Kristin Smedley

About Kristin Smedley

Kristin Smedley is a TEDx speaker, award winning author, and trailblazer for the disability community.
Kristin is Co-Founder and CEO of the only patient organization in the world for people living with the rare eye disease that caused her two sons’ blindness, CRB1 LCA/RP. The Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation has raised over 4 million dollars and achieved a National Rare Eye Disease Awareness Day.  That legislation, H.R. #625, was the first in US history to be submitted in Braille and it advocates for better resources for blind and visually impaired Americans.Kristin partnered with Spark Therapeutics to help achieve the first ever FDA approved gene therapy to treat an inherited retinal disease in the United States. She has done a TEDx Talk in New York City to change perceptions of blindness and she partnered with Comcast media to spread awareness of the inclusive X1 product.Kristin is author of the bestselling book Thriving Blind: Stories of Real People Succeeding Without Sight and a new, award winning, inclusive children’s book, What I Can Be Is Up To Me. She is Co-Creator of the short film, The Greatest Equalizer, that was funded by Salesforce.  All of these media harness Kristin’s important message: uncovering ability in disAbility and seeing advantage in disAdvantage.In 2022, Kristin Co-Founded Thriving Blind Academy to solve the illiteracy and unemployment crisis in the blind community. People from six continents attend her programs, coaching, and membership.