Disability demands innovation.
Interdependence fuels creativity.
What audiences experience
• Spending over a decade in academia has made me the least academic speaker
• Instead, I share academic knowledge in an accessible interactive way
• Relatability and authenticity
• Vulnerability and personal real experiences
• Mind-bending histories with lightness and humor
• Interactive presentations and workshops
What Do I Share About?
• A reframe of disability from deficit-based to strengths-based
• Learnings and practices woven together from the disability, queer, and racial justice movements
• Linking untold histories to present day experiences
• Our own ableism unpacked
• Theory applied to everyday practice
• Stories that make systemic issues personal and felt
• Practices for building bridges in and between disabled and non-disabled communities
For Conferences, Meeting Planners, and Associations
• An interactive, energized event where audiences are invited to explore and laugh
• Keynotes tailored to your theme and needs
• Key takeaways and tools to be used immediately
Keynotes
Tangled Histories: Weaving together queerness, race and disability
Queer, disabled, and racialized bodies have long been criminalized, erased, and pathologized. This keynote connects past to present, revealing how these intersecting timelines shape the world we live in—and how we might rewrite them together.
Disability Demands Innovation
Every barrier is an invitation to innovate. Centering disabled perspectives doesn’t just fix broken systems—it transforms them entirely. This talk reveals how disabled wisdom holds the keys to more creative, inclusive, and sustainable futures.
Held Together: Building CareWebs and Putting Interdependence into Practice
What does it look like to live as if we need each other? This keynote moves from theory to practice, exploring how interdependence shows up in real relationships and daily life. Through personal storytelling, it reveals what it means to build and sustain CareWebs.
Chronically Creative: How Interdependence Fuels Artistry
Disabled people often create in unconventional, deeply adaptive ways. In this experiential keynote, you’ll explore how disabled artists transform limits into magic. This talk celebrates the artistry that emerges through interdependence—and invites you to taste that creativity yourself through interactive, accessible creativity practices.
Decoding Conflict: The Art of Thriving Together
Conflict isn’t failure—it’s information. This keynote explores how we can navigate difference with care, curiosity, and accountability. Leave with tangible tools for building resilient, connected relationships through rupture and repair.
Testimonials
I have struggled for many years with chronic pain, trauma, and confusion about my identity after receiving the label "Disabled person." I started working with Xander a year ago, and the growth and change they've helped me achieve around these struggles are deep and palpable. Xander approaches each session from a place of deep listening and compassion, and while they happily offer guidance, they always follow my lead, allowing me to go where healing is most needed in the moment. Xander is thoroughly focused and present throughout each session, making me feel held, heard, and completely respected. Their grounding and visualization exercises help me feel connected to all living things, which is very healing when you feel different and alone due to disability. They have helped me foster community and a new sense of self-empowerment, and are incredibly skilled at approaching challenges in creative ways. For the first time in my life, I'm understanding that my worth is inherent and that I have so much more to offer the world than I thought.
I was particularly impressed with how present and vulnerable Xander was in front of a group of strangers. They had nothing to prove, and yet disarmed the audience with their wit and candor. The skill and balance that allowed Xander to be able to share pieces of their story in a way that invited the audience to consider: relatable, concrete, and insightful narratives; joyful surprises; and the opportunity to question their assumptions without feeling threatened in any way. Language choice, tone, warmth of expression all help set the audience at ease, as members of the audience discussed later. In a time when we have fewer fellow citizens willing to reach out and understand each other’s stories and experiences, Xander is a welcome illustration of how we can be better together and lead by example.
I am incredibly grateful for the support and guidance Xander provided to my kiddo during her time in her first year in college. As someone with ADHD, my kiddo had some challenges navigating academic and personal life and learning new study and time habits - which were often overwhelming, but Xander offered tailored coaching that not only helped develop effective study habits and organizational skills but also boosted their confidence. The strategies they worked on together were practical, and my kiddo saw immediate help in her ability to manage her time, and implement the strategies Xander taught. Thanks to Xander's coaching, my kiddo not only was able to tackle their studies but also learned valuable life skills that will continue to serve them well beyond college. Thank you Xander!
Xanders voice empowers through vulnerability, lived experience and wisdom and knowledge gained. From this vulnerability, Xander reaches out to others who are experiencing marginalization, isolation and disconnection, due to being different in our society, and creates interconnection, belonging and community. I spent twenty years homebound by chronic progressive illness. I am grateful for restored health. I am finding in Xander’s work, deeper healing for my years of physical struggle, and I am finding inspiration for my life and my work today.
Xander has been working with both of my young adult kids for 2 months and I’ve seen more progress and results than over a year of therapy. Xander is much more than a coach: they both felt understood and safe. The positive results (job offers and improved grades) speak for themselves. I am very grateful.
