Innovation award goes to Karen Hedley
Innovation reaps rewards for ERT founder
It was a super proud moment in December 2025 when our founder Karen Hedley became the 2025 recipient of the National Award for Disability Leadership Innovation award. The award celebrates leaders who achieve ‘outcomes to the status of disabled people by working outside the box, developing new systems, technology or tools.’
The write up in the Award’s page rightly describes Karen as an 'Easy Read specialist, [who] is driving visibility of people with disability through accessible communication. As founder of The Easy Read Toolbox and co-founder of the International Easy Read Community of Practice, she’s transforming how organisations represent and engage disabled people.'
The award, presented by the Disability Leadership Institute looks at leadership ‘…through a disability perspective’ and acknowledges ‘the specific attributes of disability leaders.’ They recognise outstanding achievements by individuals, or disabled people’s organisations, who significantly contribute to advancing the status of disabled people.
The Easy Read Toolbox (the Toolbox) under Karen’s leadership grew from its beginnings in 2021 to demonstrate what can be achieved by embedding inclusive and innovative thinking in everything from hiring practices to the development of tools that help organisations to make their communications accessible to all.
The Toolbox works on the premise that access to information is a human right, not a privilege. Recognising that information is key to living a full life, the Toolbox advocates for language to be used to enable rather than exclude.
The Toolbox provides resources through a variety of options meeting the needs of individuals, business and organisations to match their budget and operational needs. Prices start from $27.50 monthly or $275 annually. Check out the full range of offerings.
Finally, our congratulations to the other amazing award recipients:
- Lesley Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement – Damian Griffis
- Rights Activism – Sarah Langston
- Inclusion – George Ayoub
- Social Impact – Danielle Kutchel
- Change Making – Clare Gibellini and Wayne Herbert
- Arts – Fi Peel
Sources
Disability Leadership Institute | 2025 Recipients – accessed 12 January 2026.
