Ali Ingersoll

About Ali Ingersoll

I’m the Energizer Bunny on Wheels 2.0 — a globally recognized keynote speaker, author, former Ms. Wheelchair America, and corporate consultant who blends applied neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and dark humor into leadership conversations that people actually remember.My life rerouted in 2010 after a shallow-water dive broke my neck and left me a C6 quadriplegic. Seven years of hospitals, complications big enough to fill their own Netflix category, and a move to China for life-saving spinal surgery taught me the one truth I now bring to every stage and company: you can turn paralysis of any kind — physical, organizational, emotional, strategic — into power, if you understand how the brain responds to challenge.Today I speak to organizations across the world on the science of persistence, progress, belonging, and decision-making. My work connects lived experience with research-backed tools — from neuroplasticity to cognitive biases to the brain’s obsession with micro-wins — to help teams move from stuck to unstoppable. People describe my style as “equal parts neuroscience, storytelling, and comedy you shouldn’t laugh at but will anyway.”I consult with companies on patient advocacy, purpose-led communication, and business storytelling that resonates across departments and cultures. Executives bring me in when they want someone who can translate complex human behavior into practical action — or when they want a keynote that won’t feel like a keynote.My approach is grounded in evidence: the brain changes fastest through connection, curiosity, and repeated small wins. High performance isn’t built on motivation; it’s built on systems that support it. And belonging isn’t a feeling — it’s a neurological state that directly impacts problem-solving, innovation, and trust.I grew up internationally, survived wilderness expeditions in Australia, navigated China alone in my teens, and rebuilt my life after spinal cord injury. Adapt, overcome, and thrive isn’t a slogan for me — it’s a method.When I’m not onstage or consulting, I serve on nonprofit boards, advance health equity through advocacy and policy work, and support disability-forward innovation that helps people build lives they’re proud of.If you’re looking for someone who brings data, story, humor, strategy, and the kind of perspective you only get from rebuilding your entire life from zero… I’m your person. If you want predictable? That’s not me. But if you want human, honest, and impossible to forget — let’s talk.

Experience

1. Global Head of Community

   Open Inclusion

   Jan 2022 — Present · Raleigh, NC, US

   I\'m incredibly honored to consult with such an amazing inclusive research, insight, and design agency based in the UK and operating globally. Open has been built with, for and by people with disabilities. For more than 20 years Open has been amplifying the voices of the diverse insight pan- disability community by informing leading brands of their diverse consumer needs, preferences and priorities, to help create solutions that are desired by people with disabilities, and generally better for all.Open has probably built deep relationships with many global and national brands to help them better serve the disability community by providing more consistently delightful customer experiences that better reflect human differences.I am working towards expanding Open Inclusion Globally through effectively developing valuable strong mutual relationships with individuals, businesses, and NGO\'s. This, in turn, generates opportunities to those with valuable lived experiences to work, get involved in inclusive innovation initiatives, and engage in paid research opportunities. These support the community to help businesses better serve customers with disabilities and grow the inclusive capability of their organizations.Specifically, I am also in charge of running a global initiative with a major online freelance platform to work with individuals with disabilities to gain meaningful employment.

Education

• University of Miami Herbert Business School

  Bachelor of Business Administration - BBA, Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies

  2003 — 2006