Remarkable Tech Summit: Michael’s Experience

Occasionally, you find yourself in a room with people so talented and so committed that you wonder how you even got there. Last week, I found myself in that position.

Global disability leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and nonprofit organizations gathered in San Francisco over two days to chart a collective path forward for disability technology. The Tech Summit was convened by Remarkable, a disability technology accelerator made possible by Cerebral Palsy Alliance and Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation.

Over several months, a dedicated group of people worked diligently to plan everything that would happen at the meeting, including a focus on the perspectives of people with lived experience and how to make the meeting as accessible as possible for all. We’d prepared for so many eventualities, but I hadn’t prepared for one thing – the magic that was in the room, as Remarkable Founder Pete Horsley called it.

Others will write about the amazing speakers (and they were), beautiful venue (and it was), and inspiring technology (which was featured throughout). But as my friend Minnie Baragwanath, Chief Possibility Officer at the Global Centre of Possibility, reminded me, “humans are the most important technology we can invest in.”

So, I will write about that. For those two days, I was in awe. I learned from every conversation, and I was inspired by both the ability to view such a complex ecosystem from vastly different perspectives and from the willingness of each participant to support each other and those perspectives. The meeting began with Ignite talks and Provocations — short sessions where people with disabilities shared their life experiences and challenged those who attended. It ended with nearly 90 people making commitments to move the disability technology space forward. And whether those commitments were for collaboration or capital, time or talent, innovation or inspiration, each participant demonstrated that they were in it for every person in that room and the 1 billion disabled people worldwide.

This was different than any other meeting I had ever attended. This was Remarkable.

The Remarkable Tech Summit was hosted by Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation (CPARF) and Cerebral Palsy Alliance. Remarkable is made possible by Cerebral Palsy Alliance and CPARF. 

The 2023 Remarkable Accelerator Program application is now open.To apply or learn more, visit remarkable.org.