This isn’t part of GOAT, but it’s a close enough intersection that I’d like to use this blog to invite any readers to attend. In my work with Borealis Philanthropy as program manager for the DIFxTech fund, I’ve been hosting a series of talks with our grantees, advisors, and other experts and advocates, for ways we mash up disability justice with technological innovation. If you’d like to be added to the invite, please email me at difxtech@borealisphilanthropy.org.
Next up in our DIFxTech Community Conversation series:
Software design, AI, Privacy, and Disability
Maitreya Shah and Ariana Aboulafia
Host: Liz Henry
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2025 11:00am PDT – 12:30pm PDT
Maitreya Shah and Ariana Aboulafia, from the Center for Democracy in Technology & American Association of People with Disabilities, will talk about their organizations’ recent work on assistive technology and privacy by design. This guidebook, Inclusive Innovation: How to Incorporate Privacy into Inclusive Design for Assistive Technologies, was published in July this year for the 35th anniversary of the ADA, aims to provide startups with easy, actionable steps to incorporate privacy into their design process.
Maitreya Shah is a lawyer and researcher, a current DIFxTech grant recipient for a joint project with the Bazelon Center, with extensive experience working at the intersection of technology regulation and disability justice. He is Technology Policy Director at American Association of People with Disabilities; previously, he was a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.
Ariana Aboulafia is the Disability Rights in Technology Policy Lead at the Center for Democracy in Technology. An attorney with a strong background in disability rights, law, and public interest advocacy, Ariana previously served as an officer to the Journalism Department at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as well as an assistant public defender in Miami-Dade County.
This talk will be recorded and shared, along with the chat and transcript. Previous DIFxTech Community Conversations are available at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1h_Zns7pdZfCGJyq6EygxbyOCrcvFc0uY
Access: ASL interpreters and Certified Deaf Interpreters will be on the call; there will be a text chat; and the session will be recorded with a transcript. If you have particular accommodations you would like to request, or any questions about accessibility, please contact difxtech@borealisphilanthropy.org.
More about DIFxTech:
* https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/news-and-press/news/borealis-philanthropy-and-ford-foundation-launch-1-million-disability-x-tech-fund-to-advance-leadership-of-people-with-disabilities-in-tech-innovation/
* https://borealisphilanthropy.org/2024/12/09/the-disability-inclusion-fund-moves-over-4-75-million-to-disabled-led-organizations/
