Honorary Citation by Professor M谩ire Leane for Sin茅ad Burke
A uachtar谩n na hollscoile, a shainsail茅ar, a dhaoine uaisle agus a chairde go l茅ir, is an-on贸ir dom c煤pla focal a r谩 faoi Sin茅ad de Buarca ar an 贸c谩id suntasach seo.
President of UCC, chancellor of the National University of Ireland, graduates, visitors and friends, it is an honour to provide the citation for Sin茅ad Burke for her honorary degree conferring today.
Who is Sin茅ad Burke
Sin茅ad Burke is an Internationally recognised, multi award winning and hugely impactful change maker who is driving industry and cultural transformation in the field of inclusive design, be that in the built environment, in workplace cultures or in product and service development. Her passion for inclusive design is anchored in her own experience as a woman with the genetic condition of Acondraplasia, the most common form of Dwarfism. Standing at 3 foot 5 inches or 105 cms, Sin茅ad continuously experiences exclusionary and disabling design, through which her independence, her choices, her rights, her safety and her dignity, are frequently compromised in everyday activities, like ordering and collecting a drink in a caf茅, trying to reach the lock on the door of a public toilet or very importantly for her, given her lifelong interest in fashion, finding beautiful and age appropriate clothes and shoes to wear. These experiences have fuelled her ambition to make the world more accessible for all disabled and otherwise marginalised people and she has emerged as a global leader, advocating for decision making and design processes which are informed by the lived experiences of people with disabilities, can drive system change and deliver on accessibility solutions.
What Sin茅ad had achieved
A blog series decrying the lack of representation and meaningful inclusion in fashion, provided the jumping off point for Sin茅ad鈥檚 highly influential engagement with the fashion industry. In 2016 she spoke at a 鈥淒esigning for All鈥� Showcase event at The White House, in 2017 she delivered a TED Talk 'Why Design Should Include Everyone' which has over 1.68m views and presented on 鈥楧esigning for Disability鈥� at the Business of Fashion VOICES,鈥痑n鈥痑nnual鈥痝athering鈥痺here leaders鈥痑nd鈥痠nnovators鈥痠n鈥痶he鈥痜ashion industry envision the future of fashion. Her impact on the industry was recognised in 2018 with a prestigious Green Carpet Fashion Award for 'leading a huge transformation in the fashion system and changing the Fashion Conversation for Good'. In the same year she was included in the Business of Fashion鈥檚 500 list and on Vogue鈥檚 list of 鈥� The women shaping Britain and Ireland鈥� and she became a Contributing Editor of British Vogue. The following year Sin茅ad, featured on the cover of the 'Forces for Change' issue of British Vogue and in 2023 she guest edited the May issue of British Vogue, with a theme of 鈥楻eframing Fashion鈥� which was produced by a team of people with disabilities and featured disabled people throughout the magazine, including on the cover. Her commitment to ensuring that 鈥淐hange is a Movement not a Moment鈥� has seen Sin茅ad work with partners to create stronger pipelines for disabled creatives including fully funded scholarships for disabled designers to train at Parsons School of Design in New York, and for disabled writers in Film & TV with the National Talent Academy in Ireland.
Sin茅ad鈥檚 sphere of influence as a change maker in inclusive design has moved far beyond her initial contribution to the fashion industry. In 2020, Sin茅ad founded and is CEO of Tilting the Lens, a global accessibility company providing strategic consultancy and bespoke accessibility solutions to clients on 4 continents and across a range of sectors including business, media, the public sector, the arts, academia, and non-profit sectors. Clients include Chanel, Gucci, ITV, Mattel, Microsoft, NASA, Pinterest, the Ford Foundation, the Victoria & Albert Museum and closer to home, the Irish Public Appointments Service and AIB. Tilting the Lens is B Corporation Certified, has a majority-disabled team whose work ranges from creating more accessible public spaces (like companies, shops, film sets, hotels and nightclubs, galleries, and playgrounds), to advising on the changes in recruitment, workflows, and workplace culture which will set disabled employees up for success. The work of Tilting the Lens is informed by human-centred design principles and in particular, a commitment to understanding user needs and expectations, to meaningfully engaging with the disabled community, and to co-designing accessibility solutions which leave no one behind. Significantly, Sin茅ad and her team view the work of accessibility as a dynamic and iterative process and not a one size fits all, moment in time solution.
In addition to running Tilting the Lens Sin茅ad makes extensive contributions to global fora. She delivered a Keynote address on 'Designing for Everyone' at the Davos World Economic Forum and was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. At the United Nations Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, she spoke about 鈥淚nfrastructure for a resilient, inclusive and sustainable future鈥� and shared insights on the design of鈥痙isability-inclusive strategies in climate emergencies. At national level she affects change and raises awareness through her membership of the Irish Council of State and the Irish Future of Media Commission and through her podcast 鈥楢s Me with Sin茅ad Burke鈥� for Lemonada Media, and her award-winning children鈥檚 book 鈥楤reak the Mould鈥�. Break the Mould invites children to think about the power of being different, to use their voices to be allies to others, to break the mould and to find their place in the world. And this is what Sin茅ad herself continues to do as a mission-driven advocate, promoting the pursuit of inclusion in a meaningful way, characterised by co-design with people with disabilities and committed to accessibility solutions which promote dignity, equity, agency, innovation, and pride. Being a disruptor, a pathfinder, an advocate, an activist and indeed a fashionista, is demanding. I salute Sin茅ad for the huge generosity of spirit which fuels her work, work done with a wry sense of humour and a great deal of style and work which is breaking the mould and indeed redesigning it for the benefit of all.