On October 12th-16th 2021 the San Francisco Disability Business Alliance hosted the Bay Area Disability Entrepreneurship Week. This week long event ran in parallel with the National Disability Employment Month, celebrating small business ownership and entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic sustainability and a more diverse business community.
The week kicked off with California Senator Scott Wiener as a keynote speaker as well as Kristen Pedersen, Executive Director of the Arc of San Francisco.
The diverse week of programming included panel discussions with small business owners, budding entrepreneurs and business leaders. The SFDBA also offered a training in partnership with LinkedIn and the Future Entrepreneur Training in partnership with the Helpers Community. Small business owners and entrepreneurs gained skills on the "how to" of starting a small business, different business models to consider, funding considerations, how to market and brand a business, and heard first hand stories of how others started businesses. Over 100 participants attended the week of events and feedback from our survey reflected that the majority of participants experienced positive growth and were inspired by the diverse programming.
Thanks to our partnership with WAG, American Sign Language interpretation was provided and the amazing captions were provided by the innovative team at AVA.
Another highlight from the week of programming was the Story of Crip Camp facilitated by San Francisco Film Council President and Bay Cat Founder Villy Wang. Oscar nominated Crip Camp participants Judy Heumann and Neil Jacobson told inspiring stories about their individual journeys and how they harnessed into the spirited entrepreneurial advocates that they both are.
This event was made possible by the generous support of the Kaiser Permanente Foundation, LinkedIn, UCSF Anchor Institution, AVA, the Helpers Community, Safeway Foundation and the Arc of San Francisco.
A big thanks to all that participated and supported this event!
