Mission
AbilityHacks is a passionate community of people with disabilities and volunteers who come together to tackle specific, unmet ability challenges. We're a diverse group of experts, who use adaptive technologies, innovations, and inventions to find solutions that truly make a difference in people's lives.
While assistive solution companies might focus on addressing the needs that have high awareness, large market and substantial profit potential. We at AbilityHacks, understand that there are countless needs out there that often go unmet. That's why our community includes people from different backgrounds and disciplines, who are dedicated to expanding possibilities for people and improving their quality of life.
Our unique approach means that we build a tailor-made team for each challenge, who collaborate independently and draw on the expertise of our entire community when necessary. Our partners are an essential part of our team, and we all take ownership of the challenge and work closely together to create personalized solutions that are useful and ongoing.
Even when our members are not actively working on a team, they are always ready to take on specific challenges and help grow and strengthen our community.
Board Members
Drew McPherson
Andrew “Drew” McPherson is one of three Co-founders and Board Chair. Drew has a passion for creating assistive technology stemming from his own experience of becoming paralyzed in 2006. He was also a co-founder, president and instructor of EnableTech at UC Berkeley. While at Berkeley, Drew earned his BS and MS in mechanical engineering, taught as a lecturer on prosthetics and orthotics and served as a design fellow in the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. He is most passionate about empowering those experiencing disability related limitations to create solutions to live their lives as the wish.
Francisco Peralta
Francisco Peralta serves as a founding member, Vice-chair, and Treasurer. Born with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency (PFFD), Francisco had to undergo amputation at an early age. Despite this, Francisco has used the advancements in assistive technology to not just walk and run, but live a full and active life. His experiences have given him hope that technology will continue to improve, becoming more accessible and affordable for everyone. Francisco received a BA in Cognitive Science with a focus in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, where he co-founded EnableTech and initiated a student-led DeCal program on assistive technology.
Kandea Gandhi
Kandea Gandhi comes to the Board with a professional background that includes social enterprise management in the solar and workforce development sectors. She has a passion for improving assistive tech for people who also have upper-body mobility challenges that affect their use of computing devices. She received her MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University and her BA in African American Studies with a Philosophy Concentration from UCLA.
Kevin Haninger
Kevin grew up loving his sisters (who both have Cystic Fibrosis) and making things. He received a BS, MS, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. His professional experience includes consultancy and development work in rehabilitation, robotics, and home automation. Today, he is motivated to create technology with social impact which serves unmet needs, both personally and by empowering others to make.
What we've done
TEDxOakland | Andrew McPherson
Beyond Physical Limits
EnableTech
Founded by AbilityHacks founders