Accessibility in Space with Anna Voelker
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Release Date: 03/11/2024
What Corporate America Gets Wrong About Blind Professionals with Kirk Adams
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Today, James shares a great conversation with Dr. Kirk Adams, PhD, with us on the podcast. Kirk Adams is the founder of Innovative Impact LLC, through which he consults with corporate clients on diversity, inclusivity, and equity with a focus on the employment of people with disabilities. James talks with him about his own experience with blindness, the struggles he faced to enter the workforce, and how that led him to his work of advocacy for employment for people with disabilities.
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Building a Medical Specialty in Egypt from the Ground Up with Tamer Abou-Elsaad
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Our guest for today’s episode of the Xceptional Leaders podcast is one who undoubtedly exemplifies that label, Dr. Tamer Abou-Elsaad. He is a professor of Phoniatrics at Mansoura University in Mansoura, Egypt. He joins Mai Ling for a conversation to share the story of how he built a medical specialty from nothing in his country. He also talks about why Egyptian insurance covers 12 speech therapy sessions per month, his efforts to stop unlicensed practitioners from treating patients, and explains exactly what phoniatrics is. And he tells how hearing one lecture put him on a course to make a...
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Helping Parkinson’s Patients Regain and Retain Speech with Samantha Elandary
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Samantha Elandary has worked exclusively with individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s and related disorders since 1999, and for our first episode of 2026, she joins the show to talk with James about her work. She is the founder of the Parkinson Voice Project, and she shares how she built a non-profit from her kitchen table, explains the difference between speaking with intent versus automatic speech, and gives some tips for those who are starting their own disability-focused business.
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Revisiting 2025 Show Highlights with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
For our final episode of 2025, Mai Ling and James revisit some of the highlights from the past year of excellent guests. They go over the top takeaways from all of the exceptional leaders who have appeared on the show to share their expertise and experience with our community. This great retrospective will remind you of all the great info we’ve heard and perhaps entice you to re-listen to some of your favorite shows from 2025.
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Empowering and Building Better Connections with Rachel Levy
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Dr. Rachel Khasky-Levy is our guest for today’s episode of Xceptional Leaders. She is the CEO and co-founder of The Babel Group, and she brings her passion for connecting technology and clinical practice to this conversation with Mai Ling. They discuss the necessity and value of wearing multiple hats in a startup, encourage the listener to go ahead and ask the “dumb” questions, and comment on the fact that sometimes leaders need to blaze a new trail. Don’t miss this informative chat with Dr. Levy!
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From Jane Goodall to JP Morgan: Building Neurodiversity Programs at Scale with Elizabeth Jenswold
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
James sits in the interviewer chair this episode and talks with speaker and activist, Elizabeth Jenswold. Elizabeth is a global thought leader with executive-level business experience, and she talks about her career path from the Jane Goodall Institute to financial services to diversity activism. She also shares how to spot the tasks at which neurodiverse people excel, why employment laws often hurt the ones they’re meant to protect, how sometimes your best business solutions come from the most unexpected places, and how implementation of diversity employment practices might differ from...
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Finding AI and Emerging Tech Solutions for Disability Professionals with Leila Denna Staiger
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Our guest today, Leila Denna Staiger, is a speech-language pathologist and founder of SLPs Talk Tech. Under Leila’s leadership, this professional community is exploring emerging tech and AI tools and discovering how to put them to work for clinicians, researchers, and educators. She joins Mai Ling for a conversation to talk about how to build community around emerging technologies, some of the practical uses of AI in healthcare, and the ethics of using AI in private practice.
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Turning Tragedy into a Foundation for the Paralysis Community with Hal Hargrave
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Our guest for today’s episode is the founder of the Be Perfect Foundation, Hal Hargrave. Mai Ling talks with Hal about the horrific car accident that left him with a spinal cord injury, which then led him to the genesis of the foundation. Hal also shares his thoughts on the importance of leaders knowing when they need to pivot, the value of staying positive despite setbacks, and how he also founded a second organization called The Perfect Step where he serves as president, all in an effort to be a support and encouragement to people who are living with paralysis like him. Don’t miss this...
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Making Inclusion Hilariously Unforgettable with Pamela Rae Schuller
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
Mai Ling and James share some fun updates in their lives and leadership journeys at the top of today’s episode. James follows that up with a great conversation with comedian and disability advocate, Pamela Rae Schuller. Pamela talks about living with Tourette syndrome, her path into the world of comedy, and why humor is so important when talking about disability. She also shares her thoughts on leveraging what makes you different and disclosing what you want when you want about your disability.
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Financial Planning for You and Your Loved Ones with Disabilities with Michael Ringel
Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges
In today’s episode, Mai Ling speaks with CPA Michael Ringel about the unique challenges faced by families who have loved ones with disabilities, with regard to financial planning. In this information-packed and frank discussion about money management and planning for your financial future, Michael talks about how he reached the decision to focus on this particular segment of the market, how the approach of his team might differ from other financial advisors, and shifting one’s mindset about wealth. Don’t miss this important conversation!
info_outlineIn this episode, Mai Ling is joined by guest Anna Voelker, founder and Executive Director of SciAccess, Inc. SciAccess is an international nonprofit that promotes disability inclusion in STEM education, outreach, and research and Anna speaks with Mai Ling about the beginnings of the non-profit, what universal design is, and having an early interest in space that led to later endeavors. They also chat about what accessibility really means and the AstroAccess initiative, a program focused on furthering disability inclusion in space exploration.