A new podcast from Powerd Media called Access Granted sees host Emma Myers talk with individuals with a disability about their personal experiences and efforts to affect social and political change.

Emma is the Disability Rights and Political Reporter for the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA), as well as a screenwriter, journalist and public speaker who has lived experience of disability as a woman living with cerebral palsy. The CBAA and Disability Media Australia launched the Powerd Media platform a year ago to amplify the voices and stories of people with disability.

Access Granted guests will include:

• Carly Findlay, an Australian writer, speaker, and online influencer. Findlay describes herself as an ‘appearance activist’, and has been outspoken on a number of disability-related issues
• Khadija Gbla, born in Sierra Leone, came to Australia as a refugee at the age of 13. Now a renowned speaker, human rights activist and compassionate thought leader, Khadija is an anti- female genital mutilation campaigner actively working to eliminate the practice.
• Curtis McGrath OAM, an Australian paracanoeist and former soldier. He took up canoeing competitively after both of his legs were amputated as a result of a mine blast while serving with the Australian Army in Afghanistan.

Carly says in the first episode:

“I’m pretty proud of changing or helping shift the perception of people with skin conditions and facial difference. Particularly in the media, I did You Can’t Ask That a few years ago and talked about what it’s like to have a facial difference and how hard it can be with the discrimination.”

You can listen to Access Granted on Amazon Alexa, iHeart and the Community Radio Plus app, as well as directly on Powerd. New episodes are released weekly. As well as podcasts, Powerd has documentaries, stories from the community, and news articles from Emma Myers, as the CBAA’s dedicated journalist in Canberra.