About Catarina Rivera
Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH, CPACC is a public speaker and DEIA consultant with over 14 years of experience in the public sector. Catarina works with companies to improve disability awareness, inclusion, and accessibility. She is an experienced speaker, with over 130 clients to date. She is the founder of Blindish Latina, a platform smashing disability stigmas through storytelling and advocacy. Catarina has worn hearing aids from a young age and was diagnosed with a progressive vision disability at 17 years old. She has a BA from Duke University, an MSEd from Bank Street College of Education, and an MPH from Hunter College. Catarina is a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (IAAP).
She is a member of KeyNote Women’s Global Speakers Directory. Catarina is a TEDx speaker. She has been featured in Nasdaq, Authority Magazine, Forbes, ABC News Live, and POPSUGAR. Catarina was also named a LinkedIn Top Voice in Disability Advocacy. Her Instagram page @BlindishLatina was an official 2024 Webby Awards Nominee. Her TEDx talk, “Creating Inclusive Workplaces for All“, has now been viewed over 90,000 times.
Speaking Topics*
- Intersectionality: Perspective of a Professional, Disabled, Latiné Woman: This session addresses the intersectionality of identity within diversity through Catarina’s personal storytelling approach. Perfect for Disability Pride Month, Latine/x Heritage Month, and National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
- A Practical Introduction to Disability Awareness: This session focuses on demystifying disability and equipping employees with foundational understandings of disability, including appropriate language to use for disability and how to prevent microaggressions. All participants will learn that disability is not a bad word!
- Unpacking Ableism in the Workplace: Why is ableism present in the workplace? Because workplaces are made up of people and ableism is a powerful force shaping our society. This informative training session is designed to help you be able to name and define ableism, including examples, as well as to understand the historical context of ableism in our society. You’ll also learn how ableism shows up in the common language we use and will receive recommendations for concrete actions that can address ableism in the workplace.
- Disability Inclusion for Leaders: Managers and leaders will learn the benefits of inclusion, why disability inclusion is so important, as well as key best practices for inclusion. Managers and leaders will learn how to respond appropriately and supportively to disability disclosure.
*Additional trainings are available on disability inclusion for managers and creating accessible events
Request to Book a Speaking Engagement with Catarina Rivera
