In this episode of Catalyst Conversations, Ben Akuoko, founder of Brightside Scope, shares his powerful journey of living with low vision and the mindset that drives his advocacy and leadership work. Through personal stories and reflections, Ben speaks about overcoming barriers, building resilience, and shifting from self-doubt to empowerment with his “Brightside” approach to life. The conversation highlights Ben’s passion for accessibility, personal growth, and encouraging others to stop waiting for change and instead intentionally create opportunities for themselves and their communities.
In this feature for Our Disabled Future, Ben speaks about the importance of combining lived disability experience with professional disability expertise to create more meaningful and inclusive spaces. Drawing from his own experiences living with low vision, Ben discusses advocacy, accessibility, and the value of universal design in helping communities become more inclusive for everyone.
In this candid and deeply motivating episode of Remarkable World Commentary: Donna sits down with Bernard "Ben" Akuoko, social worker, disability advocate, and founder of The Brightside Scope to trace his journey from a two-year-old diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa to one of Canada's most thoughtful voices at the intersection of race, culture, and disability.
In this panel presented by Kujenga Family Wellness, Ben is joined by Andrew Robinson and Lincoln Alexander for a conversation about navigating the world as Black men. Together, they share personal perspectives on identity, family, business, faith, and the experiences that have shaped their journeys. Ben brings his own lived experience to the discussion, exploring the intersections of Black identity, disability, and community.Robinson & Lincoln Alexander all men share their experience about navigating this world as black Men whether it is through family, business or faith.
In this piece, Ben Akuoko contributed as a community member to the Enabling Accessible Healthcare Delivery, a documentary project developed through the School of Disability Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University. Drawing on his lived experience and advocacy work, Ben contributed his perspective to important conversations about disability, accessibility, and the need for more equitable and inclusive healthcare experiences for people with disabilities.
In an AMI special titled “Speaking Up”, Ben is featured in a segment, where he is interviewed about the many ambassador roles he holds within the blind/low vision community. In the episode Ben expresses his passion for advocacy as well as reasons why advocacy is so important.
In this panel called “navigating graduate studies with a disability”, Ben joins two other panelists to chat about his experience in graduate school and how graduate students with disabilities are working in activism spaces to foster a more inclusive learning community.
Along with co-hosts Neisha and Vivi; ben coordinates, produces and distributes a podcast titled “The Lens: Living Diverse”. The podcast explores the many facets of intersectionality from a blind, partially sighted and Deafblind perspective. Listen to all the episodes at the link above.
