AAF Seattle

06/02/2026

✨ Update: This event is now free to attend thanks to our friends at our host agency for the evening.

By opening their doors to the community and helping make this event possible, DNA&STONE is demonstrating a commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and advancing our industry through shared learning, dialogue, and connection.

If accessibility, inclusive communications, workplace culture, or creating better experiences for all audiences is important to you, we hope you’ll join us on June 9.

If you’ve been thinking about attending, now is the perfect time to grab your spot.

🎟️ 👉🏼 Link in bio!

05/30/2026

🎤 Meet the Speaker!

Nora Elena Genster (she/her) is the Senior Director of the Employment Transformation Collective (ETC), a division of Northwest Center, where she leads accessibility and disability services that help employers build more inclusive workplaces for disabled employees.

A recognized leader in disability employment and accessibility, Nora has spent her career working at the intersection of disability, economic participation, advocacy, and workplace transformation. Her expertise has been featured by NPR, The New York Times, USA Today, and Inc.com, and she has spoken at conferences around the world on creating better employment outcomes for disabled workers.

Join Nora and our incredible panel of experts for From Compliance to Culture — Meeting accessibility requirements is the floor, not the ceiling.

📅 Tuesday, June 9, 2026
🕠 5:30 PM–7:30 PM
📍 DNA&STONE -

🎟️ Link in bio for tickets or visit www.aafseattle.com

05/29/2026

What if accessibility wasn’t something you checked off at the end of a project? 👏

Join us and for From Compliance to Culture, a conversation exploring how accessibility can become part of the way we think, create, communicate, and lead.

This year’s DEIB event goes beyond regulations and requirements to explore what true inclusion looks like across marketing, communications, workplace culture, digital experiences, and community engagement.

Together, we’ll discuss:
▫️Why compliance is only the starting point
▫️The gap between meeting requirements and creating meaningful experiences
▫️How accessibility impacts creativity, communication, and collaboration
▫️What it takes to build accessibility into organizational culture

Featuring experts across accessibility, communications, digital experience, workplace inclusion, and creative production.

📍 DNA&Stone
📅 Tuesday, June 9, 2026
🕠 5:30–7:30 PM

🎟️ Register via the link in bio

Questions or accommodation requests? DM us!

05/28/2026

🎤 Meet the speakers! - Allexa Laycock (she/they) is the Director of Rooted in Rights, the media advocacy program of Disability Rights Washington. Allexa is a filmmaker and advocate with an expertise in accessible media. Whether producing short form content, storytelling workshops, or long form documentaries, Allexa focuses on stories that challenge dominant narratives. As a disabled q***r filmmaker, Allexa connects with their community in Washington state, nationally, and internationally to platform stories advocating for justice and self determination.

Join us for a conversation around accessibility in “From Compliance to Culture - Meeting accessibility requirements is the floor, not the ceiling.”

Tuesday, June 9, 2026
5:30 PM 7:30 PM
DNA&STONE -

Link in bio for tickets or visit www.aafseattle.com

05/28/2026

🎤 Meet the speakers! - Hailey Paquette is an account director at Quinn Thomas, where she leads strategic communications, and media relations for Oregon Commission for the Blind, Oregon’s vocational rehabilitation agency serving blind and low-vision Oregonians.

Through that work, she supports accessible owned content, social media and communications strategies, while helping navigate the real-world details of inclusive engagement, from digital content and screen reader considerations to in-person meetings, media interviews and public communications.

Join us for a conversation around accessibility in “From Compliance to Culture - Meeting accessibility requirements is the floor, not the ceiling.”

Tuesday, June 9, 2026
5:30 PM 7:30 PM
DNA&STONE -

Link in bio for tickets or visit www.aafseattle.com

05/27/2026

🎤 Meet the speakers! - Warren Kagarise (he/him) is the digital engagement manager for King County, WA. Based in Seattle, he leads efforts to connect the 12th-largest county in the United States with 2.2 million residents via social media and other digital tools.

A former journalist, Warren’s career in public service started in 2013 when he served as communications coordinator for the City of Issaquah, WA.

Warren was named the 2023 Social Media Professional of the Year by the Government Social Media Association. He contributes to the social gov field through training, writing, and speaking engagements, sharing insights on digital communication strategies in the public sector.

Warren is a past member of Nextdoor’s Public Agency Advisory Council, past chair of the Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL) Board of Directors, and past president of the Government Social Media Association (GSMA) Council.

Join us for a conversation around accessibility in “From Compliance to Culture - Meeting accessibility requirements is the floor, not the ceiling.”

Tuesday, June 9, 2026
5:30 PM 7:30 PM
DNA&STONE -

Link in bio for tickets or visit www.aafseattle.com

05/27/2026

🎤 Meet the speakers! - Devon Persing (she/her) has been working as a digital accessibility specialist in Seattle since 2012. Her current focus as an independent consultant and speaker is on helping people to do accessibility work that is more holistic, inclusive, cooperative, and sustainable, which is also the goal of her 2024 book called The Accessibility Operations Guidebook. She has an MS in Information from the University of Michigan and identifies as disabled, chronically ill, and neurodivergent. You can learn more about her work, her book, and access recordings of past talks at dpersing.com.

Join us for a conversation around accessibility in “From Compliance to Culture - Meeting accessibility requirements is the floor, not the ceiling.”

Tuesday, June 9, 2026
5:30 PM 7:30 PM
DNA&STONE -

Link in bio for tickets or visit www.aafseattle.com

05/23/2026

Accessibility is more than a checklist.

Join for From Compliance to Culture — a conversation about what happens when organizations move beyond minimum requirements and start building accessibility into the way they communicate, create, hire, lead, and design experiences.

As part of our annual June DEIB event series, this year’s focus is accessibility and the role it plays in creating more inclusive communities, workplaces, and creative work.

We’ll explore:
• ADA & WCAG basics
• Where compliance falls short
• Accessibility across digital, physical, and workplace experiences
• How accessibility becomes part of culture, not just policy

Featuring speakers working across accessibility, public communications, inclusive workplaces, and digital experience design.

📍 DNA&Stone
📅 Tuesday, June 9, 2026
🕠 5:30–7:30 PM

🎟️ Link in bio

Accessibility accommodations/questions: [email protected]

ADA

05/20/2026

The future of Seattle creative is hungry to learn — and they’re asking the right questions.

AAF Seattle’s Advertising Education Director , had the chance to speak with students at about networking, building relationships, navigating the industry, and what it really takes to break into advertising and design today.

Big takeaway? Students don’t want gatekeeping. They want connection, feedback, mentorship, and community.

If you’re an industry vet, creative leader, or working professional: your experience matters more than you think. A little bit of your time can have a huge impact on the next generation.

Huge thanks to Lori Peck and the SCCA team for the invitation and conversation.

Join us, and be part of the team as we continue creating opportunities for students and creatives across our community.

05/20/2026