, the pandemic and the Zoom, being at home, we grew from 40 members to probably about 290 members within one month. Right? And—
Dr. Kirk Adams: And just people finding you or just posting on social media?
Victoria Hillard: I guess just posting on social media. But that was a time when we were all looking for something. That’s all we were able to do was be on social media, right? So [laughs] that’s where that came in. Word of mouth got around. We did that. So that was all in about 2021, and then now we have almost 1,000 members, and still. So what happened was, I said, “It’s so much more than just the networking and the support. We need to help our community gain the skills and build the skills, and that’s going to help them gain employment,” right? There’s so many, we already know, and I’m not gonna repeat the employment statistics—
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs]
Victoria Hillard: And all that stuff, right? We know the story.
Dr. Kirk Adams: We know it’s bad.
Victoria Hillard: Right? Yes.
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs]
Victoria Hillard: Exactly. But here’s the thing. There are so many of us that go blind as adults and really do not believe that we can work, or that that is even possible. And so what I did was, we have state rehab service, vocational rehab services. I commend those. I love them. However, we all know that those can take forever, right? Not only can it take forever, but it can also reach a max to where once the time you’re allotted, the services, you’re no longer given anymore. That’s what BPN is meant to be. That bridge while you’re waiting for services and the programs that we can provide after you have gotten those services. Growing knowledge, experience, that should never stop, you know? And so that’s what we do. And so now we have our members. We have our trainings. All of our service are absolutely free. So we do the trainings. We do the employment services where we match people with an employment specialist that guide them from A to Z, from resume writing to career exploration, all of those things. And then I think that this is something that people probably don’t even realize they need or could use. And so that’s what we do.
Dr. Kirk Adams: So where do members gather? I remember joining a Facebook group. Is that still the platform that you’re using or—
Victoria Hillard: No.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Or where do people connect?
Victoria Hillard: Yeah, we usually actually have Zoom. We’re still on Zoom. So all of our events are virtual. With the monthly meetings, everything is virtual, with the exception of, we will be working next, on the 2027, we’ll be having our second conference that we have, our Professional Empowerment Conference that we had for the first time last year. That is actually in person in Houston. So looking forward to that. But everything else is virtual. All of our trainings and workshops are still virtual.
Dr. Kirk Adams: So do people sign up for an email list, or how do they become a member?
Victoria Hillard: Same. And it’s very easy to do, and when we say our services are free, our programs are free, it is. The only thing that has to be done is to join the BPN, which is also free. There’s no small print, none of that stuff.
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs]
Victoria Hillard: And once you become a member and all you have to do is go to our website, which is https://blindpronet.org. If—
Dr. Kirk Adams: https://blindpronet.org. Got it.
Victoria Hillard: And you fill out the membership form, and once you fill that out, you are immediately able to start receiving our programs and services.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Right. Well, can you give us some examples of some of the trainings and workshops that you’ve done in the recent past?
Victoria Hillard: Yes, I’m sure.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Give people a flavor what they get.
Victoria Hillard: Yes. So of course we always have our one-on-one trainings that are available for everybody. So those are kind of, you are paired with a volunteer, and our volunteer trainers are just awesome trainers, right? And they’re volunteering their time to BPN, but they are assistive technology trainers, and they will be paired. Sometimes people might just need a little help with maybe a project they’re working on or have something on Excel that they need help on. You can do one-on-one trainings and sign up and get help on that specific thing. I love the one-on-one trainings ’cause they meet you where you’re at. You tell them what you need, right? Then we have our eight-week courses that we do, and those are kind of just like it is. It’s a course, you know? And so that’s where you come in and it’s usually a JAWS, a Word course, an Excel course, or whatever the course may be.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Are those live? Are they recorded? Do people—
Victoria Hillard: Nope, they’re—
Dr. Kirk Adams: Attend classes—
Victoria Hillard: Yep, they attend—
Dr. Kirk Adams: Or do they do it at their own pace?
Victoria Hillard: Yep, they attend once a week, and you have a live instructor in there. So we have that. Then we have our various development workshops. Sometimes we’ve had effective listening. We’ve had public speaking. There’s been a few those. Kind of a lot of soft skill stuff as well, ’cause we cannot forget about those soft skills, right? So we do a lot of workshops on that. And then we have our other support groups that we do have. We have a new support group that we’ve started, for those that have been blind five years or less, to help them to gain the confidence and see that employment is still possible after blindness.
Dr. Kirk Adams: That they’re not alone.
Victoria Hillard: Yes.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Not very alone in your journey.
Victoria Hillard: Absolutely. Yes. And then we also have advocacy support group, which is just helping, coming together. It’s a peer advocacy space. And so we’re supporting one another on how to advocate in various situations and in our journeys.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Let’s talk about advocacy a little bit. So the American Foundation for the Blind, where I had the honor and privilege of being the president and CEO, before my time, they worked with an expert in education of blind children, Dr. Phil Hatlen, may he rest in peace. And they developed what was called the Expanded Core Curriculum for blind kids. And so I say, at some point when you’re a blind kid in school, you get the good news that you need to learn all the stuff the sighted kids learn and these nine other things. [laughs] Those are orientation and mobility, assistive technology, career exploration, and advocacy. And I know I was not a good advocate as a young blind person. My little story is that when I was in high school, small town, Snohomish, Washington, there were probably about 30 kids that were kind of the college-bound kids. And first period senior year went to math analysis. Second period went to physics. Third period went to chemistry. And I walked in and the chemistry teacher said, “Oh, you can’t take chemistry. That’s a safety issue. No, you need to go to the office and get a different class.” And I didn’t know how to advocate for myself. I didn’t know any other blind people. I was always the only… I went to a school for blind kids for second, third grade, because I became totally blind when I was five. So I needed to learn braille. I needed to learn the cane. There was no question about that. But then I was the only blind kid in school from fourth grade on, and we weren’t connected to any blind people. I didn’t know any blind adults. So I did not have the great tools and resources and assets that you are providing to people [laughs] in Blind Professionals Network. And I went home and told my parents, kind of outraged, that they’re not gonna let me take chemistry. And they didn’t know advocacy either, so they just said, “Well, if Mr. So-and-So says, then, well, that’s that.” So I sat in the library third period my whole senior year.
Victoria Hillard: That’s sad.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And now of course I’ve met blind people who have PhDs in chemistry. Blind chemists, blind people who teach chemistry [laughs] at the university level. So I was not given correct information, but I didn’t know where to find it. I didn’t know where to go. So I didn’t advocate for myself. I gave up without a fight, really. But I’m so pleased that you are focusing on advocacy.
Victoria Hillard: Thank you.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And if you could maybe give a couple little examples of some of the situations that have come up.
Victoria Hillard: Yes, absolutely. And think about it. So I mean, not that we’re aging ourselves here, but think about 30, 40 year ago, right? The services that were out there. None of us knew. I can just think, I mean, 50 years ago, if I was blind, it would’ve been a whole different thing for me, I’m sure, because of what is out here now. And that’s why it’s so important for us to spread awareness and advocate, right? But now it’s more so you can go and Google self-advocacy for blind people. [laughs] And that will bring up stuff, right? We didn’t have that back then, you know? So some of the things that happened, and then I’m gonna take it to that school, and that’s so unfortunate, but that’s the way that it was, right? Now, today, in employment, I was always one of those that did not advocate for myself. You know why? Because I didn’t wanna ruffle waters. I was just happy to have a job. I was happy to be here. “Well, if I say what I really need, they might try to fire me or something. And I’m just happy to have a job.” And that’s what a lot of us think. And because of that, we are not operating at full capacity the way that we can be helping this company that has hired us the way that we can because we’re afraid to ask for what we need, right? Not only that, even asking for what we need, there’s other personal space. When people would come up and grab me or do these things, I just sat there quiet. I didn’t say anything. Because I don’t wanna, well, they’re trying to help me. And not knowing there’s a proper way to assist me. And a lot of people just need to be kind of educated. But then that flips up to I am in education mode 24/7, right? And you always have to be there, and I get it. And but there’s a way to advocate, and I think our attitudes and our humility and when we’re talking to people, when we are advocating, that makes a big difference. We should not advocate or self-advocate from a position of “This is what’s owed to me. I’m entitled.” We need to self-advocate in a way of educating. This is what I need. This is why I need it. And I think that’s so important for us to not, don’t minimize ourselves because of what the response that we think we’re gonna get might not be the best one for somebody else. And so I always say, we need to speak up for ourselves, and that is not our job to speak up for ourselves for everybody else. But I speak up because what I’m doing today could help another blind person that’s coming behind me to make their travel a lot easier and smoother. That matters to me. Maybe it doesn’t matter to everybody. But—
Dr. Kirk Adams: Right. It matters to you.
Victoria Hillard: It should. Just the struggle.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Agreed.
Victoria Hillard: The struggle is real.
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs]
Victoria Hillard: Right? [laughs] The struggle is real.
Dr. Kirk Adams: You also have to choose… Sometimes you have to choose your battles, too. I travel a lot, and my wife and I will be going on a trip, and the TSA person will ask her, “Can I see his ID?”
Victoria Hillard: Ugh, absolutely.
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs] And she goes— And do I choose to spend my time and energy educating that person, or do I just hand—
Victoria Hillard: He probably doesn’t care.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Or do I just hand them my ID?
Victoria Hillard: Right. It’s pick and choose. That is so true.
Dr. Kirk Adams: It’s pick and choose. And energy. Through the community of people with chronic illness, I’ve started to understand the spoon theory. That you only have so many spoons of energy to use every day.
Victoria Hillard: Yes.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And you can say this, “I only have eight spoons, and I’m getting dressed, organized, and starting the day takes three. And so I have five left.”
Victoria Hillard: Right. I was in—
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs]
Victoria Hillard: I was someplace. I had a friend, and she said, “I’m not using a spoon on you.” And—
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs]
Victoria Hillard: That’s when I learned about the spoon. I said, “What? Why do you keep saying that? This is the fourth time I’ve heard you say that when I’ve been around you.” She just said, so she’s mentally, like you said, picking and choosing her battles. She’s like, “I’m not using…” And that’s when I learned about the spoon theory.
Dr. Kirk Adams: The spoon theory, yeah.
Victoria Hillard: Because [laughs] she said, “I’m choosing not to use a spoon on you.”
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah. I like it.
Victoria Hillard: [laughs] Yes.
Dr. Kirk Adams: I found that very useful. So what do you see happening with Blind Professionals Network in the next six months, year?
Victoria Hillard: Okay. So here’s the thing. We have focused for so long on Blind Professionals Network, right? Blind Professionals, it’s for our community. It’s to help our people to get those skills, go gain the confidence and that. So that’s there. That’s done. We’re gonna continue expanding, and not just expanding, but enhancing the programs we have. But we have to flip it. We can do this all day long, but on the flip side, where is the awareness? Where is the, for employers to know about our work? So that is why we also have BPN Workplace Solutions, right? And it is kind of like our commercial division, I guess.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah. So it’s consulting.
Victoria Hillard: Yes. And so what we do, we are going into focus on companies, businesses, organizations. We will come in and do the inclusivity training, or the sensitivity awareness training. Those type of things. We would do those for companies. What better way to show inclusivity by having these trainings conducted by blind and visually impaired individuals, right? So that is one of the things we do. We do the custom JAWS trainings. We will go in and actually train your screen reader users the most effective way to use your systems. We’re training it catered to your specific systems, right?
Dr. Kirk Adams: So if I’m an employer and I use Workday or Epic or some platform, you’ll come in and teach people how to navigate those particular, specific systems.
Victoria Hillard: Exactly. Yes. And then we also do accessibility testing to help companies realize there’s work. And then we do workshops, development workshops and team building workshops. And then, of course, we’ll do the coaching if that is needed as well. The beauty about BPN Workplace Solutions, well, number one, we hire blind and visually impaired people. That’s the focus, right? All of our employees that provide these trainings and facilitate these workshops and do these things, they are all blind and visually impaired. So we are keeping positions for what we are struggling with in the employment world anyways, is providing jobs and having jobs out there for us, so we’re doing that. Everything that we do there funnels back into Blind Professionals Network. So that’s kind of the thing about that.
Dr. Kirk Adams: I love the social enterprise model. Because you are generating revenue while advancing your mission, right? Fulfilling your mission and generating revenue. Which is a beautiful thing.
Victoria Hillard: Yes. So 2027, I think right now for the rest of the year, and this year has gone by so fast. I can’t even believe this time. So we’ll end out our year for BPN and then while ending out the year, still get ready and lay the plan for the workplace solution. And just really focus on that 100% the way that we have been focusing on Blind Professionals Network. But of course, don’t forget, we still will be working on our conference that will be in spring of next year. That was such a great success last year, and it may be small to some, but we actually had over 100 people attend in person, and we weren’t even expecting that. So that was a thing, and we’re expecting the numbers to grow this next year. So we’re gonna focus on that and then workplace solutions, and just to continue to provide services. The thing about it is we’re out here, we are here for our community. It is up to our community to grab those services, the things that are being offered to them. We can… What do they say? We can lead a horse to water, right?
Dr. Kirk Adams: [laughs] Yeah. Right.
Victoria Hillard: And so we’re here for whoever needs us. And if you want it, then come get it. We’re here.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Come get it. Come get it at https://blindpronet.org.
Victoria Hillard: Absolutely.
Dr. Kirk Adams: So if a blind person’s listening, you’re interested in employment, careers, getting that paycheck, then go to https://blindpronet.org. And if you’re an employer seeking to become a more effective supportive employer for all of your employees, including people who are blind, how do people get in touch with your business solutions, the same way, through the website?
Victoria Hillard: Yes. So they can go through the website as well. Also the email address for that is bpnworkplacesolutions@blindpronet.org. But again, website, if they go to the website, we’re right there. That has a whole separate thing. Also, anyone interested in volunteering with us as well, we look forward, we do have a lot of positions, but some of the employers, they have volunteer programs through their employer. And if you wanna see how we work, you wanna see how blind people work in action, it’s a good place to send your employees to volunteer with us as well.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah. Cool. And if people wanna email you directly, how do they do that?
Victoria Hillard: They can email me directly at vhillard, that’s V as in Victoria, Hillard, H-I-L-L-A-R-D, @blindpronet.org.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Fabulous. So please get in touch with Victoria. Get in touch with—
Victoria Hillard: Love to hear from you.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Blind Professionals Network. And as far as getting in touch with me, I am Kirk Adams, K-I-R-K A-D-A-M-S, @drkirkadams.com. My website is https://drkirkadams.com, https://drkirkadams.com. I have a newsletter you can sign up for. You can reach me via email, via the contact form on the website, or via LinkedIn. I’m on LinkedIn every day, Kirk Adams, PhD. And I do want to mention an initiative I’ve been involved in, and it really aligns closely with what we’ve been talking about, Victoria, and that’s finding community and strength in numbers, learning from one another, teaching one another. And I have been serving as executive director for a nonprofit here in Seattle called the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion. And this fall we launched the Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion. It’s on the Circle platform. There’s a website, there’s Android and iOS apps. And it’s really a place for people from whatever demographic categories you might be in [laughs] who care about diversity, inclusion, equity, accessibility, belonging, who care about social justice, human dignity. And I would invite you to explore Community Coalition for Sustainable Diversity Inclusion. We want all people to be represented, to feel welcome, to have a place. And so, with that, thank you, Victoria, for your time. I look forward to helping to spread the word about your in-person event in spring.
Victoria Hillard: Awesome. Thank you.
Dr. Kirk Adams: I have signed up for your newsletter, so I get your announcements. And I just applaud you again. I say when I first encountered BPN, it was a small Facebook group. And now you’re a thousand strong. And you’re on a roll. So keep up the good work.
Victoria Hillard: Thank you so much.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And we’ll talk again in the spring.
Victoria Hillard: Thank you. Appreciate it. And thank you for all you do as well. I’ve been following you too. I follow you.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Oh, all right. [laughs]
Victoria Hillard: So thank you.
Dr. Kirk Adams: All for one, one for all. All right. We’ll see you next time on another episode of Podcasts by Dr. Kirk Adams.
Podcast Commentator: Thank you for listening to Podcasts by Dr. Kirk Adams. We hope you enjoyed today’s conversation. Don’t forget to subscribe, share or leave a review at https://www.drkirkadams.com. Together, we can amplify these voices and create positive change. Until next time, keep listening, keep learning, and keep making an impact.
Dr. Kirk Adams, Ph.D.
Advocate, Leader and Keynote Speaker on Disability Inclusion & Leadership
Leading the Way to Accessible Innovation
” Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s a strategic advantage. “
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (ISDI)
Executive Director
Strengthening individual and organizational capability for creating diverse, inclusive and equitable workplaces.
Innovative Impact, LLC Consulting
Managing Director
Impactful Workforce Inclusion Starts Here
American Foundation for the Blind
Immediate Past President & CEO
To create a world of no limits for people who are blind or visually impaired.
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