Meet our winners!

Empower Awards 2023 – Innovation, Community & Individual Winners

After some incredibly fierce competition, we’re thrilled to announce the winners of this year’s Empower Awards! We have 12 winners in total – 4 brilliant organisations across our Innovation and Community categories, and 8 worthy individuals.

In particular, we’re thrilled to announce Vacayit has taken home the first prize in our Innovation category. Upon finding out, Founder and CEO, Hailey Brown, said:

Wow, this is such a wonderful surprise! We would be honoured to accept this prize, and both the team and I are incredibly grateful for this opportunity. 

You will definitely be supporting our future work in a large way, not a small way, so I cannot express how thankful we are. What an incredible initiative.

Scroll down to learn more about each of our amazing winners and keep an eye out for our 2024 Empower Awards launching in the new year!

Innovation

First Prize: Vacayit

Tourism marketing and experiences are predominantly visual. For the 253 million blind and low-vision tourists globally, this can make it hard to make informed and independent decisions before and during travel. 

The Vacayit app is revolutionising the travel experience by offering sensory audio guides, and accurate accessibility information. In partnership with Destinations Marketing organisations, tourism operators, hotels, and events, Vacayit has curated over 700 stories across 30 regions in Australia that have been enjoyed over 200,000 times. 

Initially targeting blind and low-vision users, they now serve a broader audience, including people with various disabilities who require accurate accessibility information, and those on the autism spectrum who use sensory guides. They take pride in co-designing their platform for accessibility and aspire to make the world fully audio-described so everyone can have their dream holiday

Second Prize: SignHow

SignHow is an accessible all-in-one global sign language dictionary to hold over 300 different sign languages that exists around the world. SignHow is building the Australia's largest deaf community sign language dictionary by collaborating with deaf people in local communities who are fluent in any sign language. Deaf people represented on SignHow are from all ages, backgrounds, genders and locations. 

SignHow believes in the importance of showing signs in their natural form signed by Deaf communities. There are over 300 different sign languages worldwide, including deafblind and indigenous sign languages. Sign languages also vary from one country to another, with some being recognised as community languages such as Auslan (Australian sign language), while others may have stronger recognition like NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language).

Co-founder of SignHow, Sophie Li was born profoundly deaf and lives in Australia. She is fluent in both Auslan (Australian sign language) and English (spoken and written) and wears two cochlear implants to provide some hearing. Her journey to learning Auslan was often inaccessible online and in person. However, once she became fluent in Auslan, she realised the huge benefits in being part of the deaf community sharing the beautiful sign language.

Sophie formed the company with her business partner, Nikhil Bora, also deaf, to bridge the access for deaf communities to access their own language, anywhere in the world.

Community

Winner: Tibi Access

Tibi Access has been created to change the landscape of live music, events and venues. At the core of Tibi is a spirit of inclusivity and a will to open up gigs and events of all sizes to everyone. Together we will improve the recognition and removal of barriers faced by people with disabilities.​

Tibi is an access consultancy specifically for live music and events. We have worked on events from BIGSOUND festival to Midsumma Festival and everything in between! Not only do we provide a consultancy service but also run workshops for industry professionals and students!

Tibi Access founder and Groove Tunes event manager, Dina Bassile is a passionate advocate for inclusivity and accessibility in the music industry As a person who uses a wheelchair, Dina has lived experience of the Australian music industry’s gaps in accessibility, and created Tibi Access as a necessary means to change the landscape of live music, events and venues for the better.

At the core of Tibi is a spirit of inclusivity and a will to open up gigs and events of all sizes to everyone. Tibi does this by recognising and removing barriers faced by people with disabilities. Her work in the industry is vital, and was recently recognised at the Australian Women In Music Awards when she won the inaugural Tina Arena Special Impact award

Winner: Youth Disability Advocacy Service

The Young Leaders Program is a leadership program delivered by Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS) for young Victorians who identify as having a disability. We run workshops on topics including self-discovery, teamwork and communication, advocacy and inclusion, and planning for future goals. Our workshops feature experts on each of the topics who also have lived experience of disability. We’ve had 164 graduates since 2019 and our graduates have had a combined total of over 500 success stories.  

YDAS is an advocacy organisation that works with disabled young people aged between 12 - 25 living in Victoria. We have a free advocacy service and programs that help young people be able to speak up for themselves and others. YDAS is a core agency of Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic). YDAS was established in 2006 and is funded by the Victorian Government. 

Individual

Eight individual beneficiaries

Finally, we’re thrilled to be supporting 8 winners in our Individual category by funding a range of activities, initiatives and equipment. In particular, we’re supporting disabled Australians between the ages of 4 and 70 to get back to work, to commence new education courses, to undertake physiotherapy and rehabilitation and to purchase key equipment for personal and professional ambitions.

About the Empower Awards

In 2020, Wheels in Motion launched the inaugural Empower Awards to shine a light on organisations making an impact in the disability space.

Our inaugural winners, Bump’N (formally Handi), received $20k and used these funds to launch their first prototype for an accessible, hands free sexual pleasure product.

In 2021, the Empower Awards were another success with Maslow & Spendable, two up and coming disability tech platforms, receiving $25,000 & $10,000 respectably to scale their projects.

In 2022, the Empower Awards were paused to allow for some much needed reflection and revision and we’re thrilled to announce this new iteration in 2023!

What is Wheels in Motion?

Wheels in Motion is a Melbourne-based disability non-profit empowering disabled Australians to enjoy greater social inclusion, equality of opportunity and quality of life.

Through our community and activities, we change perceptions of disability by breaking down old-fashioned & outdated stereotypes. We also raise funds to help those in financial need to afford essential equipment and services.

Since 2015, we’ve raised more than $350,000 to help disabled Australians live more empowered & independent lives. Thank you to everyone who has helped, supported & donated to us along the way.

Find out more about Wheels in Motion here, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.