In a press release, Comcast NBCUniversal and 2Gether-International (2GI) announced on Tuesday the extension of their partnership that sees the former funneling over $1.5 million to the latter to sustain its work into 2025. The money will help “equip disabled startup founders with the tools and resources they need for their companies to be leaders in their respective industries” in addition to “[furthering] 2GI’s efforts to recruit and serve more people specifically with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout all their programs and initiatives.”
2GI is a 501c3 nonprofit and startup accelerator operated by and for entrepreneurs with disabilities. On its website, the organization, who lists the Small Business Association and Capital One as partners, states its raison d'être is to “flip the disability narrative” by “[supporting] disabled founders by connecting them with the resources they need to create thriving high growth, high impact startups [and] challenging the entrepreneurial ecosystem at large to flip the narrative, and see disability as a competitive advantage for businesses.”
In a recent interview with me ahead of today’s announcement, 2GI founder and chief executive officer Diego Mariscal, who has cerebral palsy, explained the organization is the largest accelerator of its kind for the disability community that especially focuses on “high growth and high impact startups.” 2GI, he added, provides a slew of services to aspiring entrepreneurs, including mentorship and an apprenticeship program. The organization’s work puts universal design and accessibility “at the forefront,” with the overarching goal of removing barriers for disabled people looking to get involved with the startup scene. According to Mariscal, conventional accelerators often are inaccessible and inconsiderate of the needs of people with disabilities.
This disparity makes the ongoing partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal highly significant. Mariscal said he considers the media conglomerate a partner “holistically supporting” 2GI, saying “it sets the stage for us to be able to support the ecosystem at large, rather than one specific program, and it allows us to pivot and take risks and innovate further as we continue to learn from our work.”
Dalila Wilson-Scott, who serves as executive vice president and chief diversity officer of Comcast Corporation and president of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, expounded on the partnership with 2GI. She said the work of both entities nicely align with Comcast NBCUniversal’s Project UP. The initiative is described on its website as a comprehensive means to “advance digital equity and help build a future of unlimited possibilities” with the power of a $1 billion investment behind it. The Project’s primary objective is to “advance economic mobility, and open doors for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, storytellers, and creators.”
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Scott said Comcast NBCUniversal has “always thought of people with disabilities,” saying a big goal of the company is to not launch projects that didn’t reduce digital equity to merely being conducted on the internet. She acknowledged the internet being the “foundational starting point” to wealth creation, but said there are “many avenues” towards achieving it. Wilson-Scott said her team is “thrilled” to be part of Mariscal and 2GI work in “really taking this asset-based framework to talk about the opportunity and advantages that this [disability] community could bring to the table, as opposed to it feeling like a charity case or something we’re doing for this community but which doesn’t necessarily have a meaningful impact on today’s economy.”
“You can’t think about wealth creation without thinking about entrepreneurship,” Wilson-Scott said. “That applies obviously to all communities, including with people with disabilities. I think what Diego has built is the notion of people recognizing a disability can be a competitive advantage. All entrepreneurs in this space need a program built around cohorts, social capital, as well as financial capital.”
When asked what the Comcast NBCUniversal–2GI collaboration says about the former’s philosophy on diversity and inclusion, Wilson-Scott told me Comcast NBCUniversal is becoming evermore “educated” about different communities through its myriad partnerships and uses those learnings to assess how the company is doing internally to support its diverse workforce. As to disability in particular, Wilson-Scott said Comcast NBCUniversal is cognizant of the fact data readily shows being a disabled person means more barriers in accessing resources, especially online. In the broadest scope, Wilson-Scott said it’s her hope that the big takeaway people get from today’s news is that Comcast NBCUniversal “truly believes in really well thought out relationships with our partners” and that the partnerships like 2GI aren’t one-sided affairs. They involve lots of two-way conversation, with Wilson-Scott saying the company is “truly invested” in what the other party needs and wants.
“We talk about proximate philanthropy all the time… trusting people that are close to the issues [and] impacted by the issues and whom [we] can help come up with better solutions,” Wilson-Scott said of her company’s ethos on giving back. “That’s the way we like to work with our partners. We feel it works well and gets to a better outcome at the end of the day.”
For Mariscal’s part, he said the partnership “speaks to Comcast and their approach to relationship building.” 2GI has other companies with which they partner such as Google and JPMorgan Chase, but Mariscal characterized Comcast NBCUniversal as being “a leader” of the lot. He commended Wilson-Scott and Comcast NBCUniversal’s approach to its philanthropic efforts, saying they’re “doubling down by trusting a leader [and] trusting the movement… going beyond one program, one initiative, and looking at the ecosystem at large.”
"That makes me really proud,” Mariscal said of ComcastNBCUniversal’s investment. “I’m confident this leadership movement will motivate others to start to look at philanthropy in the same way. I do think that’s a way in which we start to make meaningful strides in the space.”
Mariscal was succinct in describing the big picture for the partnership: it exists, he said, to “redefine the way people think about disability.” He noted the socio-economic plight of the disability community at large, saying the majority of people with disabilities are unemployed and live impoverished. The traditional approaches to uplifting the community in this context, through things like workplace development, employment programs, and even the Americans with Disabilities Act, haven’t done much to “meaningfully move the needle forward.” As such, Mariscal and 2GI International are looking at reshaping the long-held narrative; Mariscal and team aspire to redefine “the way people think about disability and make sure that people are looking at disability as a competitive advantage.” Especially in the accelerator and startup space, Mariscal wants people to understand that disability can, again, be a “competitive advantage” in business and in society writ large. The way to do this is for organizations like Comcast NBCUniversal and 2GI to support entrepreneurs who identify as disabled. They want to show the world what disabled people truly are capable of.
Wilson-Scott followed up Mariscal’s comments with effusive praise for him and his dedication to the cause. She noted Mariscal has an “expansive” network of people to tap into at any given time, adding these are “A+ entrepreneurs” who have raised tens of millions of dollars and have created an innumerable amount of jobs. All told, the work of Mariscal and his team have made “real contributions to the economy,” Scott said. However impressive Mariscal’s rolodex may appear, it’s Wilson-Scott and team’s wish to make it even better; Wilson-Scott told me the disability community represents the “largest underrepresented community” and most people don’t know it. “If we [at Comcast NBCUniversal] can help grow that, and get him in front of different audiences, to really see the potential here,” Wilson-Scott said with excitement, “while people may have heard of the community, there’s a lot of narrative change that needs to happen.”
Both Mariscal and Wilson-Scott shared the vibe around the partnership is positive for both camps. Mariscal keenly noted this is the first partnership in which 2GI is doing organizationally as opposed to one simply sponsoring a single program. In other words, Wilson-Scott and Comcast NBCUniversal is throwing their considerable weight and resources behind Mariscal and all of 2GI. He said the partnership sets a “unique precedent” which he hopes becomes a blueprint for other partners to follow suit. He was keen to reemphasize the gravity of the news and what it symbolizes for the disability community, telling me most in the community live amidst a “scarcity mindset” stemming from dealing with perpetual poverty. Thus, the wholehearted approach by Wilson-Scott and team is more than a significant sum of money; it’s also about Comcast NBCUniversal seeing the potential in a group of people and making a bet they will fulfill it and then some.
For a community used to being pitied, casted away, and ignored, Mariscal said the current situation is “pretty unique” and something he and his team are obviously extremely excited about internally. It’s a strong external signal as well, with Mariscal saying he’s hopeful other partners are watching and doing due diligence in taking good notes.
For Wilson-Scott, the signal she sent me is Comcast NBCUniversal is all-in.
“We’re trying to help create this narrative change externally,” she said. “I think it’s a big signal to our employees that this is a community we care about and we want to make sure people know it goes beyond a token gesture or baseline. There’s so much opportunity in this space, and it’s all about how you think about the opportunity you’ve invested in.”
Looking towards the future, there is optimism brimming from both sides. For her part, Wilson-Scott said she anticipates “different founders and different voices” being brought to the table, with her side being excited at the opportunity to explore “new ways of bringing awareness” to the disability community. Mariscal concurred with the level of excitement, telling me there are lots of plans in the pipeline involving policy, expansion, and more. He likened 2GI work as a “10-year overnight success” insofar as it takes time to grow and build momentum and relationships, but once those are established, it’s full steam ahead.
“It’s great to have Comcast as one of our partners, and we’ll continue to expand our work,” Mariscal said. “The measure of our success is looking at how we change the way people think about disability... that process cuts across employment policy, education, etc. We have a lot of momentum. This is a great signal we’re moving in the right direction, but there’s still a lot more to do and we’re excited to do it together.”
