We provide consulting and training services to increase accessibility for people with disabilities.
Meet the Founding Team
Ron Brooks
In 1981, Ron Brooks was a teenager with poor eyesight, growing up in a working class family living in Muncie, Indiana. One Fall day, he was hit in the face by a basketball during a pick-up game with friends. Within twelve hours, he was completely blind.
Ron learned how to read, write, how to navigate the community as a blind person and how to take buses and trains on his own. He graduated from Indiana University. In 1993, he followed his growing passion for public transit into an entry-level planning position with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District in Oakland, CA. Since that time, Ron has spent 27 years working in the public transit industry for both public agencies and private companies, all focused on improving transportation for seniors and people with disabilities. In 2019, Ron joined American Logistics, where he is leading the company’s efforts to introduce on-demand transportation that offers the potential for reduced transportation costs for agencies and taxpayers as well as increased freedom and flexibility for customers. Ron is also heavily involved in a number of transit industry associations and committees, a frequent speaker at industry events around the country, and a regular contributor to numerous industry publications.
In his off time, Ron serves as a Board member for Ability360, one of the largest centers for independent living in the country, and he remains heavily involved within the American Council of the Blind and other disability community advocacy organizations.
Ron’s life purpose is to transform mobility for people with disabilities, and he attributes his entire career to his experiences as a blind pedestrian and to his love of travel.
“When I was a little boy, I wanted to go to the Moon or become a pilot,” says Ron. “I always thought that my career in public transportation was sort of accidental, but now I know better. Back then, when I was dreaming of the Moon and the stars, I wanted to go places and pave the way for others. As it turns out, that’s what I was doing every day working in the transit industry. And Accessible Avenue will be a resource for agencies and organizations who want to make sure that all people, including those who have disabilities, can make those exciting journeys together.”
Lisa Brooks
Lisa Brooks is a lifelong learner, a person who actually reads instruction manuals before starting a project or using a new technology, and she loves words and the ideas they convey.
A native Californian, Lisa holds an associate degree in Psychology from Palm Beach Community College in Lake Worth, FL. Since that time she has worked as an assistive technology trainer, a professional researcher and as an audio transcriber where she transforms spoken words into written form where they can be archived and repurposed for everything from blogposts to articles and books.
As an audio transcriber, Lisa is also creating accessibility for people with disabilities including blind people who need content in an accessible electronic or braille format and for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and who consume text rather than sounds. “My mom was deaf,” shares Lisa. “She read lips, but even on a good day, the average lip reader can only get about 70% of the speaker’s meaning, so watching TV was tough for her. I can still remember the day we got closed captions for our TV. It was her birthday, and it transformed her life. She could finally watch her favorite shows and know exactly what was being said. Watching how closed captions impacted my mom changed my life. It showed me how I can create clarity for people who need or want access to the written word—whether in print or braille. And I also get the chance to learn from every lecture, every interview, every workshop and every document I transcribe. Talk about a win-win!”
In addition to transcribing the words of others, Lisa is pretty good at writing words of her own. She was awarded the Ned E. Freeman Excellence in Writing Award by the American Council of the Blind in 2010, and she is a regular contributor on social media. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, practicing the piano and baking, something for which she is known and celebrated by her friends and family.