Available to book
Catarina Rivera
Transform disability inclusion with Catarina Rivera, speaker and Blindish Latina founder. Catarina works with organizations to implement accessibility strategies and DEI initiatives, delivering powerful insights from her intersectional perspective as a Latiné woman with Usher Syndrome.
Catarina Rivera, BA, MSEd, MPH, earned her BA in Psychology from Duke University with a Robertson Scholars Leadership Program scholarship, a Master of Science in Education from Bank Street College of Education focusing on Dual Language/Bilingual Education, and a Master of Public Health from Hunter College.
Catarina founded Blindish Latina, a platform challenging disability stigmas through storytelling, advocacy, and education. She has over 14 years of experience in educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, specializing in program development, team management, capacity building, community organizing, engagement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
As a Latiné woman with lifelong disabilities, Catarina offers a profound understanding of intersectionality in disability discussions. She wore hearing aids from a young age but was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome at 17, which includes progressive vision loss due to retinitis pigmentosa and hearing disability.
Catarina's disability journey evolved through stages: Denial, Acceptance, Self-Advocacy, and Public Advocacy. She understands the complexities of having a nonapparent disability and the societal changes she experienced after using a white cane. She now embraces disability pride and feels a renewed sense of confidence sharing her story.
Bilingual in English and Spanish, Catarina's family is Cuban and Puerto Rican. She is a first-generation American on one side and second-generation on the other. Catarina shares her expertise and lived experience with disability, focusing on disability awareness, inclusion, digital inclusion, intersectionality, accessibility, allyship, and advocacy.
Topics, sessions and talks
Perfect for Disability Pride Month, Latine/x Heritage Month, and National Disability Employment Awareness Month, in this session, Catarina Rivera addresses the intersectionality of identity within diversity through her personal storytelling approach. This session is typically delivered as a fireside chat.
In this session, Catarina Rivera focuses on demystifying disability and equipping employees with foundational understandings of disability, including appropriate language to use for disability and how to prevent microaggressions. All participants will learn that disability is not a bad word!
In this informative training session, Catarina Rivera helps you be able to name and define ableism, including examples, and to understand the historical context of ableism in our society. Your team will also learn how ableism shows up in the common language we use and will receive recommendations for concrete actions that can address ableism in the workplace.
In this session, Catarina Rivera teaches managers and leaders the benefits of inclusion, why disability inclusion is so important, and best practices for inclusion. Managers and leaders will learn how to respond appropriately and supportively to disability disclosure.
Testimonials
often considered together
Ella Dove
Resilience
Disability Awareness
Storytelling
Ed Jackson
Adversity
Resilience
Growth Mindset
Mia Ives-Rublee
Disability Awareness
Politics
Social Justice
frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
To book Catarina Rivera, email catarina.rivera@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Catarina's availability and speaking fee. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and about your audience.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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