Investing In Accessibility
Investing In Accessibility
Podcast Description
We aren't waiting for change, we are investing in it. Investing in Accessibility is dedicated to exploring the intersection of accessibility, entrepreneurship, and impact investing. Join hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher as they speak with entrepreneurs and thought leaders who are focused on empowering people with disabilities and creating a more accessible world.Kelvin Crosby is CEO of Smart Guider Inc., which develops navigation technology enabling deafblind individuals to travel independently. Known as The DeafBlind Potter, he funded his first invention, the See Me Cane, through pottery sales. Kelvin lives with Usher Syndrome type 2 and is a staunch advocate for accessibility.Chris Maher is the Founder & General Partner at Samaritan Partners, a public benefit venture fund that invests in the disability sector. Chris founded Samaritan after spending 25 years as an operator and multi-time CEO at a variety of venture capital backed companies, and 20 years raising two daughters with disabilities.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on various topics such as accessibility innovations, entrepreneurship in the disability sector, and impact investing strategies. Episode examples include discussions on the evolution of technology in accessibility with Steve Ewell from the CTA Foundation and personal stories from Kelvin Crosby about his journey and advocacy work. The show emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals with disabilities and highlights future possibilities for accessibility initiatives.
We aren’t waiting for change, we are investing in it. Investing in Accessibility is dedicated to exploring the intersection of accessibility, entrepreneurship, and impact investing. Join hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher as they speak with entrepreneurs and thought leaders who are focused on empowering people with disabilities and creating a more accessible world.
Kelvin Crosby is CEO of Smart Guider Inc., which develops navigation technology enabling deafblind individuals to travel independently. Known as The DeafBlind Potter, he funded his first invention, the See Me Cane, through pottery sales. Kelvin lives with Usher Syndrome type 2 and is a staunch advocate for accessibility.
Chris Maher is the Founder & General Partner at Samaritan Partners, a public benefit venture fund that invests in the disability sector. Chris founded Samaritan after spending 25 years as an operator and multi-time CEO at a variety of venture capital-backed companies, and 20 years raising two daughters with disabilities.
In this installment of our Accelerator Series, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher sit down with Molly Lazarus, Director of the U.S. accelerator at Remarkable—a global nonprofit funding and supporting startups building innovative solutions for the disability community.
Molly’s path to Remarkable is anything but conventional. From growing up alongside family members navigating ALS, to running summer camps for children with disabilities, to becoming a special education teacher-turned-startup founder backed by Y Combinator—each chapter shaped her belief that accessibility demands both empathy and innovation. A cold email to Remarkable’s team in Australia ultimately brought those worlds together.
In this episode, Molly shares what it really takes to build—and support—mission-driven companies:
- Why some accelerators are actually “decelerators”—and how Remarkable is different
- How their nonprofit model creates regenerative capital for the disability tech ecosystem
- The two universal challenges every startup faces—and how coaching helps solve them
- Why vulnerability and psychological safety are critical for founder growth
Throughout the conversation, Molly offers hard-earned insights for founders at any stage: building a company is hard, often lonely, and full of trade-offs—so choosing the right problem to solve matters.
Whether you’re building in accessibility, evaluating accelerators, or navigating the emotional and strategic realities of entrepreneurship, this episode offers an honest and refreshing perspective on what it takes to grow something that truly matters.
Links & Resources
COMING SOON!
American Sign Language (ASL) and Captioning for each episode will be provided on our YouTube channel. Go to handle @SamaritanPartners.
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