Brian Kon, President and CEO of Sterling Frazer Associates, is one of North America's leading experts on accessibility.

Brian's experience and passion is personal as well as professional.  His maternal grandmother lost her vision and was blind for 15 years; his father was partially paralyzed after experiencing strokes when Brian was a child; his mother and paternal grandfather both had Parkinson's Disease; he had an uncle with Cerebral Palsy; and Brian himself is a person living with Tourette Syndrome.

Brian has researched products and services from the user's perspective.  He has developed training tools specifically on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act -- Customer Service Standards; as well as being one of its original authors.   In addition, he has developed evaluation methods for assessing the accessibility of the built environment and has studied under the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Universal Design (School of Architecture, State University of New York at Buffalo) on the principles of Universal Design.

In the Community . . .

Since 2001 Brian has participated on the Niagara Falls Mayor's Accessibility Advisory Committee.  He has performed site audits on new builds in the City of Niagara Falls, reviewing the projects from design phase through to construction on the McBain Community Centre & YMCA, Niagara Falls History Museum, Scotia Bank Convention Centre, and the Niagara Falls Transit Terminal.  In 2008 he trained Municipal staff, including management and Councillors on Customer Service Standards and the City's policies on Customer Service. 

In 2011 the City of Niagara Falls recognized Brian with the Patrick Cummings Award as a member of the community that has helped promote and advance the rights of people with disabilities.  

In 2014 he assisted with the development of new policies and procedures for the City's transit and specialized transit services in compliance with AODA.  In 2015 he audited the outdoor public swimming pools and made recommendations to improve their access for people with disabilities.

Brian is currently entering his third term on the Niagara Region's Accessibility Advisory Committee.  During earlier terms he has worked with the Region of Niagara in the redesign of the Regional Council Chambers and provided training to Regional Councillors and staff on the benefits of Universal Design. 

Brian has continuously proved his commitment to his community over the years.  His past and present connections include being a clinical resource to the Manitoba Lung Association's Easy Breathers Club; Scouts Canada leader for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts; Chair of Rose Cottage Visiting Volunteers (also known as the West Niagara Palliative Care Service); Board Member for AIDS Niagara; Chair of the Niagara Falls Community Health Centre; President of the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls Sunrise; and, Board Member of Heartland Forest -- an accessible nature experience located in the Niagara Region.

Brian has been part of numerous professional organizations in Canada and the United States.

In the fall of 2015 Brian was elected to the Niagara Region Metis Council as a regional councillor and selected as Chair in 2016.  He is on the Aboriginal Education Committee with the District School Board of Niagara and the Catholic School Board.

In 2013 Brian received a Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls Sunrise for his commitment to his community; and in the fall of 2013 received the Head, Hands and Heart Award from Rotary International.

In 2015 Brian was named one of the province's Champions for AODA's 10th anniversary celebration; awarded by the Association of Municipal Clerks & Treasurers (AMCTO).

Professional Life

For twenty years Brian travelled throughout Canada and the United States interviewing people with disabilities, their family members and health care providers as part of two different initiatives in Canada and the United States.  

In Canada, the federal office of Western Economic Diversification (WED) and the Province of Manitoba's Health Industry Development Initiative (HIDI) generated a combined project called the Canadian Aging and Rehabilitation Product Development Corporation (ARCOR).  The $25 million, five-year project addressed issues of aging and disability in the home and community.  Products were designed, patented and the technology was sold to manufacturers/distributers around the globe.  Brian joined the project as the Director of Business Development and subsequently became the General Manager; marketing the program, the technologies and researching the needs of the target population.

Recruited by the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo) Brian joined the newly created Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center's Technology Evaluation and Transfer program -- at the time it was one of 13 centres of excellence created by the US Department of Education under the office of the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research, each center was tasked with enhancing the lives of people with disabilities.  Within a year of joining the team, Brian was appointed President and CEO of the off-shoot corporation AZtech Inc. (A through Z Technology).

AZtech evaluated the market potential of newly designed products and services for people with disabilities for the University of Buffalo's three Centers of Excellence (Technology Transfer, Aging, and Universal Design), as well as for government agencies (including NASA, Department of Education, Department of Defense, Federal Laboratory Consortium, National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Health).  

AZtech's purpose was to research the needs of people with disabilities to identify new opportunities or evaluate new and existing technologies/products from the consumer's perspective.  Both primary and secondary market research were used, but the company was leading edge in consumer involvement where people with disabilities, family members, healthcare providers and retailers were involved through home/clinical trials, interviews, surveys and focus groups. These services were used by corporations throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.  

Brian was the lead researcher among the disability community, as such he was a sought after guest speaker at national and international conferences.  He authored numerous articles published in academic, professional and trade journals, including a recurring column entitled Current Trends for Home Health Care Provider magazine as well as acted as a peer reviewer for the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America's professional journal -- RESNA Journal.

Brian's expertise in the disability community was acknowledged by the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research in 1997 when he was recruited as an independent reviewer to determine which new technologies were worthy of funding from the US Federal Government.  He continues to review grants on their behalf today as well as review applications for university centre's of excellence across the USA.

Brian helped organize and facilitate four international stakeholder conferences that included manufacturers, researchers and consumers from Canada, the USA and Europe.  They have included:  

1. Current Trends (Winnipeg, Manitoba) to review the market opportunities for the aging population; 
2. Wheeled Mobility (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); 
3. Hearing Enhancement (New York, NY); and, 
4. Communication Enhancement - Augmented & Assisted Communication (Buffalo, NY).

Brian has worked with Ontario March of Dimes to create training programs on Customer Service based on the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2001) and developed a train-the-trainer package for staff across the province.  On their behalf, he developed an auditing tool to evaluate the built environment for accessibility of people with disabilities.   These services were provided to municipalities and businesses under his leadership throughout Ontario by Ontario March of Dimes and continues today under March of Dimes Canada.

In 2005 Brian participated on the AODA Customer Service Standards Committee and helped author the Standard that became the first of five Standards under the Act.  Subsequent to working on the AODA, he worked with the Retail Council of Canada to help create an online training tool that would be used across Canada to support retailers in meeting the needs of consumers with disabilities.

Brian continues his career as the lead researcher and consumer advocate on behalf of Sterling Frazer Associates (in addition to his community volunteer activities) working with many clients across a variety of sectors throughout Canada, the United States and around the world.