Episode Overview

From a young age, Maayan challenged norms and worked within her community to increase awareness of disability issues and improve accessibility. Living with Muscular Dystrophy, Maayan is a passionate and relentless advocate for creating a more accessible world. In 2015 Maayan launched AccessNow out of the need to solve her problem. What began as a response to her frustration when trying to navigate inaccessible places, AccessNow soon grew to become a mission-oriented social start-up. 

Within just a couple of years, AccessNow has vocalized a movement for inclusion, inviting people of all abilities to contribute to the platform. As the Founder and CEO of AccessNow, Maayan has created a powerful shift in thinking about the importance of accessibility in our world, from accessible technologies to infrastructure, public policy, media, and communications. She is a recognized industry expert in accessibility and inclusion; received the 2020 Governor General’s Innovation Award and the prestigious Novartis Innovation Prize, and is among Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 recipients for 2021. 

“Accessibility is only touching people when they need to know about it or when it affects them personally.” 

In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, Maayan Ziv shares why AccessNow is needed to look at our world through a more inclusive lens, taking her first steps into entrepreneurship and the importance of investing in accessibility.  

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