Michele Spitz

Michele Spitz of Woman of Her Word is a seasoned 12 year media accessibility producer, consultant, public speaker, educator and philanthropist most passionate about advocating for media accessibility and disability awareness, selectively funding audio description post production grants for multiple organizations and clients. She produces, narrates, consults and project manages audio description assets for film, broadcast, digital media, film festivals, museums, educational content, corporate and fundraising media. Michele has personally funded 80% of the 150 hand selected media projects with which she has chosen to be aligned. She works very closely in advising each client to guarantee that their projects are accessible to low vision and blind audiences throughout the entire exhibition and distribution shelf life. Michele has guest lectured for NYU Tisch Film School, Emerson College Department of Visual and Media Arts, Montclair University Media & Disability Department and taught Respectability’s annual Audio Description Summer Lab for several years. She has made presentations at Tribeca, DOC NYC, IDA, NY Film Festival, Sundance, Film Independent, NYWIFT, WIF LA, ReelAbilities and several others. Michele has been consulting the Tribeca Print Traffic Dept for the past 3 years to ensure as much accessible media content possible is submitted to the film festival to accomodate all audiences. She was the catalyst having provided her professional consult directly to the Motion Picture Academy that resulted in the 1st ever Audio Described Broadcast of the 93rd Academy Awards. Highlights of Michele’s multimedia portfolio include films such as ABC News Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolute Story, Amy Poehler’s Lucy & Desi, Shari and Lamb Chop, Frank Marshall’s Rather and Bee Gees. Pavarotti, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, Lebron James’ All You Hear is Noise and 5 years of The Media Access Awards.

Jenna Bainbridge

Jenna Bainbridge (she/her) is an actor, singer, and disability rights advocate currently appearing on Broadway as Nessarose in Wicked. At 16 months old, Jenna suddenly became partially paralyzed from the waist down, the cause is still unknown. She navigates the world now as an ambulatory wheelchair user. In 2024 she became the first wheelchair user to perform in a New Musical on Broadway when she made her debut in Suffs, which won the 2024 Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Music. She can also be seen on NBC’s Found and you can hear her narrate the audio books for Marieke Nijkamp’s Unbroken and Alice Wong’s Disability Intimacy.

In addition to performing, Jenna is also the Co-founder of ConsultAbility, a consulting firm whose mission is to work with theatrical institutions and educational programs to create more accessible spaces and inclusive programming for disabled artists, employees, and audiences - bridging the gap between what is desired and what is required when working with disabled professionals in the theatrical world.

Lauren Ruotolo

Lauren Ruotolo is a disability & rare disease advocate, author, and marketing executive who has dedicated her life to advancing inclusion and challenging societal norms. Born with McCune-Albright syndrome, she defied medical expectations and built a powerhouse career leading brand, content, and video strategy at Johnson & Johnson, Hearst Magazines, TV Guide, and most recently, Cure. She’s the author of Unstoppable in Stilettos and co-founder of We Are Invincible, a media and events platform celebrating the disability community. A sought-after speaker and thought leader, Lauren turns adversity into action—proving that lived experience is a catalyst for innovation, empowerment, and unstoppable ambition.

Isaac Zablocki

Isaac Zablocki the CEO and co-founder of the ReelAbilities Film Festival, the premier disability film festival. He is the Director of the film center at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. He attended film school at Columbia University and worked at Miramax films. Previously, he produced and directed feature films and developed film educational programs for the Department of Education. Since 2004, Isaac has been developing film programs at the JCC. Beyond ReelAbilities, he programs multiple film festivals annually and lectures on a variety of topics including the power of film for social change.