Brandon Farbstein
Disability inclusion is the dimension most consistently absent from organisations’ DEI programs, despite the disability community comprising 15% of the global population. When organisations treat disability as a compliance exercise, the gap between stated inclusion values and lived employee experience widens. That gap costs organisations in belonging, retention, and cultural credibility.
Brandon Farbstein is a disability inclusion advocate and author who helps organisations build cultures of genuine belonging through his registered Elevate Empathy® framework, backed by a record that includes driving two Virginia state laws on bullying prevention and empathy education before the age of 18.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Brandon Farbstein
- He has driven actual state legislation, not just inspired audiences. Two Virginia laws exist because of his advocacy before age 18: one on bullying prevention, one requiring empathy and emotional intelligence education in every K-12 classroom in the state. That track record separates him from motivational speakers and positions him as a systemic change agent.
- Disability is the most consistently overlooked dimension of most DEI programs. Farbstein gives organisations a credible, lived-experience voice in exactly that space, not as a personal narrative alone, but through a framework (Elevate Empathy®) that translates into teachable, practical tools for teams.
- His vantage point is generational as well as personal. As a Gen Z voice on belonging, recognised by both LinkedIn and Instagram for his advocacy reach, he speaks directly to the expectations gap between younger employees and the organisations they work for: a gap that costs organisations in engagement and trust.
- He advises boards and senior teams, not just audiences. Farbstein regularly consults organisations on belonging and social impact strategy for the disability community, and publicly declines engagements where inclusion is performative. His presence signals genuine organisational commitment, not a checkbox.
- His ADL Hero Against Hate designation and UN partnership establish credibility at the highest institutional levels, making him a defensible choice for boards and leadership teams where speaker credibility is itself under scrutiny.
Biography highlights
- Drove two pieces of Virginia state legislation before age 18: bullying prevention and mandatory empathy and emotional intelligence education across all K-12 public schools statewide
- Author of Ten Feet Tall: Step Into Your Truth and Change Your Freaking World and A Kids Book About Self-Love (Penguin)
- Delivered TEDx RVA at age 15; talk accumulated 85,000+ views
- LinkedIn Top Voice for disability advocacy (2022); named to TigerBeat/Instagram’s #19Under19 (2018); youngest-ever recipient of Style Weekly’s Top 40 Under 40
- Anti-Defamation League Hero Against Hate award recipient
- Founding partner of Daniel Lubetzky’s Builders Movement; board member, Digital4Good
- Speaker for Meta, HP, Marriott, LVMH, and the Million Dollar Round Table; partnered with UNICEF and the United Nations on campaigns to end school violence
Biography
Brandon Farbstein gave his first TEDx talk at 15. By 18, he had driven two pieces of legislation through the Virginia state legislature; one on bullying prevention, the other mandating empathy and emotional intelligence education in every K-12 classroom in the state. That trajectory sets the frame for everything he brings to organisations.
Farbstein was born with metatropic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism, and spent his high school years navigating severe cyberbullying that eventually drove him off campus. Rather than absorb that experience privately, he built a response: a registered framework, Elevate Empathy®, and a body of work spanning two books, hundreds of corporate stages, and legislative testimony. His book Ten Feet Tall and A Kids Book About Self-Love (Penguin) put the framework into accessible form for audiences ranging from Fortune 100 employees to elementary school students.
Farbstein’s value for organisations sits where two problems intersect: DEI programs that systematically underweight disability, and employees with disabilities who know it. He advises boards and senior teams on belonging and social impact strategy, with a specific focus on the disability community: the largest minority group in the world. His credibility in that space is built on more than personal story: it includes legislative impact, a LinkedIn Top Voice designation for disability advocacy, and the Anti-Defamation League’s Hero Against Hate award.
He has spoken for Meta, HP, Marriott, LVMH, and at the Million Dollar Round Table, and has partnered with UNICEF and the United Nations on campaigns addressing school violence. As a founding partner of Daniel Lubetzky’s Builders Movement and a board member of Digital4Good, his work operates across corporate, civic, and educational contexts – making him a distinctive voice on how empathy functions not just as a personal quality, but as an organisational practice.
Key speaking topics
- Disability inclusion and belonging
- Empathy as organisational practice
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy
- Resilience and mindset
- Social-emotional learning and anti-bullying advocacy
- Gen Z perspectives on workplace culture
- Purpose-driven leadership and social impact
Ideal for
- Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officers and People & Culture leads with disability inclusion gaps in their DEI programs
- CHROs and senior HR leadership teams working on belonging, employee experience, and psychological safety
- Senior leadership teams and boards evaluating the credibility and reach of their DEI commitments
- Education sector leaders, student-facing organisations, and youth advocacy platforms addressing bullying, empathy, and social-emotional learning
Audience outcomes
- A clear understanding of why disability inclusion is the most consistently underaddressed dimension of DEI – and what the cost of that gap looks like in employee experience and retention
- Practical tools from the Elevate Empathy® framework for building environments where all employees feel genuinely seen and heard
- A reframe of lived adversity as a source of leadership strength and authentic influence, rather than a liability to manage
- Increased capacity to distinguish genuine inclusion from performative inclusion – and the organisational will to act on that distinction
- Exposure to the specific legislative, cultural, and institutional levers that have moved the dial on disability inclusion at a systemic level
Talks
A talk on individual agency, resilience, and the obligation to act, giving audiences a framework for expanding their impact one person at a time.
Key takeaways:
- How to develop a mindset that treats adversity as a catalyst rather than a barrier
- Tools for increasing resilience under pressure by anchoring to a larger purpose
- A practical framework for becoming a change agent in your organisation or community
A keynote using Farbstein’s proprietary Hero Technique to help audiences define purpose, overcome obstacles, and move from limiting beliefs to intentional action.
Key takeaways:
- How to identify and capitalise on existing strengths rather than waiting for ideal conditions
- A step-by-step approach to defining personal purpose in a way that drives professional behaviour
- The role of authentic storytelling in building trust, credibility, and connection with others