On Monday March 2nd the San Francisco Disability Business Alliance had their kickoff breakfast at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco. Over 100 people attended the event including disability owned businesses, small business supports, advocates, students, local leaders, elected officials and allies. On Monday March 2nd the San Francisco Disability Business Alliance had their kickoff breakfast at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco. Over 100 people attended the event including disability owned businesses, small business supports, advocates, students, local leaders, elected officials and allies.
Executive Director Peter DeHaas started the event with a brief history and background of the SFDBA and their vision for the coming year. The SFDBA will create a directory of disability owned businesses, co-sponsor two entrepreneurial events, engage more disability-owned businesses and create referral contacts for services and supports. Following Peter was San Francisco Chamber of Commerce President and native San Franciscan Rodney Fong. Rodney conveyed the importance of inclusion in business.
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| SF Chamber President & CEO Rodney Fong |
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| DeHaas talks with Drew McPherson & Francisco Peralta from AbilityHacks |
DeHaas then lead a fireside chat with the following disability-owned businesses from the Bay Area including Mozzeria the nation’s first and only deaf owned pizzeria, Yantern an entrepreneurial support organization for folks with all types of disabilities, AbilityHacks an incubator of assistive tech solutions by and for individuals with physical disabilities and Desgin Trifecta an innovative custom woodworking manufacturer and producer of the famous 360 Knife Block design. They all discussed their experiences owning businesses, challenges and advantages to being an entrepreneur.
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| DeHaas chatting with Russ & Melody Stein of Mozzeria and Yantern |
Lloyd Lewis from ARC Thrift of Colorado reflected on the importance of inclusion in business and shared some of his experiences and successes. Senator Scott Wiener finished the event with a riveting story about his own father who struggled with epilepsy and went on to be an ophthalmologist.
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| Lloyd Lewis from ARC Thrift |
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| State Senator Scott Wiener delivering keynote speech |
The SFDBA would like to thank all of the disability-owned businesses who participated, its sponsors, strategic partners, allies and other partners who participated. The inaugural SFDBA launch was a complete success and we look forward to the momentum of this event creating more connectivity in the community and carrying us into our programming for 2020! Please email peter@sfdba.org if you would like to learn more or become a part of our growing alliance.
All photos © Meria.Agency
