Featured speakers
Harkin Belfast will provide the platform for a number of presentations. We are delighted that the following distinguished guests have agreed to share their experiences and insights in disability employment.
Judy Heumann
International Disability Rights Activist
Renowned international disability rights activist Judy Heumann will be delivering a keynote speech at The Harkin International Disability Employment Summit in Belfast.
Judy Heumann was a central figure in the Academy Award-nominated Crip Camp and has played a critical role in advancing rights of individuals with disabilities, including helping to write Public Law 94-142: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She was instrumental in organizing the Section 504 Sit-In that resulted in our nation’s first civil rights law for people with disabilities. She also was appointed by President Barack Obama as the first to become the Special Advisor on International Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department from 2010-2017.Yasmine Laroche
Deputy Minister, Public Service Accessibility, Canada
Yazmine Laroche is Canada’s first Deputy Minister of Public Service Accessibility, responsible for overseeing the efforts of the Canadian public service to meet the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act. She has served in many leadership roles in different federal departments and agencies. Yazmine is proud to be the Deputy Minister Champion for Federal Employees with Disabilities and the Deputy Minister Champion for her alma mater, Carleton University, from whom she received an honorary doctorate in 2019. She is a board member of Muscular Dystrophy Canada, and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal recognizing her charitable work on behalf of people with disabilities.
Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo
World Bank Group
Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo is the Global Disability Advisor for the World Bank Group. Her work at the Bank focuses on disability-inclusive development under its twin goals to end poverty and promote shared prosperity. As Disability Advisor, she supports operational teams across the institution to ensure that Bank policies, programs, and projects are disability-inclusive. Her responsibilities include; leading the production of analytical products; analyzing and articulating Bank policy on disability and development.
Taryn Williams
US Department
of Labor
Taryn Mackenzie Williams is the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy. In this position, she advises the Secretary of Labor on how the Department’s policies and programs impact the employment of people with disabilities and leads the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), which works with employers and all levels of government to promote evidence-based policy that improves employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities. Previously, Williams was the managing director for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at American Progress, and she worked at ODEP on a variety of issues related to education and workforce policy.
Jayne Brady
Head of Northern Ireland Civil Service
Jayne took up the post as Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in September 2021, the first female and external appointment in its 100 year history. As part of this role she is the most senior adviser to the First Minister and the deputy First Minister and Secretary to the Northern Ireland Executive.
An engineer at heart with extensive, board experience and a track record of success that transcends blue-chip corporations, start-ups and funding ecosystems. She has over twenty years’ leadership experience and a diverse skillset including venture capital, due diligence, corporate governance, setting strategy, leading teams, technical ownership and finance across complex organisational structures internationally.
Hector Minto
Microsoft
Hector has worked at the cutting edge of accessibility and assistive technology (AT) for 25 years specializing in alternative communication, home automation and computer access. His career has spanned public sector, enterprise, education, regularly contributing to government consultations on disability inclusion.Hector’s role at Microsoft as Lead Technology Evangelist sees him engaging with major global employers, Microsoft’s commercial partner network and a wider set of community stakeholders to showcase inclusive design, product accessibility, inclusive hiring practices, the role of disability employee resource groups and accessibility innovation. He is the incumbent UK Government Disability and Access Ambassador the Technology Sector.
Susannah Rodgers MBE
Independent
Consultant and Paralympic Athlete
Susie is a Paralympic swimmer, who competed at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, winning gold in Rio and five bronze medals across both Games. She won 30 international medals during a career of a decade, including 17 Gold. Susie now works as a global disability inclusion consultant in the public and the private sectors and currently as a technical adviser on disability inclusion in global health at the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She was made a Young Global Leader in 2018 by the World Economic Forum and awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen for services to swimming in 2017. She is an ocean ambassador for the Marine Conservation Society and a trustee of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy charity, Spirit of 2012. She is a member of the Disability Advisory Panel at the British Council.
Abia Akram
Chair, National Forum of Women with Disabilities (Pakistan)
With a personal experience of physical disability. Abia Akram has been engaged in the activities of Disability Movement since 1997. She is known as one of the most active women with disabilities leader globally. In the struggle of giving voice to women with disabilities, she has been lobbying with parliamentarians, UN high level representatives focusing on developing advocacy strategies to raise awareness, network, and build capacity and at the UN level in relation to the UN convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Inclusive Development. She has also co-ordinates efforts of including persons with disabilities in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its sustainable development goals.
Cerrie Burnell
Author, Actor and Ambassador
Cerrie Burnell is an author, actor and ambassador. Best known for her work on CBeebies, where she broke down barriers, challenged stereotype and overcame discrimination to become one of the most visible disabled presenters on children’s television. The role earned her critical recognition and a devoted fanbase. Since CBeebies, Cerrie has appeared in continuing drama Doctors and hosted two documentaries. She is also the author of twelve Children’s books and alongside her role as ambassador for disability at the BBC.
Rodney O. Martin
Chairman and CEO, Voya Financial
Rodney O. Martin, Jr., is chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Voya Financial, Inc., which helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Martin is a veteran of the retirement, insurance and financial services industries. He joined Voya as CEO in 2011 and, since then, has advanced a significant financial, operational and cultural transformation as he has evolved the business portfolio to one focused on delivering health, wealth and investment solutions that enable Voya’s approximately 14.8 million individual, workplace and institutional clients to achieve their financial wellness goals with confidence.
Patrick O'Reilly
Artistic Director, Tinderbox Theatre Company
Patrick J O’Reilly is theatre maker/performer based in Belfast Northern Ireland. Since being appointed Artistic Director for Belfast-based Tinderbox Theatre Company in 2016, he has implemented a vision of liberation and
playfulness for the development and celebration of artistic collaboration in Northern Ireland. Patrick's initially followed a
vocational path receiving a BA Hons in Brighton in 2003 followed by study at the Le Coq School in Paris. He works in true
collaboration with artists, participants and audiences, believing that we are all equally responsible in creating space and sharing stories as an
interdependent ecology.
Ciara O'Hare
PayPal
Ciara hails from Belfast where her passion for customer experience and giving everyone opportunity started back in the 90's in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.Dr. Robbyn R. Wacker
President, St Cloud State University
Robbyn Wacker is the 24th president of St. Cloud State University.
Dr Wacker is an experienced administrator and a tenured professor with a reputation for leadership of strategic initiatives, encouraging innovation, and advancing student enrollment, retention, and success.
She came to St. Cloud from the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) where she had been serving since 1990 in several capacities — including as provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs and senior campaign advisor in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations.