KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Self-Advocate
Cainan Molzer
2026 Self-Advocate Keynote Speaker
Cainan Molzer is a self-advocate based in Southern Oregon who is dedicated to advancing inclusion, independence, and opportunity for people with disabilities. He attends Rogue Community College and volunteers at his local church. Cainan serves as an appointed member of the Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities and is a member of the Jackson County Self-Advocates group. He is a graduate of Partners in Policymaking through Disability Rights Oregon. Cainan is passionate about using his voice to advocate for himself and others, believing that everyone deserves the support and respect needed to live a full and successful life.
Opening Parent Keynote 2026
Lori Boll,
Meet Lori Boll, our 2026 Breaking Barriers parent keynote speaker.
Lori knows what it’s like to sit across the table from people who see your child’s diagnosis before they see your child. When her son Braden was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and an intellectual developmental disability, she stepped into a world built on deficit language and clinical checklists. Sound familiar?
What changed everything was a shift in understanding. Lori moved from a medical model, one focused on what her son couldn’t do, to a social model that asks a harder question: what are the barriers keeping him out? That reframe didn’t just change how she advocated for Braden. It changed how she sees inclusion itself.
Her keynote, “Advocacy Is Love Made Visible,” is about that transformation. She’ll talk about rightful presence, the idea that people with disabilities don’t need to prove readiness or earn belonging. They hold inherent membership in their communities. And she’ll challenge all of us to look at the systems we navigate every day, the IEP tables, the service plans, the community spaces, and ask whether they reflect that truth.
Lori is the Executive Director of SENIA International, a global nonprofit championing inclusive education. She’s co-authored a book on building collaborative teams between families and educators, and brings 25+ years of experience as a special educator, a leader, and, most importantly, a parent who turned love into action.
Lori has lived and worked across the globe, and she’s bringing all of that experience to Redmond on April 21. This is a keynote built on lived experience, not theory.
