Advocates Empowered was founded by Kris Joy (they/he) to address a gap most organizations still struggle to name: accessibility is often treated as optional, even though disability and neurodivergence are central to today’s workforce. Roughly 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. lives with a disability, and an estimated 20% of the population is neurodivergent. Yet autistic adults face unemployment rates near 40%, and people with disabilities are unemployed at nearly twice the rate of nondisabled peers.

The cost of exclusion is human and economic. Research shows that companies leading in disability inclusion outperform competitors in revenue, profitability, and productivity, and 80% of consumers are more likely to support brands committed to accessibility. This work is not charity or compliance. It is organizational design that determines who gets to participate and who is pushed out.

More About Our Founder, Kris (they/he)

Kris brings both lived experience and professional specialization to this work. A neurodivergent, disabled, and trans educator, Kris grew up in a hyper- conservative environment in Kenya, growing up the child of well-known missionary parents. They witnessed the extremes of both inclusion and exclusion, learning to name systems before belonging. They lived in Nairobi until 18, moving to the US to study education and build a career centered on inclusion. During their personal journey of deconstructing and therapy, they were diagnosed with anxiety, depression, C-PTSD and ADHD.

After graduating with a BS in Education and with a License in Accessible Education, they created a multi-engagement model of teaching that resulted in the highest testing scores in the district, taught in special education classrooms, build data collection systems that increased efficiency by 15-25%, designed programs serving thousands of children, trained hundreds of volunteers, and built accessibility-focused curriculum and family support systems.

After transitioning into corporate America, Kris spent years in the HR, payroll, and benefits space, working directly with organizations on the operational realities of managing employees at scale. They supported companies through onboarding, compliance-adjacent HR processes, benefits administration, and employee lifecycle management. This experience allowed them to learn how accessibility intersects with payroll systems, benefits structures, HR workflows, compliance pressures, and the day-to-day mechanics of running a business. Their recommendations are grounded not just in theory, but in the realities organizations navigate every day.

During this time they also co-founded and led a neurodiversity and disability Employee Resource Group for two years, working directly on accessibility policy, mental health processes, and employee advocacy. These formative years helped them realize the same passion they have for accessibility in the classroom translated to the corporate world. Realizing that accessibility needs to be looked at through the lens of our entire humanity, they combined their passion, lived experience and expertise to form Advocates Empowered.

Across education, corporate systems, and consulting, Kris operates at the intersection of strategy and lived reality, understanding how policies translate into everyday workplace experience.

How This Shapes the Work

Kris specializes in neurodiversity, disability inclusion, and intersectional workplace accessibility. Every engagement is grounded in Disability Justice, Universal Design, and intersectional analysis. Accessibility does not exist in isolation; race, gender, class, nationality, and power structures shape how barriers are experienced.

Rather than surface-level initiatives, the work focuses on structural mechanics: hiring pipelines, management practices, performance systems, communication norms, office design, and leadership decision-making. The goal is to dismantle inherited systems that unintentionally exclude and rebuild environments where disabled and neurodivergent employees can operate at full capacity.

Why Organizations Partner With Advocates Empowered

Advocates Empowered exists to translate accessibility from an abstract value into an operational strength. Through consulting, training, and embedded support, Kris partners with organizations to redesign systems, equip leaders with practical tools, and support employees in self-advocacy.

This is not performative inclusion. It is measurable change in how workplaces function - improving retention, trust, productivity, and long-term organizational stability.

Start the Conversation

If your organization is ready to move accessibility from intention to implementation, the first step is a conversation. Book a free introductory call to discuss your goals, current challenges, and where accessibility can create the greatest impact inside your workplace.