Keynote speakers

Masumi Ono

As Chief of Social Inclusion and Participation Branch in the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs, Masumi leads a dedicated team of specialists on issues related to older persons, youth, persons with disabilities and family. Her 25+ years of UN experience include supporting the development of Sustainable Development Goals from the Secretary-General’s office, mobilizing high-level advocacy work on education finance, preparing reports for the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly on cross-sectoral themes such as gender, poverty eradication and UN system coherence, and managing trade facilitation programmes in the Asia Pacific region.

Before joining the UN through the National Competitive Exam (YPP), she worked in Finance having obtained MBA and BA (Economics) both from Cornell University (USA). https://www.un.org/en/desa

Irene Mbari-Kirika

Irene Mbari-Kirika is the founder and Executive Director of inABLE.org. She is recognized as a dynamic, global strategic leader and an executive-level innovator who has created technology-powered special-educational environments to positively affect the lives of blind, visually impaired, and multi-disability youths in Africa. Her leadership was instrumental in developing Kenya’s Standard for ICT Products and Services, advancing digital accessibility.

Irene is also a prominent speaker and the organizer of the annual Inclusive Africa Conference, which champions disability and digital inclusion across the continent. She holds a Global Master of Arts in International Affairs from Fletcher School, Tufts University, and serves as the board chair of G3ICT, the Global Initiatives for Inclusive ICTs. In recognition of her exceptional contributions, she was awarded the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya by the Kenyan government in 2016.

Bent Madsen

Since 2010 Bent Madsen has filled the chair as CEO of the Danish Federation of Non-Profit Housing Providers. He joined the organization in 2001 and was appointed Deputy CEO in 2006. Prior to that he worked at the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Economic Council of the Labour Movement (a Danish economic policy institute and think-tank working to promote social justice in Denmark).

Mr Madsen holds the Presidency of Housing Europe (the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social housing), and is Chairman of NBO – Housing Nordic (the Nordic association of co-operative social housing organizations).

Furthermore, he serves as member of the boards of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Council of the Labour Movement, The Social Network, the Danish Disability Council, and the association “Hjem-til-Alle” (A Home for Everybody).  Among his prior positions is membership of the Danish Competition Council.

He holds a Master of Economics from the University of Copenhagen.

Jutta Treviranus

Jutta Treviranus is the Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) and professor in the faculty of Design at OCAD University in Toronto (http://idrc.ocadu.ca).  Jutta established the IDRC in 1993 as the nexus of a growing global community that proactively works to ensure that our digitally transformed and globally connected society is designed inclusively.  Dr. Treviranus also founded an innovative graduate program in inclusive design at OCAD University.  Jutta is credited with developing an inclusive co-design methodology that has been adopted by large enterprise companies such as Microsoft, as well as public sector organizations internationally.  Jutta has coordinated many research networks with and by people with disabilities.

Jutta was recognized for her work in AI by Women in AI with the AI for Good – DEI AI Leader of the Year award as well as by Women in AI Ethics. She is the chair of the Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence standards committee for the Accessible Canada Act.

Olivia Dahl

Olivia Dahl is a young danish researcher specializing in the sociology of everyday life for individuals with disability/disabled people. Her work explores crip studies, identity theories, disability paradigms, and the sociology of emotions.

Among other things, Olivia co-founded “The School for Crip Poetry” with the danish poet Caspar Eric, creating a space for disabled individuals to express their experiences of exclusion, inaccessibility, and stigma through poetry.

Her research has been widely communicated through lectures, workshops, and media appearances, contributing a sociological perspective on disability to various professional and public forums. Olivia is engaged in research networks and is a Universal design Hub – Bevica Foundation member. She is currently funded by the Elsass Fonden.

Rama Gheerawo

Director, The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art

Rama is an international figure within design. He won a Design Week ‘Hall of Fame’ award in 2019 and was named a 2018 Creative Leader by Creative Review alongside Paul Smith and Björk. He addresses diversity across age, ability, gender and race. He is a serial innovator in the field of Inclusive Design and Design Thinking having led over 100 international projects with government, business, academia and the third sector with clients such as Samsung, Toyota and Panasonic. He champions Creative Leadership, having trained thousands of people including over 750 civil servants. He holds visiting professorships and advisory roles globally for business, new ventures, universities, awards and initiatives including D&AD, The Valuable 500, the RSA Decolonizing panel, and the Global Disability Innovation Hub at London’s Olympic Park. His first solo book, ‘Creative Leadership: Born from Design’ launched in March 2022 and is available on Amazon and from publisher Lund Humphries.

LinkedIn, Instagram: @RamaGheerawo