John Robinson | Our Ability, CEO
John is dedicated to connecting individuals with disabilities towards education and employment through mentoring, workshops, public speaking as well as job placement. Our Ability is the only disability owned and operated business dedicated to building employment opportunities through our job platforms, employment webinars, digital profile system and personal empowerment.
John Robinson
C.E.O. | Our Ability
Our Ability’s CEO, John Robinson is a global thought leader on empowering individuals with disabilities. As the founder of Our Ability, Robinson built a generative AI technology company that creates employment, entrepreneurship, and accessibility opportunities for people with disabilities worldwide.
Over the past 15 years, John has collaborated with organizations such as Microsoft and Syracuse University to develop artificial intelligence pathways that expand employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Our Ability’s proprietary large language models help businesses and job seekers find common ground. In addition, Robinson works with the State University of New York to advance career pathways and digital accessibility initiatives across campuses statewide.
In 2024, John Robinson was named a Professor of Practice at Syracuse University for his leadership in digital accessibility. The Zero Project recognized Our Ability in 2023 as an Innovative Solution. In 2018, Robinson received the Chamber Champion Award for advancing the mission of the Capital Region (NY) Chamber. Earlier, in 2014, he was honored as one of ten national White House Champions of Change for Disability Employment.
Robinson’s story has been featured in the public television documentary Get Off Your Knees: The John Robinson Story, which aired across the United States and internationally. His autobiography of the same title was published by Syracuse University Press in 2009.
Leadership Team
Kartik Sawhney
Senior Manager, Technology and Product
Kartik Sawhney
Senior Manager, Technology and Product | Our Ability
Kartik is a disability advocate and technologist who has not let his disability prove an impediment in the pursuit of his personal and professional goals and has done substantial work in empowering other people with disabilities to be successful tech professionals. As the first blind student to pursue science education in high school in India, he advocated for change in rules that now allow all blind students across the country to pursue sciences in high school. Similarly, after several months of advocacy, he convinced the top technical universities in India to open their doors to blind students, leading to at least fifteen students in India pursuing engineering today.
A computer science graduate of Stanford University, Kartik co-founded Project StemAccess (now I-Stem) that provides technical training, mentorship and hands-on opportunities to blind students across the country, and develops technical solutions to empower them to access educational and employment opportunities. I-Stem also works closely with the government, technical universities and corporates to make their campuses and culture more inclusive, and has worked with nearly 2,000 people with disabilities so far. Before this, he co-founded NextBillion.org, an award-winning global mentorship program for students with disabilities interested in technology that worked with over 1,200 mentees and mentors in 10 countries. As an engineer on the accessibility innovation team at Microsoft, Kartik continues to help identify and develop accessible technologies. Further, given his experience in accessibility and assistive technologies, he serves as an adjunct faculty at the Indian Council of Medical Research, besides serving on boards of several organizations and other high-level committees, such as the Education Commission’s Expert Panel on Technology and Education . His work and views have been published in several journals including UNICEF’s State of the world’s children Report among others.
In recognition of his leadership potential and work, Kartik received the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016 from Her Majesty The Queen. In addition, he has received the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (India’s highest honor for contributions to the disability sector) and was selected as one of the 17 UN young leaders for Sustainable Development Goals 2018 by Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth.
Carrie Krentz
WordPress Developer | Our Ability
Carrie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from the University of Michigan. She has more than 10 years’ experience creating beautiful and user-friendly WordPress websites.
Carrie uses her experience in sales to connect with clients to find web solutions that meet their business objectives and client needs. Guiding clients through the process of creating a new website or a redesign she can make sure the end product will meet your needs from increasing online presence with search engine optimization and google analytics, meeting website accessibility standards or securing your website from hackers.
Her favorite hours are spent as the team manager, driver and general counsel for two girls, one husband and a crazy dog.
Nicole Brownstein
Business Development Director | Our Ability | Contact
As a Business Development Representative at Our Ability, I’m dedicated to helping companies create more inclusive and equitable workplaces. With a strong commitment to disability advocacy, I work with organizations to open real, lasting opportunities for people with disabilities. This mission became personal when I saw my nephew struggle to find employment due to challenges beyond his control—I knew something had to change. Our Ability gives me the platform to be part of that change and make a meaningful daily impact.
“Remove the bias, and see the disABILITY.”
Sarah Christian
Business Development Director | Our Ability | Contact
I am a married elder-millennial mom to three amazing boys and have been in sales for most of my career. Until recently, I lived in Southeastern Wisconsin and just relocated to the Southern California area during covid, which was an adventure. My passion is helping others succeed, whether that be in life or in business, and that’s what drew me to work with Our Ability, Inc. As a salesperson and a mom, I respect the fact that success in life hinges upon making connections and hard work, and John has provided a space for disabled individuals and companies to make those connections to their mutual benefit.
In the past, I have worked at almost every stage of the sales process from coordinator to running my own business, with most of my sales background having been focused on the staffing, healthcare, and banking industries. I’m looking forward to integrating all of these worlds together to help Our Ability, Inc. succeed in increasing outreach.