Happy Birthday LCI: A Timeline of LaVant Consulting History
November 18th is LaVant Consulting, Inc’s birthday! This year we celebrate four great years of supporting brands’ efforts to “speak disability with confidence.” To mark the occasion, we take you through a timeline of LaVant Consulting’s history to date!
2018
Andraéa LaVant started a communications firm, bringing 11 years of disability advocacy, program development, and public relations experience in D.C., and a handful of consulting projects with her. Her desire was to address disability-related fears and stigma within industries, including non-profit, philanthropy and corporate sectors by supporting their content development and marketing efforts. With the start of the firm, Andraéa also left her fast-paced, east coast lifestyle and moved to the desert warmth and slower pace of Tempe, AZ.
2019
Andraéa began building a client base, working with firms and organizations such as Concepts Communications, the National Business & Disability Council at the Viscardi Center, Getting Hired, WITH Foundation and more. She traveled to Ghana for 10 days to lead an Inclusivity training for 12 exchange program alums with and without disabilities from around the world. She also established a website and traveled to the Bay Area to network with like-minded people, including the late Stacey Park Milbern.
2020
The firm expanded from a solo-preneurship to a larger team with the launch of the Crip Camp Impact Campaign, heralded as one of the most successful impact campaigns of all time, produced by LCI. In the earliest days of the campaign, LCI mourned the loss of our dear friend and colleague Stacey Park Milbern. Crip Camp presented countless opportunities to begin new partnerships, including Google Brand Studio and Adobe. The work of the impact campaign was covered in Rolling Stone, Pop Culture Collab, and NBC Blk.
2021
With the word of Crip Camp’s success spreading, so did LCI’s client base. In addition to making a splash as the first wheelchair user and service dog on the red carpet at the Oscars, LCI began working with Fortune 25 companies within tech to consult on strategic advising, product feedback, and content marketing. LCI team members were invited to lead conversations in a variety of spaces, including the Washington Post, Adobe, the International Trademark Association, Association on Higher Education in Disability (AHEAD), and even the White House. A significant amount of impact occurred on collegiate panels, including the University of Oregon, Temple University, University of Arizona, and more. Existing partnerships expanded into new opportunities, such as an initiative with Adobe Stock to co-author thought leadership about disability representation and a partnership with Verizon to develop a tech accelerator program for entrepreneurs with disabilities. We also hosted our inaugural live public event for NDEAM, Unraveling Ableism. Meanwhile, the firm established a mission, core values, and a 10-year plan for growth.
2022
LCI continued to expand to new heights, particularly within the entertainment and tech industries. We collaborated on Google’s All-In disability inclusion initiative and their disability marketing playbook, developed a partnership with Salesforce, and advised entertainment industry clients including Netflix, Amazon Studios, and Blackstar Film Festival. We saw our dear friend Stacey Park Milbern grace the homepage of Google with a Google Doodle. Furthermore, we assisted Pop Up Magazine in taking their fall tour’s accessibility to the next level, partnered with The Academy to create the most inclusive Oscars broadcast yet, with ASL interpretation with Deaf interpreters, and facilitated ADCOLOR conference’s ASL interpreter team. In addition, the LCI hub transitioned from Arizona to Los Angeles, CA to better support our client base.
What a whirlwind four years it’s been! We are so proud and grateful to be doing this work and shaping the way the world reaches, views, and values people with disabilities.
