Frances West

Founder, FrancesWest Co
Author of Authentic Inclusion™ Drives Disruptive Innovation

USA | ACCESSIBILITY | DIGITAL INCLUSION

Frances West is an internationally recognized thought leader, author, speaker, strategy advisor, and women-in-technology trailblazer known for her work in innovation, technology, and business transformation.

She is the author of Authentic Inclusion™ Drives Disruptive Innovation and the founder of FrancesWestCo, a global strategy advisory company focused on working with startups, government, for-profit and nonprofit businesses to operationalize inclusion as a business and technology imperative.

Her insightful and impactful approach comes from her experience as a global executive in sales, marketing, business development and research, as well as her groundbreaking work as IBM’s first Chief Accessibility Officer. Because of her expertise, she was invited as the sole IT industry representative to testify before the US Senate on the need to pass the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Massachusetts in Boston in recognition of her work in accessibility, research, and digital inclusion. Frances was born in Taiwan and educated in Hong Kong and the US. She is married with two adult sons and currently resides in Newton, Massachusetts.