Jenny Lay-Flurrie

Bio:

Jenny has a passion to see people reach their full potential, including people with disabilities. Jenny is chief accessibility officer at Microsoft, leading the company’s efforts to drive great products, services and websites that empower people and organizations to achieve more. Her team is at the forefront of creating positive experiences that apply technology to make a difference in the world and the lives of individuals, from how we hire and support people with disabilities in employment to innovative technology that aims to revolutionize what’s possible for people with disabilities.

With the help of her team and broad community within Microsoft, Jenny leads many initiatives to empower people with disabilities both inside and outside of Microsoft. These initiatives range from creating the Disability Answer Desk, which provides specialist customer support to people with disabilities, to hosting the annual Microsoft Ability Summit, which focuses on empowering attendees (more than 2,000 in each of the last two years) with the inclusive and innovative thinking necessary to enable people around the world. She has also been instrumental in projects such as Soundscape and the Microsoft Ability Hackathon, which has supported over 500 hackathon teams focused on empowering people with disabilities with new technologies and capabilities. Lay-Flurrie is a contributor to the book, “The Ability Hacks,” which shares behind-the-scenes stories of the hackers who pioneered two innovative hacks-turned-solutions used today by people with disabilities around the world.

Outside of Microsoft, Jenny is the current board chair of Disability:IN and was recognized as a ‘Disability Employment Champion of Change’ by the White House in October 2014.