CTA Foundation News By Steve Ewell ● Feb 20, 2026 Smart Brevity® count: 1.5 mins…446 words The CTA Foundation celebrated an impactful CES 2026, highlighting innovation in accessibility and the power of collaboration. CES provided an incredible platform to bring together industry leaders, partners and innovators committed to advancing accessibility. From assistive technologies to the debut of the Accessibility Stage powered by Verizon, the show featured cutting-edge advancements that empower people of all abilities and reinforced the Foundation’s commitment to creating a more accessible and inclusive future. Keep reading to learn more about: The inaugural Accessibility Stage’s impact at CES. Accessibility innovation programming and events highlighted at CES. And more. As always, thanks for your support.

Inaugural Accessibility Stage Elevated Accessibility at CES The CTA Foundation debuted CES’s first-ever dedicated Accessibility Stage powered by Verizon Accessibility, with accessibility services provided by Microsoft and Aura cast broadcast audio provided by Bluetooth SIG. Located in a high-traffic area of The Venetian Convention Center, the stage featured three full days of programming and quickly became a central hub for accessibility at CES. The stage welcomed strong engagement from attendees throughout the week, bringing together industry leaders, nonprofits and innovators to share insights and showcase technologies improving independence and quality of life. Why it matters: The debut of the Accessibility Stage marked a major milestone for CES, elevating accessibility as a visible and essential part of the global technology conversation.

CES 2026 Programming and Events Highlighted Accessibility Innovation CES 2026 brought together leaders advancing accessibility through the CTA Foundation. The CTA Foundation Accessibility Roundtable, presented by Salesforce, welcomed 180 attendees, while the Accessibility & AgeTech Reception gathered over 350 guests, highlighting strong engagement and collaboration across the accessibility and AgeTech ecosystem. At the Foundation’s annual Pitch Competition, presented by Next50, .lumen received the Grand Prize and Judge’s Choice Award for its AI-powered navigation solution supporting people who are blind or have low vision. Cairns Health earned the Runner-Up Award for its AI-driven digital care companion, while EverEx received the Audience Choice Award. HapWare was named the 2026 Health Challenge winner, Lotus was recognized as the runner up, and ONSCREEN, Inc. received the John and Jane Shalam Award. The Foundation also hosted Accessibility Media and Funders Tours and highlighted startups through the Eureka Park Accessibility Contest, showcasing innovative accessibility solutions across CES.

Thank You to Our CES 2026 Sponsors and Partners The CTA Foundation extends its sincere thanks to our partners who helped elevate accessibility across CES and made these important conversations and opportunities possible.

Welcoming New Trustees to the CTA Foundation The CTA Foundation is pleased to welcome Jim Braun of Dual Electronics and Sarah Thomas of Delight by Design and AgeTech Capital to its Board of Trustees. Their leadership and expertise will help strengthen the Foundation’s work and expand its impact in advancing accessibility and aging technology.

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Paul Kent shares his Good News and moves forward positively

Listen to “CES 2026 CTA, Consumer Technology Association, the nonprofit arm of CES, Executive Director Steve Ewell and Members share Good News” on Spreaker.
Michelle’s Robotic Company that she works for delivering food with Door Dash

Listen to “CES 2026 CTA, Consumer Technology Association, the nonprofit arm of CES, Executive Director Steve Ewell and Members share Good News” on Spreaker.
SMART GLASSES AND James that help him see…

Listen to “CES 2026 CTA, Consumer Technology Association, the nonprofit arm of CES, Executive Director Steve Ewell and Members share Good News” on Spreaker.
TONY Le from Google Shares his Good News

Listen to “CES 2026 CTA, Consumer Technology Association, the nonprofit arm of CES, Executive Director Steve Ewell and Members share Good News” on Spreaker.

#SteveEwell #CES2026 #CTA #Technology

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CTA Foundation Executive Director Steve Ewell has been on the move this month, meeting with leaders across the aging and accessibility tech landscape. From national conferences to local events, these conversations are key to strengthening our partnerships and deepening our involvement.

Just last week, Steve joined Verizon’s ADA anniversary event at Civic Hall in New York City, celebrating 35 years of progress at the intersection of people and technology.

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In 2023, the Foundation awarded grants to 17 nonprofits and universities to support their efforts to solve accessibility and aging challenges. We were also able to add a new roundtable, hosted in Washington, DC during National Disability Employment month to advance the conversation on accessible employment. All of this work is thanks to the generosity of individual donors like you, and industry sponsors.

With just a few minutes of your time, you can, make your donation securely online so our work can continue into 2024.   

Your gift will join the collective generosity of all our donors to ensure 2024 sees continued gains in making this world more accessible for all. In addition to our existing programs, the Foundation plans to expand our efforts next year to include a Hackathon targeting accessible solutions for digital healthcare, and a unique partnership to deliver connection to at-risk senior communities using virtual reality. We can’t do any of this without you.     

I hope you will consider being a partner in our work once again. We have several options for giving, including the ability to give tribute gifts, or break your giving into bite-sized chunks through our Capacitor Society.   

Happy New Year,

Stephen Ewell
Executive Director, CTA Foundation
Consumer Technology Association

#steveewell #ctafoundation #cta #ces #tech #healthcare #disabilities #seniors #virtualreality

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Steve Ewell is the executive director of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Foundation, a charitable foundation with the mission of linking seniors and people with disabilities with technology that can enhance their lives. He joined the CTA Foundation in January 2012 and is the first person to hold this position. We also interview Walter Alcorn, VP Environmental Affairs and Industry Sustainability about their good work.

Prior to joining the CTA Foundation he served in other nonprofit leadership roles. He was managing director of the InfraGard National Members Alliance (INMA), a public private partnership with the FBI focused on promoting and developing critical infrastructure protection, with 86 chapters and more than 40,000 members.

While at Business Executives for National Security (BENS), Steve served as the director of the Metro Washington, DC region where he built the membership in DC, Maryland and Virginia into one of the largest and most active regions in the organization through a wide variety of policy engagements and programs.

Steve graduated cum laude from Drew University with a Bachelors of Arts and earned his MBA and Masters in information and telecommunications systems from Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School. He serves on the Board of Directors of Grantmakers in Aging and the Washington Cyber Roundtable. In 2014 he was selected by Dealerscope Magazine as one of their Top 40 under 40. He lives with his wife, Kelly, in Leesburg, VA.

Investing in Las Vegas: Consumer Technology Association Announces Sustainability, Education Partnerships with CES Host Community
Sustainability grants for Green our Planet, Touro University; EverFi partnership will benefit Clark County schools

Las Vegas, NV, January 5th, 2016 – The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) – formerly the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® – today announced its continued support of the Las Vegas community through a new partnership with education technology company EverFi, and donations for sustainability projects in Las Vegas and the surrounding community. This marks the eighth consecutive year that CTA – owner and producer of CES®, the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies – has given sustainability grants to the greater Las Vegas community.

“Las Vegas has been an amazing and gracious host to CES for nearly four decades. In turn, our commitment to the local community remains strong,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, Consumer Technology Association. “In addition to our grants that help advance clean energy and greener living in the area, our exciting new partnership with EverFi will build an educational platform on which we can further invest in the home city of CES and hopefully inspire and support the community’s future innovators and entrepreneurs.”

“The city’s partnership with CES continues to be an amazing benefit to the community,” said Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman. “The annual CES show is so exciting and having it in fabulous Las Vegas only heightens that excitement. We look forward to many more years or working together to build the Las Vegas community and to put on the world’s top electronics show.”

CTA announced the following grants to benefit Las Vegas area organizations, schools and students:

• EverFi’s “Future Innovators” program in Clark County schools ($76,000): The program teaches high school students important business skills and inspires their entrepreneurial spirits. Students develop their own personalized plans for business, along with a roadmap for academic and career success.

• Green Our Planet’s Outdoor Garden Classroom ($14,000): This signature program integrates school gardens into the education curriculum and helps students raise test scores, learn about healthy eating and lifestyles, combat obesity and foster a greater respect for nature and the environment. CTA’s 2015 grant to Green Our Planet led to the installation of 14 outdoor garden classrooms, reaching over 10,000 local students.

• Touro University Nevada’s electric vehicle (EV) charging system ($10,000): This grant will help fund one EV charging station for the school’s Las Vegas campus. Last year, CTA provided Touro University with a grant to upgrade the exterior lighting fixtures on campus from fluorescent bulbs to energy-saving LED lights.

EverFi is an education technology company that helps students develop critical career skills through an on-the-ground education network in over 12,000 K-12 schools. CTA’s newly announced “Future Innovators” program, powered by EverFi’s digital learning course Venture – Entrepreneurial ExpeditionTM, provides an interactive learning experience to help guide Clark County school district students through their personal journey to become entrepreneurs. The course is designed to inspire the next generation of business leaders and expose students to important entrepreneurial skills that encourage future success in any career.

“Now more than ever, students need to be exposed to important entrepreneurial skills like innovative thinking, problem solving and real-world experiences that can encourage success in any career,” said Tom Davidson, CEO and co-founder, EverFi. “We are thrilled to partner with CTA to help build the next generation of business leaders in Las Vegas and beyond.”

“Touro University Nevada is pleased to receive support again this year from CTA,” said former Nevada Congresswoman and Touro CEO and Senior Provost Shelley Berkley. “Touro is committed to green initiatives that improve our services to students while also positively lowering our carbon footprint. The support from CTA will enable us to further this commitment to our students, faculty, staff and the community through the installation of an EV charging station on campus.”

“We are both honored and delighted to be the recipient for the second time of a CTA sustainability grant,” said Kim MacQuarrie, Co-CEO of Green Our Planet. “CTA has been a real force in helping us carry out our mission of building Outdoor Garden Classrooms in K-12 schools so that students can learn about STEM, conservation, and nutrition subjects more effectively.”

CTA has for years supported sustainability efforts in the Las Vegas community through various green grants. Previous fund recipients have included the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for their DesertSol project, Green Chips for installing a solar energy system at Opportunity Village’s Magical Forest and the Las Vegas Convention Center for an electric vehicle charging station. Also, CTA helped fund a solar power system for the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.

In addition to financial donations, the Consumer Technology Association works with the show’s general contractor and vendors to make the production of CES more sustainable. In 2015, CES general contractor Freeman recycled nearly half a million square feet of carpet while reusing the rest, and over 20,000 square feet of magnetic banners were recycled to produce new magnetic materials. Additionally, all CES Press Rooms operate with paperless press kits, saving an estimated 2.5 million pages of printed paper.

CES represents the entire technology ecosystem, bringing together all major industries from around the globe and providing an opportunity to conduct business under one roof. CES attendees travel from 150 countries, and collectively avoid more than 3.5 million miles in business trips that they otherwise would have to take if not for the show. In 2015, CES attendees participated in an average of 33 meetings while at the show. On average, 80 percent of those meetings would not have occurred otherwise.

For more information on CES’s sustainability practices and programs supportive to the Las Vegas community please visit CESweb.org/green.

About Consumer Technology Association:
Consumer Technology Association (CTA)TM, formerly Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, is the trade association representing the $287 billion U.S. consumer technology industry. More than 2,200 companies – 80 percent are small businesses and startups; others are among the world’s best known brands – enjoy the benefits of CTA membership including policy advocacy, market research, technical education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CTA also owns and produces CES® – the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technology. Profits from CES are reinvested into CTA’s industry services.

About CES:
CES is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technology. It has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for almost 50 years—the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. As the largest hands-on event of its kind, CES features all aspects of the industry. And because it is owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)TM – formerly the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® – the technology trade association representing the $285 billion U.S. consumer technology industry, it attracts the world’s business leaders and pioneering thinkers to a forum where the industry’s most relevant issues are addressed. Check out CES video highlights. Follow CES online at www.CESweb.org and on social.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• CES 2016 – Register
January 6-9, Las Vegas, NV
• Winter Break
March 21-24, Park City, UT
• Technology & Standards Spring Forum
April 4-8, San Diego, CA
• CES on the Hill
April 19, Washington, DC

• Digital Patriots Dinner
April 20, Washington, DC
• CES Asia 2016
May 11-13, Shanghai, China
• CEO Summit
June 21-24, Tel Aviv, Israel
• Innovate!
September 20-22, San Jose, CA
• CES 2017
January 5-8, Las Vegas, NV

#aarp #ces #consumer #technology #association #ibm #internet #frances #west #chief #accessibility #steve #ewell #executive #director #cta #foundation #disabilities #ginni #rometty #chairman #ceo #future #cognitive #operate #power #terry #bradwell #robin #raskin #walter #alcorn #environmental #affairs #sustainability #industry

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With over 25 years of domestic and international experience in information technology development, delivery and management, he has held a number of senior leadership positions. As AARP’s Chief Information Officer, he transformed the IT organization from a “cost center” to a “value center,” running IT like a business and stimulating innovation across the enterprise and closing the gap in digital literacy for the 50+.
Prior to joining AARP, he worked as a principal for IBM’s Media and Entertainment practice, with a primary focus of turning around troubled IT projects and corporate change management initiatives. Previously, he served as solution delivery executive for Gaming-Technologies Corporation (G-Tech), leading the implementation of Online Lottery Systems (OLS) in 5 states, as well as national lotteries in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Chile, Brazil, Australia, Taiwan and Finland. Prior to G-Tech, he resided in Amsterdam and served as Intergraph Corporation’s technology liaison for their European sales and manufacturing operations.

He holds a BS degree in computer information systems from Florida A&M University that he earned while on a full athletic scholarship. His primary residence is in Miami. He is an accomplished musician, composer and music producer. He performs with and develops talented musicians in the Miami area.
http://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/executive-team/hollis-terry-bradwell/

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#aarp #ces #consumer #technology #association #ibm #internet #frances #west #chief #accessibility #steve #ewell #executive #director #cta #foundation #disabilities #ginni #rometty #chairman #ceo #future #cognitive #operate #power #terry #bradwell #robin #raskin

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Shapiro opened IBM’s keynote by announcing a research partnership between the CTA Foundation and IBM to study how cognitive computing will transform our lives as we age and transform the lives of those living with disabilities.

We hear from Frances West, Chief Accessibility Officer, IBM
In this role, Frances works to establish IT accessibility standards, shape government policies, and develop human-centric technology and industry solutions that not only create an inclusive workplace environment but are designed to personalize the user experience so that all people reach their highest potential in work and life.
In addition to advising clients on best practices in accessibility, Frances ensures IBM is placing accessibility at the center of design and development to improve everyone’s information consumption patterns, including people with disabilities, the aging population, novice technology users, people with language, learning and literacy challenges, or any individual facing situational challenges while using a device.
Since joining IBM Research to lead the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center, Frances has become a globally-recognized expert in enabling human ability through accessible information and communications technology (ICT). She has worked to reshape the perception, definition, and value proposition of accessibility to be relevant to all people, all situations and at all times. She has served on the Board of Directors for numerous advocacy organizations, including the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Assistive Technology Industry Association and the U.S. Business Leadership Network. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the World Institute on Disability, is the board advisor to the National Business & Disability Council, and is a Founding Member and Program Co-Chair of G3ict, an advocacy initiative launched by the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and development in 2006.
Frances has become a sought-after authority on the topic of global ICT accessibility trends and enablement. In 2010, she delivered remarks at policy forums hosted by the United Nation’s Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communications Technologies; a U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy roundtable; and an international forum hosted by the São Paulo State Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Brazil. She has also testified on behalf of the IT industry to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in support of the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Since joining IBM, Frances has held numerous management positions across the IBM sales and marketing organizations, including the Business Unit Executive of the Banking, Financial Services, Securities and Insurance Unit for the IBM Greater China Group, and the Director of Financial Services Sector Solutions for IBM Global Services, where she managed investment funding and executed financial services solution plans for banking, insurance and financial markets. Frances was also director of Channels, Alliances and Business Development for IBM Lotus Software, where she recruited and managed IBM’s global network of Business Partners specializing in Lotus software.
Frances attended the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Washington & Lee University in Virginia and graduated with a marketing degree from the University of Kentucky. In 2011, she received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

#aarp #ces #consumer #technology #association #ibm #internet #frances #west #chief #accessibility #steve #ewell #executive #director #cta #foundation #disabilities #ginni #rometty #chairman #ceo #future #cognitive #operate #power #terry #bradwell #robin #raskin

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