Despite the millions of Americans who live with a disability, solutions for the challenges they face can be too expensive for users or simply never developed because of small market size. Connecting differently abled people, their family members, and healthcare providers who understand specific challenges facing this community with tech companies and philanthropists looking to fund and promote change could help solve many of the problems at hand.

Israeli impact-entrepreneur and computer programmer, Arnon Zamir recognised that the by harnessing the power of Maker community, engineers, designers, developers and problem solvers could direct their skills and talents to develop needed solutions by connecting them directly with the ‘Need-Knowers’ (those that have a disability or understand a specific challenge). Arnon co-founded TOM:Tikkum Olam Makers – a Hebrew phrase meaning ‘repairing the world’ – as a movement of communities bringing together ‘Need Knowers’ and Makers to develop open-source solutions for everyday challenges.

https://www.socialtech.org.uk/projects/tom-tikkun-olam-makers/

Emily Nelson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-nelson-bbaba7183/