Main Stage Leadership Panel
11:10 am - 11:55 am · Main stage
Accessibility is no longer a compliance conversation happening at the edges of an organization. It is becoming a leadership question, embedded in how decisions are made about products, services, hiring, technology investment, and brand. Yet across sectors, the people who shape those decisions rarely sit in the same room together to talk about it. This panel brings together senior leaders from across the accessibility ecosystem to examine what it actually takes to move accessibility from a stated value to an operational reality. The conversation will explore where leadership accountability lives today, what is changing as artificial intelligence reshapes how products are built, and how organizations can move past awareness toward measurable inclusion outcomes. Panelists will share what they are seeing inside their own organizations and across the industry: where progress is happening, where it is stalling, and what the next chapter of accessibility leadership needs to look like in Canada and beyond.
Speakers
Carole Mendonca
Director, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Deloitte Canada
Carole Mendonca is the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) at Deloitte Canada and co-authored Deloitte Canada's Accessibility Action Plans. In her role, Carole provides strategic leadership across DEIA, overseeing the DEI and Accessibility team and the execution of Deloitte's accessibility strategy and action plan as part of the firm's broader inclusion agenda. She also co-founded Deloitte's accessibility-focused client service offerings in Canada, supporting provincial and federal organisations with the development of accessibility strategies, action plans, and consultations with people with disabilities and neurodivergent individuals. Carole has over a decade of experience across the private and non-profit sectors, specialising in management consulting, program development, community investment, risk management, compliance, and stakeholder engagement. She holds a Bachelor of Honours in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Carleton University, a graduate diploma in Inclusion and Leadership, and an active professional designation in Accessibility from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). Guided by a strong business mindset and a deep commitment to equity, accessibility, disability inclusion and neurodiversity, Carole is dedicated to advancing meaningful, systemic change and helping build a stronger future for all.
Andrea Podruski
Chief Operating Officer and Director General of Standards and Research, Accessibility Standards Canada
Andrea Podruski, currently the Chief Operating Officer and Director General of Standards and Research, has been with Accessibility Standards Canada since 2020 and is responsible for standards development and research funded by the grants and contributions program. Prior to joining the public service, she was a social worker and spent twenty years working in community and supporting the full inclusion of people with disabilities. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work and Masters in Philanthropy and Non-Profit Leadership. Andrea lives in Chelsea, Quebec with her husband and two teenage children, one of whom lives with multiple disabilities. As a parent to a child with disabilities, she dedicates her personal time to volunteering in various capacities in the education and disability communities.
Aidan Tierney
Lead Product Manager, Accessibility, eBay
Aidan Tierney, CPWA, works across product, design, and engineering to embed accessibility into the decisions that shape the experiences of eBay customers. Increasingly this involves influencing how AI contributes to those experiences. He is particularly interested in what it takes for large technology organizations to sustain accessibility at scale and at speed. Aidan combined engineering and consulting work at IBM Canada before leading the digital accessibility program at TD. He has worked extensively with organizations on the structures and practices that turn regulatory requirements into operational reality.