The "Building Inclusive Workspaces" free event is set for Tuesday, July 23, 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the ASU Chandler Innovation Center, 249 E. Chicago Street in Downtown Chandler.

Jennifer Longdon, a disability advocate and former Arizona state representative, is a Phoenix-based speaker, writer and advocate. She'll be the keynote speaker at the July 23 event.

Paralyzed in a 2004 shooting, Longdon has a history of focused legislative efforts on disability advocacy and gun violence prevention. She was the first Democrat in 60 years to chair a House ad hoc committee when she headed the Committee on Abuse and Neglect of Vulnerable Adults in Long Term Care Facilities.

Longdon also chaired the boards of the Phoenix Mayor’s Commission on Disability Issues, the Statewide Independent Living Council of Arizona, Arizonans for Gun Safety, and the Public Impact Advisory Panel to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

Her story has been told in publications like AZ magazine, the Washington Post, Salon, Mother Jones, and Rolling Stone.

Other featured speakers will discuss how universal design prevents discrimination in the workplace, boosting employee morale and increasing retention rates. They are Carrie Collins, executive director of the Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona; Dr. Elizabeth Donaldson, an Arizona State University professor, and Ebony Green, the owner of The SPEAK Center.

The event is sponsored by the Chandler Chamber of Commerce and SRP. 

Register for this free event here.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic.  Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.