Diego Mariscal
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Diego Mariscal is disabled and proud! He is also very passionate and strategic about the relationship between disability advocacy, entrepreneurship, and sustainable impact.
At the age of 18, Diego started “Limitless Prepa Tec” a disability education program for students in Monterrey Mexico. In four years, the program expanded to seven high schools across the country, reaching more than 3,000 students nationwide. To this day, Limitless continues to be one of the largest youth-led programs in Monterrey Mexico, working to educate students about disabilities.
In 2015, Diego founded 2Gether-International, a non-for-profit startup that supports entrepreneurs with disabilities and moves us closer to a world where disability is recognized and valued as an asset for business and entrepreneurship. In his role as CEO and Chief Disabled Officer, Diego has collaborated with multinational organizations such as the U.S. Department of State, the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank and corporate companies like Blackboard and McKinsey to help them better understand disability as an asset for performance.
Diego has been internationally recognized for his work, most noticeably by the Waldzell Institute in Vienna as an Architect of the Future and by the British Council as a Global Changemaker. In 2014, he was also a Youth in International Development and Affairs Fellow for the U.S. International Council on Disabilities. In 2016, Diego was invited to the first United Nations World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul.
In 2017, Diego became the first entrepreneur with a disability, from the US delegation, to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Hyderabad, India. Diego has also been an honorary guest and spokesperson of the US Embassy of Panama and the US Consulate in Cd Juarez Mexico.
In 2017, Diego also received the Global Leadership in Equitable Development Award from the World Trade Credit & Risk Summit in Washington, DC.
Born with Cerebral Palsy in New Orleans but raised in Monterrey, Mexico, Diego also represented Nuevo Leon in the Mexican National Paralympics from 2004-2009.
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S01E26 Diego M.mp3 - powered by Happy Scribe
Welcome to the Enabled Disabled Podcast. I'm your host, Gustavo Serafini. I was born with a rare physical disability called Pfft. My journey has been about self-acceptance persistence and adaptation. On the show, we'll explore how people experience disability out the stories we tell ourselves can both enable and disable how vulnerability is a foundation for strength and why people with disabilities can contribute more than we imagine. I hope that leaders, companies, clinicians, families and friends will better understand our capacity to contribute to the world and help enable us to improve it.
Diego mighty Skull is an accomplished disability advocate, entrepreneur and co founder of Together International, which supports entrepreneurs with disabilities by harnessing their innate entrepreneurial skills to help them achieve their employment goals. Diego has been internationally recognized for his work, most noticeably by the Wall Institute in Vienna, as an architect of the future and by the British Council as a global change maker, I learned a lot of interesting things about Diego from his Paralympic swimming days to his ability to bring people together to have imaginative and engaging conversations around disability.
Diego's multidimensionality is impressive entrepreneurially. He understand the market need and brings the forces together to make change. But his spirit is more than entrepreneurial. He's also committed to changing the hearts and minds of people around disability, and he's politically active, too. Diego is what the great early century Democratic thinkers thought of as a citizen. If you're a fan of the podcast, I have some good news. We have a newsletter. The goal is to give you all meaningful updates, share my thoughts about the issues I'm working through and what I want to explore.
Next, please go to www. EnabledDisabled.com to sign up. Thank you, Diego. Thank you so much for being here. It's a pleasure to see you again and to have you on the show.
Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here.
Fantastic. So for people who don't know you yet, we want to go give them a deep dive into who you are, the work you're doing, what you're about. Can you tell us a little bit about your background? Where were you born? How did you grow up? Anything like in your childhood that left some good impressions?
Sure. Sure. Yeah, quite the attorney, but I was actually born in the States by accident. My parents are both Mexicans, and they were shopping for baby things, and I was born six months and a half into my mom's pregnancy. She jokes and says that I've always been really stubborn. Even before I was born, I wanted to get out quickly, and so as a result of that, I have cerebral palsy. And as you may know, or as you probably know, cerebral palsy manifest in different ways for different people.
For me, and manifest primarily in trouble walking and balancing and reading and writing. So at an early age, I realized that I definitely needed more support than my average non disabled classmates. And so because I grew up in Mexico, we don't have we didn't have things like the Ada or five or four or even accommodations at school. So I had this idea that coming to the States was going to be this sort of safe and Grace. Everything's going to be solved, because as there was the civil rights movement and laws and regulations that protect disabled people and Lo and behold, I get here.
And what was so interesting and by here I mean, Washington, DC, that's where I currently live. I came here for College, and I get to DC, and I realized that a lot of the same conversations that we were having in Mexico about disability inclusion, about discrimination and about unemployment were also happening in the state that I was particularly struck by the unemployment conversation because folks kept saying, like things have changed. But the unemployment hasn't really changed. And I've always been entrepreneurial. Monterey, Mexico is considered by many like the Silicon Valley of Mexico.
My father started his own company. I was always or even before entrepreneurship with school. Our slogan for high school was a culture of entrepreneurs. So that was very much in grain in the way I was race and in the way I think. And so I started a couple of ventures in high school a little bit after high school and College, but nothing serious until I came to the States and I realized that unemployment was really a problem that needed to be solved. And what better way to solve it than through entrepreneurship itself, supporting people with disabilities to be entrepreneurs.
Because when you think about it as people with disabilities, to be taught to solve problems every day, how do we address how we drive, how we communicate? Those are problem solving skills that with the right resources, with the right mentorship and with the right support can generate thriving businesses. So that's really the the basis of my work and my life journey.
Interesting. So you came to the States for College. So what was school like in Mexico? What were some of the problems that you solve? And what were some of the things that, you know, the support structure that you had along the way to help that?
Yeah. So I grew up in Mexico, and it was difficult. I remember asking a kid if he wanted to play with me, and he said that his dad didn't let him play with weird kids. And so it was a very, very difficult environment. And I mean, I remember feeling very alone and isolated. I was fortunate, though, that in my physical therapy pursued, I found swimming, swimming. I started swimming because I needed to do it because of therapy reasons. And turns out I was really fast. And so they they invite me to to train at the at the state level to see if I was interested in competing.
And I did really well. I won the first metal for my state in the Paralympics, in the National Paralympics. And from there I was hooked and I did for about five, six years. It was a great experience. I got to we are an other disabled people really bond. And I found a lot of value in community and camaraderie and really started to learn the power of advocacy. We were training on this place that was supposed to be designed for athletes with disabilities, but the state didn't have any money to maintain it, and so they would lease it to another person to take care of it.
And the other person wouldn't make the accommodations that needed to be made. So we could only train in one Lane for like 2 hours a day. It was completely, like horrible conditions, more everywhere. It was really, really bad. And so a bunch of us our parents too, because we were pretty young. But a bunch of us and our parents got together and took pictures of the of the facility and we knew that it was an election year. And so we took those pictures to the governor's office and said, look at the results that we've been bringing for the States, the metals and look at where we're training, pans and born.
Behold, that was the beginning of my advocacy journey, because thanks to that meeting, we got a new state of the art center. The Mexican first lady even came and inagurated the the center. A lot of people from across the country now come and look at that center as a really important place to train. And so it's really exciting to see that. And it was really a formative experience for me that I got to see the power of advocacy and community coming together. So that's amazing.
I love to swim. I never competed. But what did you like to me? Swimming. Swimming is important for physical fitness and for me to, you know, the non impact is really, really beneficial, especially as I'm getting older. But how did you I'm sure it also helps you develop confidence. It gave you that ability to say, you know what? I can do this. I can participate in something and actually be really successful at it.
Yes.
Can you talk a little bit about that? And what stroke did did you swim?
Like every stroke I did mostly crawl, which is the standard regular. I I think it was a phenomenal formative experience for me because, you know, we had to get up at five in the morning, go train 2 hours that go to school, then come train again for another 2 hours. We had to be very careful about what we ate. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the the Paralympic system, but the way that it works is there is rankings. And so nine is pretty much non disabled.
And one is you're the most severely or compromise, if you will. And I was a five and I was training. We became really good friends. I was training the same time slot as a seven. So it was really good for me to be training with a seven. And I was a five because I was beating him. And so the fact that I was beating him meant that I was doing really, really good. We were almost like brothers because we would spend so much time in the pool.
And what was interesting was, you know, you miss one day and you can totally, totally tell the difference. And so it really was a learning environment for discipline gold setting camaraderie. I'm still really, really close with some people there. In fact, my really good friends is competing in the Paralympics right now, and I am very proud of her and her journey.
So that's amazing. I think most people don't or it's easy to forget how many hours and how many years goes into that kind of training. It's pretty amazing. I think I've never done it to that degree, but I would think that you have have to really enjoy the process of it in order to get through it and not be not be miserable.
Yeah. It was the fact that we were being sort of revolutionary in the process itself, meaning we were one of the first. I was the first person who won a gold medal for my state, the fact that we were breaking barriers by being successful and also kind of laying down the path for other athletes to come after us. I think that was really important, you know?
Absolutely. That's amazing. What were the coaches like, did they have any experience with teaching people with disabilities.
Teaching distal disabled people? You know, some did and some didn't, and it was definitely kind of trial and error. I mean, they were learning as much as we were learning. One thing that was really interesting that I think was particularly true for and particularly important for people with CP. Was there's this tendency of you go as fast as you can and also the language you basically speed up in swimming. If you either move quicker, right or you pull more water, like heavier strokes so that you're pulling more water.
The problem is if especially as someone with CP, if I focus on making the strokes too heavy, the muscle starts to tend up and that doesn't allow my arms or legs to go as long. And so even though I'm pulling harder, the stroke isn't going as a log. So those nuances of you can't you can it's better if somebody maybe doesn't do it as strong, but he's able to maintain a steady pace. Those nuances were really interesting to see the coaches learn and understand and develop.
So that was definitely unique.
Interesting. I imagine that like some of the technique was adapted based on the person as well to make them swim more efficiently.
Exactly.
That's very cool. Can you talk a little bit about some of the limitless prep tech that you started in high school. And some of your experiences as your advocacy experience started to take off more.
Yeah, that was intense. So that was, you know, when I swim, I was in junior high. I started in junior high and went all the way to high school. But I realized that I was having all these contacts with stable people and having all these conversations. But yet in my high school, I was the only one was who identify as disabled, one who was having disability conversations. And I wanted my classmates to understand what I was going through. And so I started this club called Limit List that was all about educating other students about disability.
So we would do things like eating without being able to see or using public transportation in a wheelchair or communicating and without speaking. And that was a gateway conversations where students really talk about, what does it mean for our school to be accessible? What does it mean for us to be more inclusive in the disability community? And the model became really popular. I mean, I in four years, we were 15 high schools across the country, 80% of it was corporate funded. And it continues. I don't know how they're doing with Covet now, but when I left, it continued to be one of the highest, most engaged student groups.
And it almost became, like, the only little entity. I mean, people had to applied to be staff. And there was a waiting list. I mean, it was this whole I will say that that's me was the beginning of my entrepreneurial career because it really showed me the value of bringing people together for a common purpose and for a common goal. And also, more importantly, creating a culture that people, really, you know, where were freshmen and they were already thinking like, oh, my God, by the time I am a senior, I want to be President, or I want to be the senior staff of this club.
Right. And knowing that that was something that we created was really exciting.
That's incredible. Were you using, like, did you have a model that you were studying, maybe from another country or something that you had read about, or were you just kind of, you know, thinking in your head? Boy, wouldn't it be, like, just idealizing it and then making it a reality? How did you how did that process? What does that look like?
Yeah, it was, I think, a combination of things. So one is there was a very popular student group when I was a freshman in high school, the student group was called Life. And it was about I think it was really ahead of its time. It was about connecting students to emotions and then being vulnerable and being open. And and really, what does it mean to have purpose in your life? And there was like, this cold for people like travel all around the country to see it. And people wore T shirts.
It was just, like, really incredible, incredible following me. And I just kept thinking to myself like, this is all cool. But what would this look like for disability? Like, we've got to do something. There's all these energy and potential. We've got to use it on disability. And then at the same time, I was participating in this other group called United, and it was all about bringing it's similar to bed buddies. It was bringing people non disabled people and people with civilities together in the goal of creating friendships.
And I will tell you that some of my best friends came from that space. I really did enjoy it at the same time. I also found it a bit patronizing and that I was being sort of cuddled. I remember they wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom by myself. And at this point, I was a teenager. And so I felt like, you know, there's got to be stuff that is led by people with disabilities. There's got to be more authentic way of doing this. And so.
And so that was really those two things worth of motivation in hindsight. Now, I think, you know, I was saying ten at the time, so I was still learning. But in hand date, I think there are things that I could have instituted to make the program stronger. One of those things being that it should have always been led by someone with disability, because what happened was I graduated and then the people that followed me were not disabled. And so then we could argue that they could have been that discrepancy of now it's no longer a movement that's led by disabled people directly.
But I think for a 19 year old, I was doing pretty good. I'm very proud of what we created. And I think some of the lessons learned there are critical to what I do now. I.
Mean, just your imagination, just briefly on what you said, having people take public transportation in a wheelchair or you eat without their site. I mean, I would have loved something like that in high school, even in College right now to have that experience and to be able to make those connections and understand how somebody else lives and experiences differently than me.
Right.
That empathy, those empathy muscles are really one of the things that we need in order to to start connecting and understanding each other.
Yeah. And I think because I try to move some of the model to the States. And some of the pushback I got was, you know, just by simulating that you have a disability, you're not going to understand the full experience. And I think it was an interesting comment because I think on the white hand, it made sense. On the other, it was always meant to be a gateway conversation or not. And so I think that it's great that students are being exposed to conversations and experiences that otherwise they wouldn't be exposed.
So I'm really proud of of what was created. And now it's all about how do we support people with disabilities directly to be founders and entrepreneurs really excited about this new face of my latest entrepreneurship endeavors.
Yes. And we will get to that in just a SEC. But I have a a selfish question. I'm just curious. Yeah. I mean, you've been through, you know, you were the British Council basically nominated you as a global change maker. You are in the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit, an instant Bull. Can you talk a little like what were those experiences like and how did all that happen? Was it from, you know, limitless was like the launching point. And then you just kept going through College.
Yeah. So Limitless was certainly put me on the map, like people started to notice what I was doing because I think it definitely got some success early on. And so I got it invited to all these conferences and things for the Entrepreneurship Summit. That was I had been doing my current venture Together International for a while now, looking around supporting founders with disabilities. And Ironically, one of the beautiful things about working startups, especially now that they're popular, is that there's a lot of co working spaces in a lot of places where the traditional office is no longer applicable.
Right. And so I was working at this incubator. And right in front of me was an organization called the Global Entrepreneurship Network. And they are the organization that puts together the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. And so, you know, we had many conversations over lunch and we had many conversations over lunch and over being in the same space together. And so when the Global Entrepreneurship Summit happen, you know, one of those points was, well, is the US delegation, including founders with disabilities. And they said, well, no. And so it's really important that founders with disabilities are represented.
And they said, Well, would you would you like to go? And so I got to attend, which was amazing. But the back story of that was to assemble where it's here or no. Sorry, it was to hide mat. It simple as another trip. But Hydro bat. It was a 14 hours flight. And so I cannot sit because of my several policy. I can't really sit for 14 hours without stretching my life. And so I had to ask for an accommodation for first passed on because of the length of the flight.
And I was let me tell you, quite a struggle to be able to do that, which was interesting because it's funded by the State Department. And so you think that being federally funded, you know, wouldn't be such a struggle. But I share this to say that even that places that have a strong culture and the strong reputation of supporting people with disabilities in general, not just founders. It is critical that as disabled people, we want know our rights and know how to advocate. But second, also showing up and being able to be a voice for for others because as part of the issue was, the State Department had but get a number right.
And their fear was, well, we didn't really budget for common travel accommodations for for folks with disabilities. And so it became this whole thing. But then what happened afterwards is that now I don't know if they still continue to do this. But one of the conversations on the table was we need to make sure that our programming going forward has the line item for accommodations, right. That allows for these things for us to include founders or people with the studies in general. And so that's an example of how the mirror involvement, the mere presence of people with disabilities at large sets the President for inclusion at large, because now, folks, these type of programs can have accommodations for people not just people with disabilities, but people who might need let's say, I don't know for this particular program that would have applied, but for mothers who are pregnant, who may need to carry extra luggage on a trip or for people who may require a specific type of equipment to travel.
Right. You start to open up accommodations and conversation of universal design in a way that it's beneficial to everyone, not just folks with disabilities.
Absolutely. I can see that you're definitely a go getter like this is incredibly obvious. But what I'm curious is how do you approach when you're having that conversation with somebody who's non disabled? Right. What's your approach like? How do you make that bridge in that connection? Why do they feel like it's important? Because I'm sure there's been other advocates for people with disabilities that haven't had success that have just been given, you know, the brick wall are saying, no, thank you. We're not interested right now. So how is your approach different?
I think what I've been able to convey really well, one is my passion, right. And the fact that I've been doing this for a number of years. And so I am able to to bring a lot of experience and expertise to the space. And two is it is not a favorite, like for the State Department, and it takes it right. But something that I say often is inclusion is not a favor is the right. And specifically, when you're talking about government and disputes, and so being able to be both balancing the Gans of being quite and excited and cooperative while at the same time saying you're not doing me any favors, right?
That I think is key. Right. And so it goes back to an earlier point of people with disabilities have a responsibility to know your rights. You have to know what the Ada stands, what claims are you be able to make. And that takes take time. And so the more you do it, the more comfortable you're going to get knowing the language, knowing kind of how to best advocate for yourself. A lot of times I hear people and I did this, too. I was in a trip in Panama and they I was going with the State Department and they had me go.
I was kind of the honorary guest from the State Department to the special and Pics games. And I get there and the Stadium, the main event where the main event was supposed to be is not accessible. And so they said, you know, we can carry you. And that way you can be where you're supposed to be. And I thought to myself, Well, you know, sure. I don't want to make a team. Now let's go ahead. And so I did that. Then I called a friend who is much older than me, and she's part of the disability rate smoke man.
And she told me that, you know, I would have advised against it. You should have left, because if you leave, especially in those high ranking, you know, visits, it sets a present and and people have to report that. And they have to say this place wasn't accessible and wasn't able to include people with disabilities. Right. I share this story to show that, you know, even someone they could experience sometimes messes up in terms of best practices for advocacy. Right. But the thing is learning from other people, sharing those experiences and seeing okay.
Why is this approach better than this one? What is going to lead to longer systems change so that's on one end, in terms of disability, how to be an effective of disability advocate. And then, on the other hand, the other approach I take is to really emphasize the opportunity laws that people and society at large is losing when they don't include folks with the side, the automatic doors that you see in the supermarket and places like that. Those were created primarily for folks who were in wheelchairs, for the sensors.
But now a lot of people use them. Curve cups were also created for people in wheelchairs, but now everybody uses them. The Internet was started by somebody who's death because he couldn't communicate. And so that's an example of saying by including people with disabilities, you're making the world better for everyone, not just for people with stabilities. And so it's file to have disabled people at the table for the benefit of everyone, not just for the benefit of the disability community.
Interesting. Can we explore both of those aspects really quick? So why would leaving that event have made a better systemic change, like is is the advocate who you called? Is she basically saying, or I don't know, he or she I thought you said she, but she's basically saying he okay. So her point was basically if you had left at the next event, they're going to make sure that it's going to be an inclusive space. That's the point that she was trying to make yes.
And because it was a high profile visit, it was a visit with the ambassador, right. It would have been kind of like an embarrassment to the delegation that I couldn't have gotten, and it would have gone up chain in command of, like, we really screwed up. I mean, in terms of a a public relations or international relations move, it would have looked really, really bad, and it would have forced people to really look at at creating substantive change, whereas carrying me was, oh, we carried you. We found a solution.
We apologize, and we'll try to do better next time.
Okay. So on the other hand, though, you risk, like, if you don't do it right, you can risk, I would think being seen as stand offish and difficult, and maybe they don't invite you to the next one because you embarrass them.
And that was the thinking, right? That was the thought process of be cooperative and try to do it. I think it's all in the delivery of saying, you know, I'm not going to let you carry me, not because I don't want to be cooperative, but because I could fall right. And it could be a major issue. I don't let people carry me being very honest and transparent of no, it's not that I don't want to participate. It's that this is not an inclusive environment. So let's talk about what that means.
And let's talk about how we could change this at a systematic level to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Right. It helps that it was a high profile then. So I had a lot of power in that if I had left, it would have raised a lot of flags. Right. But I think the bigger point here is being able to work with different stakeholders and particularly media effectively, in a way that doesn't come across as difficult to work with but still get the point across.
Another example is I was already working on Together International, and I learned that the city, DC, Washington, DC, was investing a million dollars and an incubator that they called I am three, and it was caught in three because it was inclusive, innovative incubator. So that's why I am reaching and I get there and it is not accessible. And by that, I mean, there's a step to get in. I don't remember if there was a step to get in the billing, but you can't use the kitchen because there are steps you can't use the bathroom, and there's a second floor to which there is no elevator.
And this was a million dollar investment, and it was on the basis of inclusion. Right. And so to say, a lot of us weren't happy about this. And so we raised a couple of concerns. But then we learn that the mayor's office or the Mayor is going to be there to ingrate to the integration of the space. And so I got a bunch of people with disabilities together. We went there and she was doing a Press conference and, you know, asking questions. And I said to her, you know, we really appreciate the intent behind this incubator.
But how are you talking about inclusion and not including people with disabilities in this incubator? And she was definitely struck by that and said, well, we have offices that look into Ada compliance and the inclusion of folks. Thank you for raising that issue. It's 1015. We'll make sure to pass it along to the right offices for compliance. And it was very kind of polite encounter. Right. But the next day, there was a story written about it. It was a whole thing. And and they fixed it.
Right. And so that's an example of something that wasn't necessarily confrontational. And yet it was still powerful, right. We weren't necessarily storing out or cursing or anything like that. But it made a very clear point of you're not being inclusive. And the irony was that that was the whole title of the Occupant.
I think I've read so many like job descriptions, and it still amazes me like companies hiring. It still amazes me how in people's mind, inclusion doesn't include disability, right.
Absolutely.
It's gender. It's race. It's all these other things. But it's not. Disability is never rarely explicitly defined as part of what being inclusive is. Why do you think that is? And let's talk about together international and how you're looking to change that?
Yeah. Great. Great question. We're going to get both. But I think part of it is or I shouldn't say the word. I think I know that part of it is the stigma stigma around around disability. And that's why it's so important for people to find pride in their identity and more so to if they feel comfortable self this closed, that they have disability. The majority of disabilities. In fact, I think it's close to 60 or are invisible disabilities, depression, anxiety. And what have you. Right. And so it is important that people who feel comfortable disclose that because then it starts to destigmatize the assumptions or the misconceived notions that people have about disability.
A couple of months ago, I remember I was at a to social justice gathering. We are talking about LGBT issues, and because I always bring disability into the conversation. And if I walk, I look like a skyscraper, that's about to fall. Right. So there's no way that disability isn't a part of my conversation. Right. So we were talking and I brought disability into the conversation. And and then everybody else in the room came out and I'm using quotations, came out having disability and that that shows you how because I was vulnerable and I was willing to talk about, you know, my experience with disability and sexuality and how that impacts my life.
Other people felt comfortable this closing as well. Right. Everybody is in a different stage in your journey. I'm not saying that everybody has to be sort of announcing it to everyone they encounter, but just understand and be cognizant of the power that is closing or talking about your disability has not just for you and for your own journey and development, but for the movement at large and for the people around you.
Interesting. So the I mean, I can share that experience, too, but I've never been able to hide my disability. So like it it's always been better to bridge, kind of make that bridge and have those conversations with people so that they're comfortable. But for people with invisible disabilities, I can definitely see that as being more of a double edged sword.
Yes. Yes. And that, I think, is where I would encourage people to find strength and and I in the disability community at large. When I learned I remember for me this was like a very big moment. I was invited when I was a freshman in College. I was invited to go to the UN to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. And I walked in and I saw a room filled with people from all over the world signing in wheelchairs and with games and with other types of digital.
I remember feeling so crowd and so like, I finally found a place where I belong. You know, it was such a because obviously also these were very smart people that were in the room and had really interesting ideas. And so I just remember thinking this sense of I think for many of us as disabled people, we tend to feel alone like we're the only ones that are going through this. But if you actually dig deep and start to know the disability community, it's actually a very large community and a very time it community.
So there's a lot of power in that. And so what I would encourage people that are on the fence is you don't necessarily have to come out if you will. But at least getting involved, learning about the civil rights movement, learning about 504, and the fact that the disability rights movement was that was the longest fit in history. Like, those are very powerful facts to know that had I known that growing up, it would have given me a whole set of perspective of you're not doing me a favor by being accommodating, right.
You're doing. I'm part of this diverse community, powerful community that's bringing a unique perspective to the table.
And what do you think with Together International and you're starting to support entrepreneurs who identify as having a disability to you go down that journey of starting their own business. What is it that you think makes it's super important for a number of reasons? Obviously, the unemployment issue is a huge one. But what do you think makes somebody who identifies as having a disability and especially good entrepreneur? And how do you help them?
Yeah. You know, as people with disabilities. As disabled people, we have up to solve problems every day. And so using those that creativity tenacity resiliency, there's a saying in life, but specifically in entrepreneurship following, there's a sort of pride and falling, right. It doesn't matter how many times you fall matters, how many times you've gotten back up. Well, I've literally fought thousands of times in my life. Not that some better for idea, right. I have literally thousands of times in my life had gotten back up. Right.
And so there's a lot of power in that that unless you have a disability, you're not going to be able to replicate that experience, that sense of tenacity, of creativity, of resiliency. So it's not a matter. It's not. It's beyond accommodations. It's recognizing that there is power in your disability, and that using that power puts you at a competitive advantage in business that can be used for business success, but also a way to inspire others and to make deeper change. And so I see that as really the the catalyst for the next revolution of the disability rights.
Interesting. So as an entrepreneur, I agree with you, but I'm biased. So when you talk to, let's say, potential investors, right. Or you are looking at how difficult it is. Like there's some amazing ideas out there. We know some people that have some incredible technologies and they have problems getting funded for their ideas. They have problems launching their business. And this kind of goes back to a little bit of what we spoke about together last week, privately that I would like to share is we can. My theory is that advocacy is super important.
The economic component is super important. But there's a third sphere there, which is changing the hearts and minds of people without disabilities, to be able to see us this way and to be able to say, look, there is this huge, untapped potential that we're not utilizing as a society. How can we help, you know, change those minds and change those hearts so that all three of those factors are working together.
Yeah. I love that you brought that up, because when we were having a conversation last week, I definitely found at that point to be sort of an AHA moment for me, which is that I think by default, we are by choice. I should say we are a non profit startup, and many people have asked me, Why are you for profit? Because you are helping a lot of for profit companies. And I really think that that goes to the point that you're making right really, really generate system change in disability community.
It's about changing hearts and minds. And I think an effective way of measuring that. And we we are figuring out ways to do this as a start up, our self, but an effective way of measuring that is how many people at large do we get to contribute to this organization into this mission? Because our messaging is never going to be a poor person. They don't have resources. Our messaging is always going to be one of look at this amazing opportunity. Look at this amazing ideas. Look at this amazing results that they are providing like, don't you want to be a part of the next revolution?
Right. And so in a way, I think, you know, bias. But way success together is specifically financial successes together asymmetric of hearts and minds are changing because you're not beholden to give a donation. Right. And so if people feel compelled, which I hope they do to give to organizations like Together, International or others that are looking at disability from an identity perspective, from a movement perspective that shows that that perceptions are changing and the opposite is also true. I mean, when we look at all the conversations around diversity, they tend to fall around race and gender and sexuality.
And those are important conversations. But disabilities often not talked about philanthropists, right. When we look at I think recently, was that the basis Egg White, you know, gave a bunch of money. And I think disability was certainly lacking in that list. Right. And so and that's why it's important for people to speak about these things and to contribute to, especially disability organizations, because it is a direct measure of how are we societally changing hearts and minds of the world words specifically. So you can see that I'm very passionate about this because it's a very it goes back to my first point of all this frustration.
Right. You can have loss and regulations in the Ada, but if we don't change perceptions, if we don't change parts and minds of people, we're not going to be able to advance the movement forward and a good way of measuring heart and mind people or as through effective, efficient nonprofits and contributions that people are making, not because they are forced to make them, but because they feel compelled to do so, to act in a way that is going to move the movement forward.
Yeah. I I agree completely. I think that's a great. That's a great working theory and a great thing that we can test right and measure and see because you flip the script right on people. So most people see disability as a weakness or something that, you know, quote, unquote needs to be overcome or they feel sympathy and you're coming at it from the other perspective, which is look, we're resilient, we're problem solvers, were empathetic, and we make great entrepreneurs and look at all this possibility. Look at all of these possibilities that we're missing out on because you you just you haven't shifted your lens, your frame of reference to see, like, there's so much potential here that's just being but wasted is too strong of a word, but it's not being recognized.
Yeah. Time being utilized.
Yeah. So can you tell us a little bit more about how can people get involved with together. International. How can people understand more about what you're doing? How can we help?
Yeah, for sure. So check out our website. Our website is together with the two two, the international. Org. And we have lots of programming, lots of programming specifically around supporting entrepreneurs with disabilities, anything from early stage to coaching to peer to peer support groups. Well, our model is five founders with disabilities, four founders with disabilities. As cheesy as it sounds. Right. We're all this together. And so we want to hear from you. We want to hear from you. We want to hear. We want to hear how we can be helpful.
I'm super proud to announce that we've had two cohorts so far, two co Fortune or accelerator programming, which is one of our programming. And our graduates have managed to raise over a million dollars in funding and revenue. So that's the step that I am in some parts of the world. That's a lot and so forth of the world is not. Regardless, I'm Super proud to stand buy it. And to say, you know, we are as a young startup, as a young company, we're doing great things.
And so I can't wait to have you join us and be a part of this movement. So especially if you are a founder, whether disability please reach out.
Amazing. No, that's terrific. Have you seen any companies or any personal stories that you can share that you've experienced people's hearts and minds changing that were powerful.
Yeah. A lot of our work focuses on bridging the gap between the disability community, disabled community and the non disabled community and really trying to be a bridge between those two. And so a story that comes to mind is we were having a pitch competition a couple of months ago, and one of the people who was presenting blood and he presented and he was having some technical difficulties. Presenting tech wasn't working well. And it seemed like you got a little nervous and people were, you know, encouraging him.
And they were saying, like, you got this, you got this. They were saying that via the chat and a voice. And at one point, he's like, guys, you gotta stop saying bad because I can hear I have a screen reader. And so I can hear everything you're saying, a chest, I can't concentrate. And so it was a great, great experience to kind of break the eyes and also to show kind of what the reality of somebody managing a computer through a screen read areas and also how supportive the community at large was.
Right. And so it was really I remember most of the people that were in the audience saying to me like, we that was one of the most eye opening experience because I never knew what it's like to manage a presentation as somebody who's blind and what the technical difficulties can be and how people giving you words of encouragement can actually be a distraction. So it was a really good educational experience for everyone involved.
That's a great story. Thank you for sharing that. Is there. Is there anything? Is there anything that you think I've missed that is important to talk about?
Good question. Well, by the time the air, we probably will be running our tech cohort technical or with support from Google for Stars, which I am super proud to announce and to be part of. So please be on the lookout for that. It's going to be amazing. And I can't wait to show you and to hopefully come back and tell you all success from the cohort.
I would love to have you back on the show as often as you'd like to be here. So I'm Super happy we met and connected. I think you're doing incredible work, and I'm looking forward to joining together international myself and experiencing it and talking about it and whatever I can do to help the movement. You know, beyond the podcast, I'm really interested because my story, you can hear it on the other shows. But basically, I grew up trying to be normal, right? The disability was something that was ignored for the most part.
And so I did a good enough job with that. But going into my twenties and especially now and later, into my adulthood, as 46 year old, like, I want to actually become involved, I want to give back. I want to understand what the community is experiencing and what the real challenges are so that we can unite. And like you said, take it to the next step because the Ada was an amazing start. You know, I love Crip camp. I read Judy Humans book and just amazing people who are involved there.
But there's still a lot more steps to go.
By the way, I know she was the woman who told me to go do to go. Yeah. So trying to learn from her experiences.
She'S an amazing human being. That's incredible that, you know, here.
You should have her on the podcast.
That would be a dream. That would be a dream.
Amazing. Amazing. I had so much fun. This was such a great conversation. Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you, Diego. So last, but not least, you already said, where is there any place else that people can find you and connect with you?
Yeah. Do Mariscal Diego like Dora Fred on Dorothy Export Diego money. Scott, M-A-R-I-S-T-A-L. Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn and connect that way as well.
Beautiful. Thank you so much for the time. I really appreciate it. And this was amazing.
Awesome. Thank you.