Program and Speakers 2026

“Disabilities and Technologies”

We have an amazing program set up for you! Below you can find out what we have planned for each of the five days. This year’s Spring Institute will focus on f technology . This Spring Institute employs an allyship model of research in which disabled and non-disabled researchers work together. Many of our faculty members are disabled themselves or are carers of disabled family members.

Every day, sessions will run from 1-5pm UK time. The entire event is free of charge and virtual and will be hosted via Zoom. .

Co-Founders

Anica Zeyen is a white woman with curly dark blonde hair. she wears a purple pink dress with a black leather jacket. she smiles broadly
Anica Zeyen

Professorin Entrepreneurship and Inclusion, Royal Holloway Business School, Royal Holloway University of London (UK)

Dr Anica Zeyen is a blind academic whose work sits at the intersection of entrepreneurship, organisation, disability research, and leisure, art, and culture. She leads and collaborates on research projects across the Global South and Global North, examining how dominant ideas about work, productivity, and “the right way” to live shape inclusion and exclusion across professional, cultural, and everyday spaces. Her research is grounded in inclusive, qualitative approaches and informed by lived experience, with a strong commitment to ethical, participatory, and accessible research practice. Anica’s work challenges deficit-based and instrumental framings of disability, foregrounding disability as a source of insight into organising, leadership, creativity, and social change. Alongside her academic work, she contributes to public conversations on access, inclusion, and everyday life through writing, speaking, and disability advocacy.. More on her work on her web page.

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Oana Branzei

Professor of Strategy, Ivey Business School, Western University (Canada

Dr. Oana Branzei is a Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at the Ivey Business School, Western University. Her areas of expertise include social innovation, social enterprise, and organizing for self-, society-, and system-transformation in response to grand challenges. She has held editorial positions on the boards of the ‘Academy of Management Review’, ‘Journal of Management’, ‘Journal of International Business Studies’. She is completing her second full term as field editor of the Journal of Business Venturing and co-edited several recent special issues on prosocial, regenerative, place-based and inclusive organizing.

Pre-Session 16 February

This session takes place before the Spring Institute and will help you prepare.

During this 90-minute session (1 – 2:30pm UK time), we will introduce you to the Spring Institute Format, provide you with all the necessary information to get the most out of the Spring Institute.

Spring Institute 2026

Sunday, 1 March 2026

Opening Keynote

The Autonomous Workplace: Why Disability Will Determine Who Thrives in the AI Age

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Laurie Henneborn

Ethigen Advisory – Founder & Principal Advisor; former Managing Director, Accenture. AAPD board member (USA)

Laurie Henneborn? is a globally recognized leader and inclusive technology, AI ethics, and disability inclusion. With more than two decades at Accenture as managing director, Laurie has shaped thought leadership showcase at Davos, CES, MWC, and across the Fortune 100. Her research and publications – including in Harvard Business Review and Stanford Social Innovation Review – have positioned her at the forefront of inclusive, AI design, accessible, innovation, and the future of work.

Physical Disability in the Workplace

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Wyett Lee

 Auburn University, Auburn AL, USA. AND, Tarleton State University, Stephenville TX, USA. (USA)

Wyatt is currently in his last semester as Ph.D. Candidate at Auburn University, and is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Wyatt is inspired by his own speech disability to study entrepreneurs with disabilities, their health, and overall well-being.

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Ashley Roccapriore

USA

bio to follow

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Franz Lohrke 

Spencer Family Professor of Entrepreneurship, Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Auburn University (USA)

Franz Lohrke serves as the Spencer Family Professor of Entrepreneurship at Auburn University. He has assisted aspiring entrepreneurs for over 30 years, published in several top journals and co-edited three books. Prior to his academic career, Lohrke worked primarily in the hospitality industry, including restaurant management at Walt Disney World.

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Christopher Reutzel

USA

bio to follow

Mental Health and Mental Illness in Organisations

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Emily Rosado-Solomon (She/Her)

Assistant Professor of Management at Babson College. (USA)

Emily Rosado-Solomon is an Assistant Professor of Management at Babson College. She received her PhD in Human Resource Management from Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations. She has two overlapping streams of research: one focused on work and mental health, and the other focused on interpersonal connections in the workplace. Emily is particularly interested in the work experiences of employees with mental illness.

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Jacklyn Koopman

Auburn University (USA)

shley Roccapriore’s research focuses on how stakeholders make decisions about entrepreneurs that enable (or disable) them from obtaining the resources they need to start, grow, and sustain their venture. She also researches how interpersonal dynamics, as well as physical and mental health, influence both stakeholders’ and entrepreneurs’ decisions. She has published her work across top-tier management and entrepreneurship journals.

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Matthew A Cronin

Management Department, School of Business, George Mason University, Fairfax, (USA)

Dr. Matthew A. Cronin (CMU, 2004) Studies knowledge creation, collaboration, and creativity. He is widely published and had his work presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He was Co-EIC of The Academy of Management Annals. He coauthored a text on negotiation and The Craft of Creativity, a finalist for the George R. Terry book award.

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Wyett Lee

Auburn University, Auburn AL, USA. AND, Tarleton State University, Stephenville TX, (USA).

Wyatt is currently in his last semester as Ph.D. Candidate at Auburn University, and is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Wyatt is inspired by his own speech disability to study entrepreneurs with disabilities, their health, and overall well-being.

Monday, 2 March 2026

This day will feature innovative theoretical lenses on disability and technology.

The Ethics and Morality of Market-Based Hope in Illness Entrepreneurship

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Susi Geiger

Full Professor, University College Dublin (Ireland)

Susi Geiger is Full Professor of Markets, Organizations and Society at University College Dublin. Her research investigates how markets are organized in the context of social justice and public goods concerns, particularly in pharmaceuticals and data markets. She has published numerous journal articles on these issues, and her latest book is entitled ‘Peak Pharma: Toward a new political economy of health’ (Oxford University Press 2025). 

Work-related Psychological Trauma

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Madelynn Stackhouse

Associate Professor, Bryan School of Business & Economics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro(USA)

Madelynn Stackhouse is Associate Professor of Management, Margaret Van Hoy Hill Dean’s Notable Scholar, and Human Resources Program Director at UNC at Greensboro. Her research investigates the ethics and relationships in the workplace across multiple levels of analysis. Her research has been featured in top outlets such as Academy of Management Annals, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Journal of Organizational Behavior. She has consulted with Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller private and non-profit organizations. 

Recovering from Microagressions at work

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Basima Tewfik

MIT Sloan School of Business )USA)

Basima Tewfik (pronounced buh-see-ma too-fik) is an Assistant Professor of Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Her research examines the “science of the social self at work,” with a particular focus on what she terms workplace impostor thoughts—the belief that others overestimate one’s competence—popularly known as impostor syndrome. Her work has been published in leading journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organization Science, and has earned recognition from INFORMS, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Academy of Management. She holds a PhD in management (Organizational Behavior) from the Wharton School and an AB, summa cum laude, in psychology with a secondary in economics from Harvard University.

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Summer Jackson

Harvard Business School (USA)

Summer Jackson is an organizational ethnographer whose research focuses on how human capital systems—recruitment, hiring, development, promotion, and retention—interact with race, class, and gender to shape opportunity structures and career outcomes. Her research has been recognized by INFORMS and as a runner-up for the Administrative Science Quarterly Dissertation Award. It has also appeared in scholarly and news outlets, including Organization Science, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, MIT News, and Harvard Business Review. She is a graduate of Stanford University and earned her Ph.D. in Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to graduate school, she worked for the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, where her service was recognized with a Meritorious Honor Award and the Fleet Seminar Fellowship at the Naval War College.

Tuesday, 3 March 2026

This day focusses on methodological innovations for disability research.

Multimodality at Work

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Dennis Jancsary

University of Liverpool Management School (UK) & WU Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria)

Dennis Jancsary (dennis.jancsary@liverpool.ac.uk) is Chair in Organisation Studies at the University of Liverpool Management School. He is also a senior research fellow at WU Vienna, where he earned his PhD. He studies organizational landscapes from an institutional theory perspective, visual and multimodal forms of communication, and discursive absences and silences.

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Lehtonen Miikka

Associate Professor, University of Tokyo College of Design Planning and Coordination Office (Japan)

Miikka J. Lehtonen (lehtonen.miikka@mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp) is project associate professor at the University of Tokyo College of Design Planning and Coordination Office. He earned his PhD from Aalto University. School of Business. His current research interests focus on visual methodologies and knowledge production, management and creativity in game companies, design practices and management in contemporary organizations, and (blended) design pedagogies.

Messing up Visual Management studies

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Michelle Greenwood

Professor, Department of Management, Monash Business School, Monash University, (Australia)

Michelle Greenwood is Professor at Monash University, Australia. Michelle’s research is in critical business ethics. Her current research is in violence and organisation. Michelle serves as co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Business Ethics.  

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Shao, KaiYu (Sky)

Professor, College of Business Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing (China)

Shao, KaiYu (Sky) is an Associate Professor at Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, China. Her research explores the intersection of visual studies, ethics, and social science philosophy. Specifically, she investigates the ethical dimensions of visual organization, the philosophical and methodological underpinnings of visual research, and the socio-ethical implications of management studies.

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Maddy Jensson

Professor, Department of Work and Organization Studies, Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven( Belgium )

Maddy Janssens is a professor at the KU Leuven in Belgium. Her research critically investigates the ways in which differences are constructed and addressed in a wide variety of organizational domains. Together with Prof. Chris Steyaert, she recently published a book ‘On practicing diversity’ in which diversity management is reconceptualized as a form of organizational worldmaking.

Food and Fat at Work: Eighty-Three Moments from a Binge Eater’s Professional Life

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Daniel Newark

Associate Professor, Management & Human Resources Department, HEC Paris(France)

Daniel Newark is an Associate Professor of Management at HEC Paris. His research focuses on decision making and identity.

Wednesday, 4 March 2026

Technology and AI for disability inclusion

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Daniel Ngugi

Inclusion and Development Expert | Advocate for Disability-Inclusive Innovation, Next Steps (Kenya)

Daniel is a prominent advocate for inclusive development, working at the intersection of technology, policy, and social impact. His efforts aim to ensure Kenya’s digital transformation and AI strategy provide equitable opportunities for persons with disabilities. He has spearheaded initiatives within corporations, NGOs, and institutions that provide youth with disabilities with digital and employability skills, while also incorporating assistive and emerging technologies into workplace and program designs. Through advisory roles, board service, and partnerships with national and global disability networks, Daniel continues to influence discussions on integrating accessibility and inclusion into Kenya’s innovation and AI ecosystem.

Adapting to the in-accessibility of technology and online systems in academia: a reflection

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Zein Al Maha Oweis

Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Glasgow (UK)

Zein Al Maha Oweis is an early career media and critical disability studies academic. She recently passed her PhD VIVA in November of last year from the University of Glasgow. Her work focuses on disability representation in Jordanian media. As a disabled academic, she advocates for the disability cause by sharing her knowledge and lived experiences with sight loss. She is accompanied by her trusty guide dog Mitch. She is currently a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Glasgow. 

Thursday, 5 March 2026

For the first time, this year we are able to run a full day on special issues in the field of management and disabilities. This shows us how much the field has grown. .

Academy of Management Discoveries on Neurodiversity

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Rob Austin

Canada

bio to follow

Academy of Management Learning & Education Special Issue on Neuroinnclusion

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Sophie Hennekam

Professor, Audencia Business School in Nantes (France)

background in psychology and studies topics related to diversity, inclusion and inequality. She focuses specifically on stigmatized and invisible populations. She works in collaboration with industry partners and has published in academic journals like Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies and Human Relations.

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Katrin Mühlfeld

Professor of Management, Organization Studies and HRM, Faculty of Business Administration, Trier University (Germany)

Katrin’s research interests include learning and decision-making, especially related to innovation, technology (adoption), sustainability, and global perspectives. She has published, among others, in Academy of Management Learning & Education, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management, Strategic Management Journal, and currently serves as Associate Editor at Academy of Management Learning & Education.

Organization Studies Special Issue on Embodying Process

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Emily Heaphy

Professor, University of Massachusetts (USA )

Emily Heaphy is a Professor of Management and John F. Kennedy Faculty Fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is currently an Associate Editor at Academy of Management Journal. Her research focuses how interpersonal relationships, emotions and the human body are used to manage tensions between personal needs and organizational demands.

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Nancy Harding

UK

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Journal of Entrepreneurship & Regional Development Special Issue on Entrepreneurs with Disability

Christel Tessier Dargent

Professor, Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne (France)

A graduate of ESCP Business School, Paris, PhD in Entrepreneurship, I first pursued an international career in strategy and IS consulting for multinational companies before moving on to supporting entrepreneurs. My research focuses on inclusive entrepreneurship, especially by people with disabilities, and responsible entrepreneurial education, using qualitative approaches.