Sarah Spear, founder and CEO of Empowered Together, with her children. The company offers a “Yelp-like” service… [+] A website that lists businesses recommended by users to help parents, caregivers and adults with disabilities find businesses that meet their needs.
Sarah Speer
Although people with disabilities make up a significant portion of the American population and have significant purchasing power, they often face barriers to accessing goods and services.
Founded by Sarah Spear, the platform Empowered Together is changing the landscape for people with disabilities by connecting them and their families with accessible businesses and helping them become more inclusive.
This innovative approach will not only foster a more inclusive marketplace but also tap into a vast and underserved consumer base.
Promoting Accessibility for Consumers with Disabilities
Strange Ways sells patches, pins, and unique gifts designed by independent artists. [+] Empowered Together assessment to improve store accessibility.
Strange Way
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 42.5 million Americans (13%) have a disability. This diverse group includes people with a wide range of challenges, including hearing, vision, cognitive, mobility, self-care, and independent living. They have $500 billion in purchasing power. Dissatisfaction is high, with 75-80% of people with disabilities viewing so-called barrier-free experiences as a failure.
As a mother of a daughter with multiple disabilities, Sarah Spear saw an opportunity to serve an overlooked market: parents and guardians of children with disabilities. She has a track record of launching successful ventures, including leading Indian health tech company PharmaSecure through the early funding stage and serving as the inaugural Executive Director of the Arch Grants Startup Competition. In spring 2021, she was in the Startup Studio building and launching Empowered Together.
The original concept for Empowered Together was to create a peer support community that would provide a lifeline for parents and guardians of children with disabilities, offering a safe space to share experiences, find resources, and overcome unique challenges.
During Empowered Together’s pilot, Speer heard common questions: “Where can I find an eating therapist or a social skills group?” “They’re not coming to the groups looking for emotional support,” Speer says. “88% of participants expressed needs that could be addressed through the marketplace.”
So about a year and a half ago, Empowered Together pivoted to a marketplace model. The “Yelp-like” website lists user-recommended businesses to help parents, caregivers, and adults with disabilities find businesses that fit their needs. Testing Empowered Together’s listings highlighted the need for curated listings within specific neighborhoods.
The Greater New Haven Community Foundation and venture capital firm Visible Hands funded a pilot program for Empowered Together’s online marketplace, a platform that allows local residents to find and recommend accessible businesses while helping businesses assess and improve their accessibility to the disability community.
“Speer has demonstrated a true understanding of the issues through first-hand experience,” said Daniel Acheapong, general partner at Visible Hands. Speer’s vision is to build a technology platform that connects and empowers families affected by disabilities with businesses that specialize in their specific needs, he said. This, he added, will ensure equitable and quality access to essential resources and foster more inclusive and supportive communities.
The free national online marketplace allows businesses to list themselves and allows consumers to filter by a range of accessibility criteria, and Empowered Together is showcasing companies that are going the extra mile.
New Haven was chosen for the latest pilot project because of its large disabled population and support network — Spear lives in the area — and businesses can receive an in-person assessment of their physical space for a fee to identify and recommend accessibility improvements.
Business owners are often busy with business demands like financial stability and paying payroll, and may not be aware of the specific standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Empowered Together educates companies on the standards and provides the guidance and support they need to increase accessibility.
“I’ve yet to be in a business that’s 100% accessible. [in compliance with the ADA standards]”In any business, there are always opportunities to improve,” Speer said, and managers have been very receptive to the feedback.
Alex Dakoulas, owner of Strange Ways, sells patches, pins, and unique gifts designed by independent artists. The store caters to the LGBTQ+, POC, and neurodiverse communities. He values accessibility and asked for it to be evaluated.
Strange Way’s report recommends simple improvements, like making display counters and wash basins wheelchair accessible, but it’s unclear whether it’s the landlord’s or the store’s responsibility to adjust the height of entrance ramps. DaCoulas plans to seek Speer’s advice.
Building trust in the disability community
The Americans with Disabilities Act will celebrate its 34th anniversary on July 26th.
Getty
For Speer, the biggest challenge has been building trust with the local community: people with disabilities, adults, carers of people with disabilities and businesses.
First-hand experience helps build trust. Spear’s daughter has a rare genetic condition called Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome, which causes developmental disabilities, and she has also been diagnosed with autism, anxiety, ADHD and learning disabilities.
“I have experience in business, but not in the education, therapy or ability to understand the health care system that provided care for my daughter,” Spear said. “I have also been involved in disability advocacy and training through several national level disability advocacy trainings.
Speer immersed herself in the history of the disability rights movement in the United States and globally, building strong connections with advocates. “This knowledge has been invaluable in building our marketplace,” she explained. “Our mission is to empower people with disabilities by providing resources that promote independence and dignity.”
“We’re happy to sit down with them and understand how their nonprofit serves people with disabilities and explore ways to create synergies,” Spear said.
Business owners are more willing to work with Speer when they learn that he is not affiliated with any government agency and does not report his findings to authorities.Business owners are interested in expanding their customer base, so they are willing to make changes to gain new customers.
How did you expand your business into new markets?