Conference headliners include national leaders in disability inclusion and workforce mental health, timed with National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Relay Resources, a social enterprise nonprofit based in the Pacific Northwest that leads efforts to advance disability inclusion in workplaces, has revealed the featured speakers for its second-annual DisabilityNext™ Summit, scheduled for October 6–7, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Portland.
The gathering aligns with National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) and expands on the success of the first DisabilityNext™ Summit in 2025, which brought hundreds of attendees to Portland State University last April for a day focused on actionable conversations about workplace disability inclusion. This year’s summit has been extended to two days, with each session carefully crafted to provide insights that employers, HR professionals, and advocates can immediately apply after leaving.
“DisabilityNext™ exists because disabled people still face double the unemployment rate and half the opportunity,” said Dr. Jennifer Camota Luebke, president and CEO of Relay Resources. “This summit is where employers and leaders come to move beyond conversation and into action. Our 2026 speaker lineup reflects the full breadth of what disability inclusion looks like in practice, from workforce mental health to neurodivergent-first technology to the business case for accessible hiring.”
Salesforce, this year’s Diamond Sponsor for the Summit, states: “at Salesforce, we know that inclusion drives innovation — and the Relay Resources DisabilityNext Summit is where that belief becomes action. Companies can no longer overlook the talent, perspective, and purchasing power of the one billion people worldwide living with disabilities. The time to build accessible, disability-inclusive workforces is now.” Additionally, Amy Wood, Accessibility Manager at Salesforce, will be representing the company as a speaker at the event.
Featured Speakers
The 2026 DisabilityNext™ Summit will showcase over 15 speakers who represent the forefront of disability inclusion thought leadership. Among those confirmed:
Marisa Hamamoto, serving as the summit’s opening keynote speaker, is a dancer, activist, and founder of Infinite Flow, a professional dance company that includes both disabled and non-disabled performers. Hamamoto has earned global recognition for her efforts to bridge disability representation with the performing arts.
Zach Anner is a comedian, author, television writer, and disability advocate who brings humor and lived experience into discussions on disability representation, accessibility, and belonging. Born with cerebral palsy, Anner first gained national attention through his travel series Rollin’ With Zach. Since then, he has contributed writing to acclaimed television shows such as Speechless and Best Foot Forward, authored the memoir If At Birth You Don’t Succeed, and built a following of millions through his comedic storytelling, helping to change public perceptions of disability via entertainment, media, and advocacy.
Grant Harris, MBA, CDE® is the founder and president of GTH Consulting, a minority- and disability-owned management consulting firm, and also operates Compliance to Community. A Certified Diversity Executive, he is a three-time published autistic author and internationally recognized keynote speaker who assists HR leaders, executives, and educators in rethinking how they identify and support talent, drawing from his own late-life autism diagnosis. His focus on neurodiversity and inclusion spans federal agencies, K-12 and higher education, and corporations, built around frameworks such as his “Human-Centered Performance” approach and the SCAN leadership model.
Dr. Victoria Verlezza, Ph.D., is a nationally acknowledged disability inclusion strategist, researcher, and workplace culture expert whose work centers on neurodiversity, psychological safety, and equitable organizational design. Combining academic research with personal lived experience, Verlezza developed the Cognitive Equity Leadership Model™ and provides guidance to organizations striving to create disability-inclusive workplaces through leadership development, policy design, and systems change.
Dr. Joe Grasso, Ph.D., Vice President of Workforce Transformation at Lyra Health, contributes clinical and organizational expertise on the relationship between mental health, disability, and inclusive workplace design. Trained as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Grasso directs Lyra’s development of educational materials on psychological wellness and collaborates with employers on programs, policies, and communication strategies to support workforce mental health at scale.
Jhillika Kumar, a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Impact awardee and founder and CEO of Mentra, a neurodivergent-first talent platform that uses AI-powered assessments to match neurodiverse individuals with employers. A TEDx speaker and self-identified neurodivergent individual, Kumar started Mentra following her personal experience as the sibling of a nonspeaking autistic person, and the Biden administration recognized it as the most innovative solution addressing the disability employment gap.
Dr. Hung Jen Kuo and Sarah George lead the GREAT Lab at Michigan State University, a nationally recognized accessibility and inclusion research initiative that leverages technology to eliminate barriers for disabled individuals in workplace environments.
Lacey J. Henderson serves as the mental performance coach for the Portland Timbers. She is a Paralympian, broadcast host for NBC, a record holder, and a former Division 1 athlete. She applies both lived experience and accessible, evidence-based methods to enhance performance across all areas of life.
Complete speaker announcements will be released through Relay Resources’ email and social media channels in July.
About DisabilityNext™ Summit
The DisabilityNext™ Summit is a multi-day conference produced by Relay Resources, committed to speeding up disability inclusion in American workplaces. Programming includes keynote addresses, DisabilityNext™ Talks, panel discussions, fireside chats, and structured networking opportunities for leaders from corporate, government, nonprofit, and higher education sectors. Topics will cover neuro-inclusion, accessible technology, workforce mental health, and scalable workplace accessibility strategies.
Consistent with Relay Resources’ mission, the summit will provide a comprehensive set of accessibility features, such as ASL interpretation, live screen captioning, assistive listening devices, sensory break rooms, reserved wheelchair seating, sighted guides, service animal relief stations, sensory bags, and accessibility-trained support staff throughout the venue.
Event Details
What: DisabilityNext™ Summit 2026
When: October 6–7, 2026
Where: Hyatt Regency Portland, Portland, Oregon
Registration: summit.relayresources.org
About Relay Resources
Founded in 1951, Relay Resources is the Pacific Northwest’s largest employer of disabled people and a leading disability social enterprise nonprofit. Relay employs nearly 1,000 team members across four business lines — building solutions, document solutions, supply chain solutions, and disability inclusion and accessibility consulting — with approximately 62 percent of employees identifying as disabled. Relay also offers pathways to community employment through its Competitive Integrated Employment and abil-IT Cybersecurity Training programs. For more details, visit
relayresources.org
Kate Nance
EARLY PR
+1 832-273-5249
kate@earlypr.com
