Ep. 26: The Misfit 100 Disability Inclusion Mission

You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D

Advertising and disability. There’s a lot of both in North America. Eight per cent of the population in both the U.S. and Canada have a disability. In the U.S. that’s about 87 million people. In Canada, about eight million people.

In the U.S., there’s an average of about eight minutes of television ads every hour of programming on major networks. In Canada, there’s now no limit on the minutes per hour of national television advertising allowed on both network and specialty channels.

Maybe you’ve seen the occasional television ad that includes someone who has a disability. There are a few out there — emphasis on “a few.”

Kelsey Lindell is determined to change all this. She’s a disruptor who was born with a disability. She’s been called an “impact entrepreneur.”

In 2022, Kelsey started Misfit Media. It’s run by people who have a disability, producing creative that’s disability inclusive, and educating brands and advertising agencies about why and how to do disability-inclusive creative — and do it right.

Now she’s leapfrogging off all this and taking a really disruptive step forward. She’s setting out to revolutionize the entire advertising industry across North America and how disability is represented in it — within two years.

She launched The Misfit 100 in March 2024. In this episode, she talks about the Misfit 100’s disability-inclusion mission and the state of disability-inclusive advertising in North America.

SHOW NOTES

• Learn more about Misfit Media and its disability-inclusion services
• The New School, blog post, Impact Entrepreneurship — Mentor Spotlight: Kelsey Lindell (October 14, 2023)
• Culture Creators: The Power of Simplicity — talk by Kelsey Lindell
• The Misfit 100 Master Class — March 26, 2024 — official kick-off of The Misfit 100
• Kelsey Lindell’s LinkedIn profile
• Contact Kelsey directly by email: [e-mail]
• Episode 26 transcript (PDF)