September 15, 2025 • 44 mins
In this inspiring episode of Investing in Accessibility, hosts Kelvin Crosby and Chris Maher sit down with Chris Soukup, CEO of Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), for a powerful conversation about advocacy, innovation, and the future of accessibility.
Chris shares his family’s remarkable legacy—from his grandfather’s struggles with discrimination as a deaf farmer in South Dakota to his father founding CSD with a $15,000 grant and a vision for equal rights and access. Over the past 50 years, that grassroots effort has grown into a pioneering organization transforming life for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
Listeners will hear how CSD evolved from early telecommunication services to nationwide video relay technology, its role in shaping access before and after the ADA, and the exciting innovations on the horizon—including AI and emerging communication tools designed to create greater independence and inclusion.
This episode is both a journey through history and a look ahead at how technology, advocacy, and entrepreneurship are shaping a more accessible world for all.
Links & Resources:
Chris Soukup: LinkedIn
Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD): Website
COMING SOON!
American Sign Language (ASL) and Captioning for each episode will be provided on our YouTube channel. Go to handle @SamaritanPartners.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kelvin Crosby (00:06):
Welcome to Investing in Accessibility, a
Samaritan Partners podcast.
We're not waiting for change,we're investing in it.
Join us as we speak withentrepreneurs and thought
leaders that are focused oncreating a more accessible world
.
Hey, so good to see you, eventhough I can't see you.
(00:33):
It's another beautiful day inthe neighborhood and I'm so
excited that you're here atInvesting in Accessibility and
I'm your host, Kelvin Crosby.
And let me introduce you to myblonde redhead co-host Chris
Maher.
How you doing man?
Chris Maher (00:47):
Hey, Kelvin, how are you My friend?
It's good to see you and bewith you.
Kelvin Crosby (00:50):
So that's the million dollar question.
Are you really blonde and kindof a redhead?
Chris Maher (00:56):
So that is a good question.
I look more blonde today, butwhen I was a younger man I had a
lot of red in my hair.
So I was, as my mom used tocall me, I was a strawberry
blonde.
But as I've aged the red hasturned gray.
So now I look more blonde thanred, but I got a lot of gray
(01:17):
going, but it's hidden by mylittle bit of blonde.
I've got left.
Kelvin Crosby (01:21):
Okay, so you're starting to become ancient.
Chris Maher (01:28):
Yeah, I am.
Kelvin Crosby (01:28):
That's a sad news .
Chris Maher (01:28):
Yeah, and I can't let my beard grow in, because
that used to be like KrisKringle young Kris Kringle red,
and now it.
And now it's all gray and itmakes me look even older.
Kelvin Crosby (01:39):
Well, I'm excited about today's guest and we're
going to get into somecaptioning and stuff but other
interpreting and stuff and kindof overall accessibility that
really helps people in all areasof life and so why don't you
introduce it to our guests?
Chris Maher (01:59):
Thank you.
Yeah, I as well.
I'm super excited about thisconversation because our guest
today has been in theaccessibility space pretty much
his entire life and his companyhas been around for 50 years, if
you can believe it, and so thisis going to be an awesome
conversation.
But let's welcome to thepodcast, Chris Soukup, who is
(02:19):
the CEO at CSD CommunicationService for the Deaf.
Chris, welcome to the show.
Chris Soukup (02:27):
Hello, it's a pleasure to be here and really
looking forward to ourconversation.
Chris Maher (02:37):
Likewise, and Chris and I, or I should say, I had
the great pleasure of spendingthe better part of a day with
Chris back in early July,because Chris and I are both on
the advisory or associates boardof a wonderful organization
called TDI for Access.
And Chris and I had a chance tospend some time during the
board meeting and then there wasan event after and we sat next
to each other and it was just anabsolutely fabulous day for me
(02:58):
and by the end of that day Isaid to Chris, you know we
should, Kelvin and I should haveyou on the podcast because we
got to dig into your story morewith our audience, because it's
just fascinating and it's alsoappropriate because this summer
has been kind of this multi-week, multi-month celebration of the
35th anniversary of the ADA andyour family, and your company,
(03:19):
has been around since pre-ADAand we're going to get into a
lot of that today.
And so welcome to the show andthank you for spending some time
with us.
But, Chris, why don't we startoff with your family story, your
background personally, aboutyou and your family and your dad
, which I think will lead intothe conversation about CSD?
Chris Soukup (03:39):
Sure.
So my family is predominantlyfrom South Dakota and that goes
back several generations and wehave extensive deafness.
(04:08):
It's a genetic predispositionin my family that goes back
several generations as well.
And so I'd like to kind ofbegin.
I think the genesis of CSD wasreally not with my father but
with my grandfather, and mygrandfather was a farmer and was
a successful deaf farmer in the1950s and 1960s and there was
(04:32):
one summer a really horrificstorm and the storm did
incredible damage to the farmand even though the farm had
been successfully run for manyyears, my grandfather
encountered significantdiscrimination when he went to
local banks to try to get a loanto rebuild the farm.
(04:55):
And they ended up having toleave the farm and my
grandfather passed away a shorttime later, literally of a
broken heart.
And my father was 12 years oldwhen my grandfather passed away
and I think that experiencereally lit a fire in him and
(05:22):
carried him into his experienceslater in life.
And our company's story reallycame from the community and in
the 1960s and 1970s it wasreally difficult for deaf people
to get employment, and so inSouth Dakota a very popular
(05:51):
place for deaf people to workwas a meat processing plant
called John Morrell, andincredibly dangerous work, but
it paid well and allowed thedeaf individuals at that time to
be able to make a living and toprovide for their families.
And so there was a concentrationof deaf people that worked at
(06:12):
this particular meat processingplant in Sioux Falls, South
Dakota, and they were sittingaround the lunchroom one day and
the company had instituted apay change, and nobody bothered
to communicate that to the deafemployees.
And so they were talking aboutthe lack of access to
(06:36):
communication and informationand the oppression that they
were experiencing as employees,being less than, and that was
really, I think, the seed thatreally started to germinate the
idea of the need for anorganization that could push for
(06:59):
change, that could create abetter world for the deaf
community and build betteraccess to information and
communication and to fight forequal rights.
And so they huddled together asa community.
And as a group they went to thestate of South Dakota and
(07:23):
presented a plan to the state ofSouth Dakota and received a
$15,000 grant, and with that$15,000 grant, CSD was born.
Chris Maher (07:33):
Oh, that's amazing.
That is amazing.
So I have got a slew.
First of all, I have a slew ofquestions, but first of all,
thank you so much for sharingthat story about your
grandfather and your father, andso much of this is about lived
experience, and we talk aboutthat all the time on the podcast
(07:54):
with our guests, and so a lotof this was driven out of lived
experience on the part of yourfamily and family members and
people in the local community,but it was also driven out of
just the basic idea of equalityand equity, r ight.
And that's amazing.
Did you have family membersthat were working at the
(08:15):
meatpacking plant during thattime?
They were part of the groupthat went to the state?
Chris Soukup (08:20):
Yes, my father and my uncle and my grandfather.
Chris Maher (08:24):
Amazing.
Kelvin, before we jump into toCSD and the founding of that and
the arc of of that organizationdo you have any questions about
for Chris, about his family andand the initial story here?
Kelvin Crosby (08:41):
One of the cool things is, as somebody that
fought for a lot of deaf/ blindissues and kind of the same
thing on the communication, isreally being an advocate, really
being able to find ways to beable to have our voices heard,
and I think what's really coolabout this story is it's sad
(09:03):
that we had to go through theselife situations.
But one of the things look atthe fruit and I'm excited to see
, like, as we kind of lookthrough this over the next
couple minutes, the fruit ofthis and how Chris, your family
(09:25):
and you, have continued to growthis and really give
communication to so many peoplethat are deaf, deaf/ blind, and
now we're looking at otheropportunities, what that might
look like as well and, man,we've come a long ways, but we
(09:47):
still have a long ways to go.
Chris Maher (09:50):
Yeah, but the kernel of this started with an
individual or a small groupbeing advocates for themselves.
I just had a conversation, andadvocacy is something else we
talk about a lot on this showand, Kelvin, we've talked about
doing an episode about it.
But I think about my own livedexperience with my two daughters
(10:11):
, who both have disabilities.
I'm not making this up.
I literally talked to agentleman yesterday that I got
introduced to and as I wastelling the story of my
daughters, one of whom has aphysical disability, she has a
form of hemiplegia on her leftside, and my younger daughter
has pretty significantintellectual and developmental
disabilities.
But as I was describing mydaughters, his mouth was like a
(10:36):
gape and he's like you've justdescribed my two children.
He has twins.
They are 10 years old, mydaughters are 20, about to be
22, and 19.
And his son is on the autismspectrum and has a significant
neurodiversity, and his daughterhas a form of hemiplegia.
And as we were talking, he waslike you know, do you have any
advice for me and my wife?
(10:57):
And one of the things I saidis, I go, well first and
foremost you have to be thebiggest advocate for your child
and your children going forwarduntil they're of an age where
they can be advocates forthemselves, because if you're
not, you can't rely on, or counton, other people doing that for
them.
And I just think it's amazing,Chris, that that small community
(11:18):
in South Dakota, in that townworking at that meatpacking
plant, fast forward 50, 60 yearsand you've got CSD, which is
this incredible organization.
It is involved in so manydifferent areas of the market
and doing so much good whichwe're going to get into.
So I'm getting ahead of myselfand I'm getting too excited, so
(11:39):
let me calm down here.
So, Chris, let's jump into it.
So they go get this $15,000from the state of South Dakota.
And then, how did CSD actuallystart?
What was the founding of it?
Chris Soukup (12:15):
So for many years it was community- driven.
So literally the deaf community, individuals from the deaf
community would show up withtheir hammer and saw to help to
build office facilities andapartment buildings and
volunteer their time.
And I mean so we very much camefrom the community and grew
with incredible support from thecommunity.
And so over those first 15years CSD grew from being a
local nonprofit to a regionalnonprofit and diversified and
(12:37):
did a range of differentcommunity-based programs and
services, including independentliving and job placement and
adult basic education andimmigrant services, drug and
alcohol programs.
We had seniors programs.
We developed apartments and hadaccessible apartments for the
(13:01):
deaf community in South Dakotaand beyond, for the deaf.
We purchased a camp facility andgrew that camp facility and ran
summer camp programs for anumber of years out of that.
And so that was, I think 1975to 1990, kind of the arc of
growth for CSD.
(13:22):
And in that same period westarted to get into the
technology space a little bitmore deeply and we started to
tinker with the idea of makingtelecommunications more
accessible and that really setthe stage.
That early experimentationallowed us to go back to the
(13:43):
state of South Dakota to enactlegislation to create funding,
and buckets of funding, forpiloting services statewide, and
this is before the ADA.
So South Dakota had afunctioning telecommunication
relay service in the 80s and itbecame a model for other states
(14:10):
to follow in the years that cameafter the ADA and the mandate
for relay services wasimplemented.
Chris Maher (14:16):
Yeah, that's amazing.
So did your, did CSD, and yourdad and family.
You were pre-ADA developingthese services.
Did you work with SenatorHarkin's office as the ADA was
being developed?
Was there any involvement there, or did they look to you guys
as being kind of a blueprint ofhow it could work?
Chris Soukup (14:39):
You know it's interesting, during that period
of time my dad was reallyextensively involved with the
National Association for theDeaf and was president of the
National Association for theDeaf around the time that the
ADA was passed, and so CSD kindof worked side by side, shoulder
to shoulder, with the NAD insupporting a lot of the efforts
(15:03):
that were happening in DC duringthat period.
Chris Maher (15:07):
Wow, that's amazing .
And was your dad effectivelythe CEO of the organization from
the get-go?
Or was it kind of a group thatmanaged it in the early days and
then eventually he moved intothat role?
Chris Soukup (15:22):
Yeah, it was initially an executive director
is what they called it, and hewas 23 years old when CSD was
founded.
So, like I said, just very,very grassroots community-based
effort, lots and lots of supportand mentorship from luminaries
(15:44):
in our community that showed upand gave CSD support in those
early years and, I think, a hugetestament to what is possible
when you know, community comestogether and self-actualizes.
Chris Maher (16:03):
So let's start talking about you, right?
So your childhood of growing upwith your dad running this
amazing organization, you hadyour childhood, you went off to
college and got your degrees andthen ended up working for CSD
and now you're the CEO.
But can you talk about the arcof that and kind of what it was
like growing up with your familybeing so involved in that
(16:26):
organization and then youjoining it and now you're
running it today?
Chris Soukup (16:30):
Sure, and I actually started working for CSD
in high school and did summerinternships and directly from
high school I started workingwith CSD and went to a local
college initially and worked forCSD and was going to college
(16:51):
part-time.
And did that for a period oftime.
And then I went to GallaudetUniversity in Washington DC and
I finished my school there andcame back to CSD and it was
really the perfect time.
I mean, this was 2001, 2002,and we were just getting ready
to launch the first nationwidevideo relay service.
(17:13):
And it's really, You know, wecan talk a little bit more about
the generations of technologyand the impact of that, but in
the 80s and the 90s, and youguys may have some familiarity
with TTYs and some of the earlyforms of accessible technology
(17:37):
and the limitations.
Chris Maher (17:40):
And Chris do me a favor just for our audience.
Can you just quickly describeTTY and those early forms of the
technology that they may beless familiar with?
Chris Soukup (17:49):
Sure, I mean in the 60s and 70s you have to
think of like these gianttypewriters.
I mean just these huge machineswith a tiny screen and a
keyboard.
And they were very clunky,heavy machines that you'd
connect to your phone and you'dbe able to make a call to
(18:12):
another TTY user.
And the limitation, and thesedevices got smaller and smaller
over time by the late 80s, early90s.
I mean they were kind oflaptop-sized machines, but they
were still limited in that youcould only call another TTY user
(18:33):
and usually the TTY user thatyou were calling was deaf.
So you've got a deaf persontrying to call another deaf
person and so you both have tokind of be, you know, agree on a
time.
I'm going to call you at suchand such time.
So be by your phone when thelight flashes, then you know
it's me calling you.
(18:53):
So it was very, very you knowespecially, you know, from our
lens in 2025, incrediblyprimitive.
But that was where we started.
And the limitation of TTY for alot of deaf people is it's very
English driven, it's contingenton your typing speed.
(19:16):
You have to be a good typist.
And so if you don't have astrong command of English and
you're not a good typist.
It's a very clumsy andinefficient way to communicate.
And so video changed all ofthat.
And so in the 90s we started toexperiment with early forms of
video conferencing and the ideaof being able to link, you know,
(19:39):
signing individuals andnon-signing individuals through
video interpreting, which reallykind of experimented with
during that period of time, andwe were able to engineer a
solution that allowed us to dothat at scale and to go
nationwide in being able todeliver those services to the
(20:01):
deaf community across thecountry.
And that was implemented in theearly 2000s and is kind of the
gold standard today for how deafpeople communicate with the
world.
Chris Maher (20:14):
And Chris, was that the product or company under
CSD called Purple?
Chris Soukup (20:20):
So it was originally CSD and it was
branded CSD VRS.
And then in 2006, it was spunoff and it became a standalone
company.
It was rebranded as Z-VRS.
Z-VRS then went on to acquirePurple and it became ZP Together
(20:43):
.
And so Z-VRS and Purple is nowone company.
Chris Maher (20:50):
Gotcha, and it's one of the three kind of major
vendors in the video relayservices space.
Chris Soukup (20:57):
Right, yep
Kelvin Crosby (20:59):
And think one thing I would like to kind of
explain for people that arenever really understood American
Sign Language or English SignLanguage, or just why is it a
struggle for a lot of people whoare deaf, .
And think that's something thatI think for some, of listeners
(21:20):
, american American Language isnot normal English.
It's English, but it's AmericanSign Language and it has it's
own, and tell me if I'm wrongChris, but it has it's own way
of communicating the flow of thecommunication.
(21:42):
It has it's own dialect, kindalike you got the southern accent
, you got a northern accent, andit has its own kind of form of
dialect.
And that's where, when the TTY,that was always a challenge.
You had to know regular Englishto be able to communicate.
And so I think as we got to theVRS and looking at that, that
(22:09):
what's really broke down, that,that challenge and that
communication structure and beable to allow all forms of sign
language that was usedthroughout the country, to be
able to be accessible to allpeople with deaf and
deaf/blindness.
Chris Soukup (22:29):
Yep.
I think a way to explain it isASL is a visual language.
And the way that you,cognitively, you know you engage
with ASL is very muchpicture-based, and so you're
communicating from pictures inyour mind.
(22:52):
And so for a lot of deaf people,English is a second language.
And they grow up in anenvironment where they're very
fluent in ASL.
They're brilliant communicatorsin ASL, but English is their
second language, and so tocompel them to communicate in a
(23:16):
format that is using theirsecond language is
disadvantageous, and so that, Ithink, has been the struggle.
We have parts of the communitythat are effectively bilingual
and can balance between both ASLand English comfortably.
And then we have a big part ofthe community that is
(23:38):
predominantly ASL, and there'smuch less comfort and confidence
in leaning on English when itbecomes necessary.
And so creating more spaces andcreating more avenues for deaf
people to engage in their nativelanguage in a way that allow
them to express themselves fully, without you know any sort of
limitations or having to fallback into, you know, another
(24:11):
language and communicate fromsomething that is not as
comfortable is really reallyimportant, and it's something
that we thought very, very hardto achieve as a community.
Kelvin Crosby (24:27):
mean, it's something that, as as we look it
, is look,, the encompassing .
Whether you want to be hard ofhearing, whether you use asl,
esl, you're ASL going ESL do acombination or just straight up
ASL, like.
(24:48):
That's .
I think where, this is where, aswe move forward, one of the
coolest things is that we'vebeen able to do that.
We're able to take and providethat accommodation for people
who are deaf, hard of hearing,deaf-blind, and really
deaf/blind them that access.
(25:08):
And to me, that's the excitingpart.
And now we're at a point wherewe're starting to create this
for more people besides justdeaf-blindness and hard of
deaf/blindness hearing.
It's becoming more of a, Iguess, a standard for all people
, would you say.
?
Chris Soukup (25:29):
Absolutely.
I always think it's importantto tell people that within the
deaf community, 50% of the deafcommunity has additional
disabilities, and so there isincredible diversity within the
deaf community.
Different lived experiences,you know, and to your point, we
(25:53):
have all these, I mean this richmosaic of communication
modalities, and we've got deafpeople that sign as their
primary means of communication.
We have deaf people that don'tsign.
We have people with cochlearimplants.
We have people who become deaflater in life and lose their
hearing as they're, you know,approaching their twilight years
(26:16):
, and so there's this incrediblediversity.
And so coming into that andorienting yourself to you know,
how do we advocate, how do wemake life better for this
community, has been our life'swork.
Chris Maher (26:32):
Yeah, so that's a good segue, Chris.
Let's talk about CSDspecifically now, in terms of
the products and services andthe different kind of business
units you have.
And you've got a lot offor-profit parts to your
business.
You've got nonprofit parts toyour business.
And I would imagine that overthe arc of this past 50 years,
which is just incredible tothink of, you folks have not
(26:55):
only survived but thrived overthat time, my sense is from what
you've been talking about it'sbeen your products and services
and the evolution of CSD havebeen driven by certainly lived
experience of the community,right.
That, first and foremost, thatis where you folks have always
started and is always a part ofit.
It's your own innovativethinking and driving the future
(27:15):
of communication.
I got to imagine that policiesand regulations and laws that
have been implemented, like theADA and others, it's this kind
of combination of all thosethings have really driven the
vision of CSD.
And can you just describe forour listeners the totality of
what CSD does today in terms ofthe products and services that
(27:35):
they offer to the community?
Chris Soukup (27:38):
Absolutely, you know, it's over 50 years.
It's such a beautiful storybecause you move through
generations of technology andhow CSD has kind of moved
through those iterations.
And so there's things that werevery, very important to the
(28:00):
community and very central toCSD in our early years that were
subsequently replaced by newerforms of technology, new
innovation.
And so we, you know, we kind ofmove with the community, we
move with that innovation and wecontinue to center ourselves in
(28:20):
what is most relevant and mostimpactful, and so it's really
been a remarkable journey.
Today we have a range of thingsthat we do as an organization
and we have parts of CSD thatare continuing to be very
focused on telecommunicationsand innovation in
(28:43):
telecommunications and creatingthe best possible communications
experience for deaf people andcontinuing to challenge
convention.
And one example of that, andthis is novel in its simplicity,
it's elegant in its simplicity,because the whole idea, the
(29:05):
premise, is let's try to createmore spaces where deaf people
don't have to rely on afacilitator.
So more spaces where I don'thave to go through an
interpreter or a relay agent,where I can call in and I can
communicate directly withsomeone inside.
I mean, it's really kind of aradical idea, but we've gone
(29:28):
around to government agenciesand federal and state, and we've
gone to corporations and we'regoing into customer service
environments.
And we're saying why don't youhave a way to support the deaf
community directly, rather thanrequiring them to loop in
through an interpreter to get toa live customer service
(29:50):
representative?
And so that's something thatwe're really working on now.
And that does a few differentthings.
First, it expands the jobs thatare available for our community
.
And in our community, we havegreater than a 50% unemployment
rate.
We've got, you know, when youstart to look at underemployment
(30:12):
, you're talking 75% of thecommunity is either unemployed
or underemployed, and so it'sreally an epidemic that needs to
be overcome.
And so creating more spaces,more opportunities for deaf
people to be able to engage in,you know, corporate environments
(30:32):
and government environments,and to be able to turn around
and provide direct access,direct service to the community,
is beautiful.
So, on both ends, you know,creating jobs and creating
better access is an area offocus for us.
For many years, CSD has had theidea of getting into the
(30:54):
entrepreneurial space.
And the idea is, you know,building an ecosystem, building
an economy of our own where wehave successful deaf business
owners who are hiring deafpeople to work in their
businesses, and just being ableto build this network of
(31:15):
opportunity within our owncommunity.
And we finally, in 2017, CSDcreated what we believe is the
first social venture impact fundthat is specifically focused on
the deaf and broader disabilitycommunity, and we've been, you
know, I think, very, veryfortunate in being able to
(31:38):
support over a dozen businessesthrough that fund and, you know,
just the job creation and justthe you know proliferation of
opportunity has been beautiful.
We also have a charity that CSDfounded in the middle of the
pandemic and that charity isfocused on supporting other
(32:00):
nonprofit organizations thatserve deaf and disabled
communities and building theircapacity.
And we really want to pay itforward as an organization and
create stronger organizations inour community because that
elevates, you know, theavailability of services and
(32:21):
resources for the community verybroadly.
And so we're kind of we're in alot of different spaces and
continuing to evaluate where wecan make the greatest impact as
an organization and wherethere's a need that we tend to
kind of gravitate our resourcestowards that.
Chris Maher (32:40):
Yeah, that's amazing.
I mean the fact that you folkshave done that over the course
of 50 years.
I mean you've been aroundlonger than most companies, the
big companies like the Cisco'sand the Facebook's and the
Google's.
I mean I think Microsoft waseven started what?
Late 70s, early 80s?
And so it is just a testamentto, I think, your leadership and
(33:04):
your dad's leadership beforethat.
A lot of listeners areentrepreneurs and they're either
first time entrepreneurs orearly stage entrepreneurs.
What were some of the lessons,either leadership lessons you
(33:28):
learned from your dad orentrepreneurial lessons, you
learned over the arc of CSD'slifespan that you would share
with other entrepreneurs thatyou feel have been maybe keys to
your folks' success and yourlongevity.
Chris Soukup (33:35):
I think what we are probably proudest of, and
there's a lot of things to beproud of, but the number of
people that have come throughCSD over the years as employees,
team members, I mean just huge,huge alumni network of people
(33:56):
that, you know, have had theirstart with CSD or who have
worked with CSD in some capacity, who've received investment
from CSD or support from CSD,and so enough time passes and
you think about this incrediblenetwork, this community of
(34:19):
people that you had theprivilege of supporting in some
form or another, and that's alegacy.
In the end, that's what peopleremember and that's what really
counts.
It's great to be financiallysuccessful, but that legacy
(34:42):
isn't written in the things thatyou own, the buildings that you
build.
It's in the hearts and theminds of the people.
Chris Maher (34:51):
I think that is super insightful, and honestly,
I think it's unique in that theCSD culture, and community, and
leadership, whether that's younow as a CEO, your dad prior to
you and other you know seniormembers of your team, it's all
(35:11):
about that.
It's serving others and liftingpeople up and they may work for
CSD or be supported by CSD inyour various different parts of
your business for a short periodof time, a long period of time,
and some, like yourself, havekind of been there most of your
(35:32):
career.
Many times people move on andgo on to do other things and
you're excited about that andyou're supportive of that,
because at the end of the day,it's about lifting people up and
hopefully the rising tide liftsall boats and not just some
boats, and I think that's unique, especially in the purely
for-profit world where there'sno mission or social purpose.
(35:54):
I think many, many businessleaders do not have that
mentality.
They're like, oh, you want togo on and do something else.
Well then, forget it, you'regone, you're no longer part of
the family.
And the fact that you encouragethat and you're all about
supporting people and servingpeople and helping them with
their development and going onto support the community and
beyond, outside of the CSD walls, I think is just, it's
(36:16):
fantastic, I love it, I love it.
And I think it's pretty special.
And I'm not surprised that youfolks have had this longevity
now hearing that that's beenpart of the DNA in CSD, it
sounds like from the beginning,which is really special.
Kelvin Crosby (36:30):
I mean, I think what's cool is just kind of
where we're going and then wherewe're going now, Like where is
this all going?
Chris Maher (36:39):
Yeah, I agree, Chris, are you able to share,
like, are there some things onthe horizon for CSD that you
folks are working on that youcan share?
Is it around AI?
Is it around new types oftechnologies that you folks are
seeing coming down the pike thatyou think can be
transformational for thecommunity?
Is there anything there you canshare?
Chris Soukup (36:58):
There's a couple of things that I think are
important, and the first is, youknow, as we think about the
journey of the community and aswe move from one generation of
technology to the next, thereare some challenges, some risk,
you know, of people being leftbehind.
(37:20):
We have people that are stillreally dependent on an earlier
form of communication, that arebeing pressured to move into the
next generation of solutionsand maybe they don't want to,
they're not comfortable.
And so making sure that nothingis lost and we're able to
(37:40):
continue to deliver services andsupport those earlier forms of
services and earlier iterationsof technology.
As the world spins forward very,very rapidly and we see new
innovation and new changehappening all the time, and so
how we transition and the waythat we support the community as
(38:02):
we move through iterations oftechnology is a big part of what
we do, and that's going tocontinue to be very, very super
important as we move into thefuture and as we look to the
future and we look at AI and welook at the really exciting
projects that are happening.
(38:22):
You know we have avatartechnology, we have gesture
recognition, we have all ofthese emerging technologies that
are going to come together andcreate some beautiful
opportunities for deaf people tobe able to move about the world
freely, with complete autonomy,and to be able to engage with
(38:43):
the world completelyindependently.
And so we're so excited aboutthat and we're moving towards
that very, very rapidly and forthe next three, five years,
we're going to see some hugeleaps in that direction where
you'll have an AI interpreterand a human interpreter, kind of
(39:05):
working in tandem to supportthe communication needs of a
deaf person, and that's anincredibly exciting time to be
in.
But you know, also kind of alongthe way is, you know, making
sure that we're not forcing newtechnology on consumers before
they're ready and that wemaintain the ability to support
(39:30):
the differing communicationpreferences of the community.
And so there's a lot to thinkabout as we try to generate the
future.
Chris Maher (39:39):
Yeah, that's such a thoughtful and insightful
comment you made about thetransition of technology, and
there has to be a thoughtfultransition and overlapping, for
lack of a better term, or peoplewill get left behind.
I don't think people thinkabout that enough and it's
wonderful, that again soundslike something that you folks
(40:00):
have always thought about andyou've always done a good job of
for the community andrepresenting the community.
And so I think for all of us,and not just for technologies
and service for the deafcommunity, I think just for
society as a whole we need tothink about that more.
Chris Soukup (40:13):
Absolutel y, absolutely.
Chris Maher (40:13):
Yeah, Because people, I think, are getting
left behind every day as newtechnologies are rolling out.
So that's super thoughtful.
Chris Soukup (40:22):
I think there's a collision between.
I mean, the market seems toalways drive towards the most
cost-effective solution.
And so whatever is cheapest,whatever is going to meet our
legal obligation, whatever isgoing to, you know, that's the
form that is going to be putinto the forefront, whether or
not that is the most effectivecommunication, whether or not
(40:45):
that supports the needs of allthe diversity that you have
within deaf and disabilitycommunities.
And that's the challenge.
That's where, you know, meetingthe market where that pressure
point is.
Chris Maher (41:00):
Yeah, cheap and fast isn't necessarily effective
and good, right?
Chris Soukup (41:05):
Exactly, exactly.
Chris Maher (41:07):
And I can tell, just as you were talking about
the future around AI and avatarsand just how positively
impactful it's going to be forthe community going forward.
I can tell how excited you are.
Like our listeners are onlygoing to hear this on audio,
like I can see it in your faceand your body language how
excited you are about it.
So it's my sense is there'll bea part two to this conversation
(41:28):
where we'll bring you back totalk about some of that future
stuff.
But, as we wrap up here, beforewe let you go, Chris, how can
people and our listeners learnmore about you and the work you
folks are doing at CSD?
And we'll make sure we postthis in the show notes.
Chris Soukup (41:53):
I always encourage people to visit our website and
our social channels, and we doquite a bit in terms of advocacy
and creating awareness ofbroader issues that affect deaf
and disability communities, aswell as the specific things that
CSD is doing to to support that.
Chris Maher (42:04):
You got it, and if people want to connect with you
is LinkedIn the best place?
Chris Soukup (42:10):
LinkedIn.
I'm all over LinkedIn and andwelcome the opportunity to
commit to connect with peoplethere.
Chris Maher (42:16):
Terrific.
All right, Chris Soukup, CEO atCSD, you are the best, my
friend.
This was such a special treatand thank you for for spending
the time with us and telling usnot only about CSD, but also the
story of your family and it wasa super special conversation
and we thank you.
Chris Soukup (42:33):
Thank you so much.
Kelvin Crosby (42:35):
Well, that wraps up investing in accessibility.
As I always say, go live and beon your challenges and I will
see you next month.
If you would like to know how wedid this interview, there's a
bonus round at the end of theoutro.
Thank you for listening toInvesting Investing in
(42:55):
Accessibility a SamaritanPartners where where we invest
in change, for accessibility,not wait for change.
If you want to follow us, youcan find us on YouTube or
LinkedIn at@Samaritan Partners.
If you would like to invest inSamaritan Partners, email Chris
chris at chris@samaritanpartners.
com samaritanpartnerscom.
If you'd like to learn moreabout us, go to www.
(43:18):
samaritanpartners.
com wwwsamaritanpartnerscom.
You can take the first step ininvesting in change by giving us
five stars and sharing thispodcast with everybody that you
know, so we can spread the word,so that we can give access to
all by Investing investing inAccessibility accessibility.
So the way I was able to makethis interview work is I used
(43:51):
Google Meet and I ran it throughmy mixer and we were able to
record both on Google Meet andthrough my mixer, but we used
the AI captioning.
If you want to help deafindividuals do podcasting or
other things like that, just usesome Google Meet, Zoom zoom or
that That has an AI real-timecaptioning.
That is your strategy toovercome this challenge.
Welcome to Investing in Accessibility, a
Samaritan Partners podcast.
We're not waiting for change,we're investing in it.
Join us as we speak withentrepreneurs and thought
leaders that are focused oncreating a more accessible world
.
Hey, so good to see you, eventhough I can't see you.
(00:33):
It's another beautiful day inthe neighborhood and I'm so
excited that you're here atInvesting in Accessibility and
I'm your host, Kelvin Crosby.
And let me introduce you to myblonde redhead co-host Chris
Maher.
How you doing man?
Chris Maher (00:47):
Hey, Kelvin, how are you My friend?
It's good to see you and bewith you.
Kelvin Crosby (00:50):
So that's the million dollar question.
Are you really blonde and kindof a redhead?
Chris Maher (00:56):
So that is a good question.
I look more blonde today, butwhen I was a younger man I had a
lot of red in my hair.
So I was, as my mom used tocall me, I was a strawberry
blonde.
But as I've aged the red hasturned gray.
So now I look more blonde thanred, but I got a lot of gray
(01:17):
going, but it's hidden by mylittle bit of blonde.
I've got left.
Kelvin Crosby (01:21):
Okay, so you're starting to become ancient.
Chris Maher (01:28):
Yeah, I am.
Kelvin Crosby (01:28):
That's a sad news .
Chris Maher (01:28):
Yeah, and I can't let my beard grow in, because
that used to be like KrisKringle young Kris Kringle red,
and now it.
And now it's all gray and itmakes me look even older.
Kelvin Crosby (01:39):
Well, I'm excited about today's guest and we're
going to get into somecaptioning and stuff but other
interpreting and stuff and kindof overall accessibility that
really helps people in all areasof life and so why don't you
introduce it to our guests?
Chris Maher (01:59):
Thank you.
Yeah, I as well.
I'm super excited about thisconversation because our guest
today has been in theaccessibility space pretty much
his entire life and his companyhas been around for 50 years, if
you can believe it, and so thisis going to be an awesome
conversation.
But let's welcome to thepodcast, Chris Soukup, who is
(02:19):
the CEO at CSD CommunicationService for the Deaf.
Chris, welcome to the show.
Chris Soukup (02:27):
Hello, it's a pleasure to be here and really
looking forward to ourconversation.
Chris Maher (02:37):
Likewise, and Chris and I, or I should say, I had
the great pleasure of spendingthe better part of a day with
Chris back in early July,because Chris and I are both on
the advisory or associates boardof a wonderful organization
called TDI for Access.
And Chris and I had a chance tospend some time during the
board meeting and then there wasan event after and we sat next
to each other and it was just anabsolutely fabulous day for me
(02:58):
and by the end of that day Isaid to Chris, you know we
should, Kelvin and I should haveyou on the podcast because we
got to dig into your story morewith our audience, because it's
just fascinating and it's alsoappropriate because this summer
has been kind of this multi-week, multi-month celebration of the
35th anniversary of the ADA andyour family, and your company,
(03:19):
has been around since pre-ADAand we're going to get into a
lot of that today.
And so welcome to the show andthank you for spending some time
with us.
But, Chris, why don't we startoff with your family story, your
background personally, aboutyou and your family and your dad
, which I think will lead intothe conversation about CSD?
Chris Soukup (03:39):
Sure.
So my family is predominantlyfrom South Dakota and that goes
back several generations and wehave extensive deafness.
(04:08):
It's a genetic predispositionin my family that goes back
several generations as well.
And so I'd like to kind ofbegin.
I think the genesis of CSD wasreally not with my father but
with my grandfather, and mygrandfather was a farmer and was
a successful deaf farmer in the1950s and 1960s and there was
(04:32):
one summer a really horrificstorm and the storm did
incredible damage to the farmand even though the farm had
been successfully run for manyyears, my grandfather
encountered significantdiscrimination when he went to
local banks to try to get a loanto rebuild the farm.
(04:55):
And they ended up having toleave the farm and my
grandfather passed away a shorttime later, literally of a
broken heart.
And my father was 12 years oldwhen my grandfather passed away
and I think that experiencereally lit a fire in him and
(05:22):
carried him into his experienceslater in life.
And our company's story reallycame from the community and in
the 1960s and 1970s it wasreally difficult for deaf people
to get employment, and so inSouth Dakota a very popular
(05:51):
place for deaf people to workwas a meat processing plant
called John Morrell, andincredibly dangerous work, but
it paid well and allowed thedeaf individuals at that time to
be able to make a living and toprovide for their families.
And so there was a concentrationof deaf people that worked at
(06:12):
this particular meat processingplant in Sioux Falls, South
Dakota, and they were sittingaround the lunchroom one day and
the company had instituted apay change, and nobody bothered
to communicate that to the deafemployees.
And so they were talking aboutthe lack of access to
(06:36):
communication and informationand the oppression that they
were experiencing as employees,being less than, and that was
really, I think, the seed thatreally started to germinate the
idea of the need for anorganization that could push for
(06:59):
change, that could create abetter world for the deaf
community and build betteraccess to information and
communication and to fight forequal rights.
And so they huddled together asa community.
And as a group they went to thestate of South Dakota and
(07:23):
presented a plan to the state ofSouth Dakota and received a
$15,000 grant, and with that$15,000 grant, CSD was born.
Chris Maher (07:33):
Oh, that's amazing.
That is amazing.
So I have got a slew.
First of all, I have a slew ofquestions, but first of all,
thank you so much for sharingthat story about your
grandfather and your father, andso much of this is about lived
experience, and we talk aboutthat all the time on the podcast
(07:54):
with our guests, and so a lotof this was driven out of lived
experience on the part of yourfamily and family members and
people in the local community,but it was also driven out of
just the basic idea of equalityand equity, r ight.
And that's amazing.
Did you have family membersthat were working at the
(08:15):
meatpacking plant during thattime?
They were part of the groupthat went to the state?
Chris Soukup (08:20):
Yes, my father and my uncle and my grandfather.
Chris Maher (08:24):
Amazing.
Kelvin, before we jump into toCSD and the founding of that and
the arc of of that organizationdo you have any questions about
for Chris, about his family andand the initial story here?
Kelvin Crosby (08:41):
One of the cool things is, as somebody that
fought for a lot of deaf/ blindissues and kind of the same
thing on the communication, isreally being an advocate, really
being able to find ways to beable to have our voices heard,
and I think what's really coolabout this story is it's sad
(09:03):
that we had to go through theselife situations.
But one of the things look atthe fruit and I'm excited to see
, like, as we kind of lookthrough this over the next
couple minutes, the fruit ofthis and how Chris, your family
(09:25):
and you, have continued to growthis and really give
communication to so many peoplethat are deaf, deaf/ blind, and
now we're looking at otheropportunities, what that might
look like as well and, man,we've come a long ways, but we
(09:47):
still have a long ways to go.
Chris Maher (09:50):
Yeah, but the kernel of this started with an
individual or a small groupbeing advocates for themselves.
I just had a conversation, andadvocacy is something else we
talk about a lot on this showand, Kelvin, we've talked about
doing an episode about it.
But I think about my own livedexperience with my two daughters
(10:11):
, who both have disabilities.
I'm not making this up.
I literally talked to agentleman yesterday that I got
introduced to and as I wastelling the story of my
daughters, one of whom has aphysical disability, she has a
form of hemiplegia on her leftside, and my younger daughter
has pretty significantintellectual and developmental
disabilities.
But as I was describing mydaughters, his mouth was like a
(10:36):
gape and he's like you've justdescribed my two children.
He has twins.
They are 10 years old, mydaughters are 20, about to be
22, and 19.
And his son is on the autismspectrum and has a significant
neurodiversity, and his daughterhas a form of hemiplegia.
And as we were talking, he waslike you know, do you have any
advice for me and my wife?
(10:57):
And one of the things I saidis, I go, well first and
foremost you have to be thebiggest advocate for your child
and your children going forwarduntil they're of an age where
they can be advocates forthemselves, because if you're
not, you can't rely on, or counton, other people doing that for
them.
And I just think it's amazing,Chris, that that small community
(11:18):
in South Dakota, in that townworking at that meatpacking
plant, fast forward 50, 60 yearsand you've got CSD, which is
this incredible organization.
It is involved in so manydifferent areas of the market
and doing so much good whichwe're going to get into.
So I'm getting ahead of myselfand I'm getting too excited, so
(11:39):
let me calm down here.
So, Chris, let's jump into it.
So they go get this $15,000from the state of South Dakota.
And then, how did CSD actuallystart?
What was the founding of it?
Chris Soukup (12:15):
So for many years it was community- driven.
So literally the deaf community, individuals from the deaf
community would show up withtheir hammer and saw to help to
build office facilities andapartment buildings and
volunteer their time.
And I mean so we very much camefrom the community and grew
with incredible support from thecommunity.
And so over those first 15years CSD grew from being a
local nonprofit to a regionalnonprofit and diversified and
(12:37):
did a range of differentcommunity-based programs and
services, including independentliving and job placement and
adult basic education andimmigrant services, drug and
alcohol programs.
We had seniors programs.
We developed apartments and hadaccessible apartments for the
(13:01):
deaf community in South Dakotaand beyond, for the deaf.
We purchased a camp facility andgrew that camp facility and ran
summer camp programs for anumber of years out of that.
And so that was, I think 1975to 1990, kind of the arc of
growth for CSD.
(13:22):
And in that same period westarted to get into the
technology space a little bitmore deeply and we started to
tinker with the idea of makingtelecommunications more
accessible and that really setthe stage.
That early experimentationallowed us to go back to the
(13:43):
state of South Dakota to enactlegislation to create funding,
and buckets of funding, forpiloting services statewide, and
this is before the ADA.
So South Dakota had afunctioning telecommunication
relay service in the 80s and itbecame a model for other states
(14:10):
to follow in the years that cameafter the ADA and the mandate
for relay services wasimplemented.
Chris Maher (14:16):
Yeah, that's amazing.
So did your, did CSD, and yourdad and family.
You were pre-ADA developingthese services.
Did you work with SenatorHarkin's office as the ADA was
being developed?
Was there any involvement there, or did they look to you guys
as being kind of a blueprint ofhow it could work?
Chris Soukup (14:39):
You know it's interesting, during that period
of time my dad was reallyextensively involved with the
National Association for theDeaf and was president of the
National Association for theDeaf around the time that the
ADA was passed, and so CSD kindof worked side by side, shoulder
to shoulder, with the NAD insupporting a lot of the efforts
(15:03):
that were happening in DC duringthat period.
Chris Maher (15:07):
Wow, that's amazing .
And was your dad effectivelythe CEO of the organization from
the get-go?
Or was it kind of a group thatmanaged it in the early days and
then eventually he moved intothat role?
Chris Soukup (15:22):
Yeah, it was initially an executive director
is what they called it, and hewas 23 years old when CSD was
founded.
So, like I said, just very,very grassroots community-based
effort, lots and lots of supportand mentorship from luminaries
(15:44):
in our community that showed upand gave CSD support in those
early years and, I think, a hugetestament to what is possible
when you know, community comestogether and self-actualizes.
Chris Maher (16:03):
So let's start talking about you, right?
So your childhood of growing upwith your dad running this
amazing organization, you hadyour childhood, you went off to
college and got your degrees andthen ended up working for CSD
and now you're the CEO.
But can you talk about the arcof that and kind of what it was
like growing up with your familybeing so involved in that
(16:26):
organization and then youjoining it and now you're
running it today?
Chris Soukup (16:30):
Sure, and I actually started working for CSD
in high school and did summerinternships and directly from
high school I started workingwith CSD and went to a local
college initially and worked forCSD and was going to college
(16:51):
part-time.
And did that for a period oftime.
And then I went to GallaudetUniversity in Washington DC and
I finished my school there andcame back to CSD and it was
really the perfect time.
I mean, this was 2001, 2002,and we were just getting ready
to launch the first nationwidevideo relay service.
(17:13):
And it's really, You know, wecan talk a little bit more about
the generations of technologyand the impact of that, but in
the 80s and the 90s, and youguys may have some familiarity
with TTYs and some of the earlyforms of accessible technology
(17:37):
and the limitations.
Chris Maher (17:40):
And Chris do me a favor just for our audience.
Can you just quickly describeTTY and those early forms of the
technology that they may beless familiar with?
Chris Soukup (17:49):
Sure, I mean in the 60s and 70s you have to
think of like these gianttypewriters.
I mean just these huge machineswith a tiny screen and a
keyboard.
And they were very clunky,heavy machines that you'd
connect to your phone and you'dbe able to make a call to
(18:12):
another TTY user.
And the limitation, and thesedevices got smaller and smaller
over time by the late 80s, early90s.
I mean they were kind oflaptop-sized machines, but they
were still limited in that youcould only call another TTY user
(18:33):
and usually the TTY user thatyou were calling was deaf.
So you've got a deaf persontrying to call another deaf
person and so you both have tokind of be, you know, agree on a
time.
I'm going to call you at suchand such time.
So be by your phone when thelight flashes, then you know
it's me calling you.
(18:53):
So it was very, very you knowespecially, you know, from our
lens in 2025, incrediblyprimitive.
But that was where we started.
And the limitation of TTY for alot of deaf people is it's very
English driven, it's contingenton your typing speed.
(19:16):
You have to be a good typist.
And so if you don't have astrong command of English and
you're not a good typist.
It's a very clumsy andinefficient way to communicate.
And so video changed all ofthat.
And so in the 90s we started toexperiment with early forms of
video conferencing and the ideaof being able to link, you know,
(19:39):
signing individuals andnon-signing individuals through
video interpreting, which reallykind of experimented with
during that period of time, andwe were able to engineer a
solution that allowed us to dothat at scale and to go
nationwide in being able todeliver those services to the
(20:01):
deaf community across thecountry.
And that was implemented in theearly 2000s and is kind of the
gold standard today for how deafpeople communicate with the
world.
Chris Maher (20:14):
And Chris, was that the product or company under
CSD called Purple?
Chris Soukup (20:20):
So it was originally CSD and it was
branded CSD VRS.
And then in 2006, it was spunoff and it became a standalone
company.
It was rebranded as Z-VRS.
Z-VRS then went on to acquirePurple and it became ZP Together
(20:43):
.
And so Z-VRS and Purple is nowone company.
Chris Maher (20:50):
Gotcha, and it's one of the three kind of major
vendors in the video relayservices space.
Chris Soukup (20:57):
Right, yep
Kelvin Crosby (20:59):
And think one thing I would like to kind of
explain for people that arenever really understood American
Sign Language or English SignLanguage, or just why is it a
struggle for a lot of people whoare deaf, .
And think that's something thatI think for some, of listeners
(21:20):
, american American Language isnot normal English.
It's English, but it's AmericanSign Language and it has it's
own, and tell me if I'm wrongChris, but it has it's own way
of communicating the flow of thecommunication.
(21:42):
It has it's own dialect, kindalike you got the southern accent
, you got a northern accent, andit has its own kind of form of
dialect.
And that's where, when the TTY,that was always a challenge.
You had to know regular Englishto be able to communicate.
And so I think as we got to theVRS and looking at that, that
(22:09):
what's really broke down, that,that challenge and that
communication structure and beable to allow all forms of sign
language that was usedthroughout the country, to be
able to be accessible to allpeople with deaf and
deaf/blindness.
Chris Soukup (22:29):
Yep.
I think a way to explain it isASL is a visual language.
And the way that you,cognitively, you know you engage
with ASL is very muchpicture-based, and so you're
communicating from pictures inyour mind.
(22:52):
And so for a lot of deaf people,English is a second language.
And they grow up in anenvironment where they're very
fluent in ASL.
They're brilliant communicatorsin ASL, but English is their
second language, and so tocompel them to communicate in a
(23:16):
format that is using theirsecond language is
disadvantageous, and so that, Ithink, has been the struggle.
We have parts of the communitythat are effectively bilingual
and can balance between both ASLand English comfortably.
And then we have a big part ofthe community that is
(23:38):
predominantly ASL, and there'smuch less comfort and confidence
in leaning on English when itbecomes necessary.
And so creating more spaces andcreating more avenues for deaf
people to engage in their nativelanguage in a way that allow
them to express themselves fully, without you know any sort of
limitations or having to fallback into, you know, another
(24:11):
language and communicate fromsomething that is not as
comfortable is really reallyimportant, and it's something
that we thought very, very hardto achieve as a community.
Kelvin Crosby (24:27):
mean, it's something that, as as we look it
, is look,, the encompassing .
Whether you want to be hard ofhearing, whether you use asl,
esl, you're ASL going ESL do acombination or just straight up
ASL, like.
(24:48):
That's .
I think where, this is where, aswe move forward, one of the
coolest things is that we'vebeen able to do that.
We're able to take and providethat accommodation for people
who are deaf, hard of hearing,deaf-blind, and really
deaf/blind them that access.
(25:08):
And to me, that's the excitingpart.
And now we're at a point wherewe're starting to create this
for more people besides justdeaf-blindness and hard of
deaf/blindness hearing.
It's becoming more of a, Iguess, a standard for all people
, would you say.
?
Chris Soukup (25:29):
Absolutely.
I always think it's importantto tell people that within the
deaf community, 50% of the deafcommunity has additional
disabilities, and so there isincredible diversity within the
deaf community.
Different lived experiences,you know, and to your point, we
(25:53):
have all these, I mean this richmosaic of communication
modalities, and we've got deafpeople that sign as their
primary means of communication.
We have deaf people that don'tsign.
We have people with cochlearimplants.
We have people who become deaflater in life and lose their
hearing as they're, you know,approaching their twilight years
(26:16):
, and so there's this incrediblediversity.
And so coming into that andorienting yourself to you know,
how do we advocate, how do wemake life better for this
community, has been our life'swork.
Chris Maher (26:32):
Yeah, so that's a good segue, Chris.
Let's talk about CSDspecifically now, in terms of
the products and services andthe different kind of business
units you have.
And you've got a lot offor-profit parts to your
business.
You've got nonprofit parts toyour business.
And I would imagine that overthe arc of this past 50 years,
which is just incredible tothink of, you folks have not
(26:55):
only survived but thrived overthat time, my sense is from what
you've been talking about it'sbeen your products and services
and the evolution of CSD havebeen driven by certainly lived
experience of the community,right.
That, first and foremost, thatis where you folks have always
started and is always a part ofit.
It's your own innovativethinking and driving the future
(27:15):
of communication.
I got to imagine that policiesand regulations and laws that
have been implemented, like theADA and others, it's this kind
of combination of all thosethings have really driven the
vision of CSD.
And can you just describe forour listeners the totality of
what CSD does today in terms ofthe products and services that
(27:35):
they offer to the community?
Chris Soukup (27:38):
Absolutely, you know, it's over 50 years.
It's such a beautiful storybecause you move through
generations of technology andhow CSD has kind of moved
through those iterations.
And so there's things that werevery, very important to the
(28:00):
community and very central toCSD in our early years that were
subsequently replaced by newerforms of technology, new
innovation.
And so we, you know, we kind ofmove with the community, we
move with that innovation and wecontinue to center ourselves in
(28:20):
what is most relevant and mostimpactful, and so it's really
been a remarkable journey.
Today we have a range of thingsthat we do as an organization
and we have parts of CSD thatare continuing to be very
focused on telecommunicationsand innovation in
(28:43):
telecommunications and creatingthe best possible communications
experience for deaf people andcontinuing to challenge
convention.
And one example of that, andthis is novel in its simplicity,
it's elegant in its simplicity,because the whole idea, the
(29:05):
premise, is let's try to createmore spaces where deaf people
don't have to rely on afacilitator.
So more spaces where I don'thave to go through an
interpreter or a relay agent,where I can call in and I can
communicate directly withsomeone inside.
I mean, it's really kind of aradical idea, but we've gone
(29:28):
around to government agenciesand federal and state, and we've
gone to corporations and we'regoing into customer service
environments.
And we're saying why don't youhave a way to support the deaf
community directly, rather thanrequiring them to loop in
through an interpreter to get toa live customer service
(29:50):
representative?
And so that's something thatwe're really working on now.
And that does a few differentthings.
First, it expands the jobs thatare available for our community
.
And in our community, we havegreater than a 50% unemployment
rate.
We've got, you know, when youstart to look at underemployment
(30:12):
, you're talking 75% of thecommunity is either unemployed
or underemployed, and so it'sreally an epidemic that needs to
be overcome.
And so creating more spaces,more opportunities for deaf
people to be able to engage in,you know, corporate environments
(30:32):
and government environments,and to be able to turn around
and provide direct access,direct service to the community,
is beautiful.
So, on both ends, you know,creating jobs and creating
better access is an area offocus for us.
For many years, CSD has had theidea of getting into the
(30:54):
entrepreneurial space.
And the idea is, you know,building an ecosystem, building
an economy of our own where wehave successful deaf business
owners who are hiring deafpeople to work in their
businesses, and just being ableto build this network of
(31:15):
opportunity within our owncommunity.
And we finally, in 2017, CSDcreated what we believe is the
first social venture impact fundthat is specifically focused on
the deaf and broader disabilitycommunity, and we've been, you
know, I think, very, veryfortunate in being able to
(31:38):
support over a dozen businessesthrough that fund and, you know,
just the job creation and justthe you know proliferation of
opportunity has been beautiful.
We also have a charity that CSDfounded in the middle of the
pandemic and that charity isfocused on supporting other
(32:00):
nonprofit organizations thatserve deaf and disabled
communities and building theircapacity.
And we really want to pay itforward as an organization and
create stronger organizations inour community because that
elevates, you know, theavailability of services and
(32:21):
resources for the community verybroadly.
And so we're kind of we're in alot of different spaces and
continuing to evaluate where wecan make the greatest impact as
an organization and wherethere's a need that we tend to
kind of gravitate our resourcestowards that.
Chris Maher (32:40):
Yeah, that's amazing.
I mean the fact that you folkshave done that over the course
of 50 years.
I mean you've been aroundlonger than most companies, the
big companies like the Cisco'sand the Facebook's and the
Google's.
I mean I think Microsoft waseven started what?
Late 70s, early 80s?
And so it is just a testamentto, I think, your leadership and
(33:04):
your dad's leadership beforethat.
A lot of listeners areentrepreneurs and they're either
first time entrepreneurs orearly stage entrepreneurs.
What were some of the lessons,either leadership lessons you
(33:28):
learned from your dad orentrepreneurial lessons, you
learned over the arc of CSD'slifespan that you would share
with other entrepreneurs thatyou feel have been maybe keys to
your folks' success and yourlongevity.
Chris Soukup (33:35):
I think what we are probably proudest of, and
there's a lot of things to beproud of, but the number of
people that have come throughCSD over the years as employees,
team members, I mean just huge,huge alumni network of people
(33:56):
that, you know, have had theirstart with CSD or who have
worked with CSD in some capacity, who've received investment
from CSD or support from CSD,and so enough time passes and
you think about this incrediblenetwork, this community of
(34:19):
people that you had theprivilege of supporting in some
form or another, and that's alegacy.
In the end, that's what peopleremember and that's what really
counts.
It's great to be financiallysuccessful, but that legacy
(34:42):
isn't written in the things thatyou own, the buildings that you
build.
It's in the hearts and theminds of the people.
Chris Maher (34:51):
I think that is super insightful, and honestly,
I think it's unique in that theCSD culture, and community, and
leadership, whether that's younow as a CEO, your dad prior to
you and other you know seniormembers of your team, it's all
(35:11):
about that.
It's serving others and liftingpeople up and they may work for
CSD or be supported by CSD inyour various different parts of
your business for a short periodof time, a long period of time,
and some, like yourself, havekind of been there most of your
(35:32):
career.
Many times people move on andgo on to do other things and
you're excited about that andyou're supportive of that,
because at the end of the day,it's about lifting people up and
hopefully the rising tide liftsall boats and not just some
boats, and I think that's unique, especially in the purely
for-profit world where there'sno mission or social purpose.
(35:54):
I think many, many businessleaders do not have that
mentality.
They're like, oh, you want togo on and do something else.
Well then, forget it, you'regone, you're no longer part of
the family.
And the fact that you encouragethat and you're all about
supporting people and servingpeople and helping them with
their development and going onto support the community and
beyond, outside of the CSD walls, I think is just, it's
(36:16):
fantastic, I love it, I love it.
And I think it's pretty special.
And I'm not surprised that youfolks have had this longevity
now hearing that that's beenpart of the DNA in CSD, it
sounds like from the beginning,which is really special.
Kelvin Crosby (36:30):
I mean, I think what's cool is just kind of
where we're going and then wherewe're going now, Like where is
this all going?
Chris Maher (36:39):
Yeah, I agree, Chris, are you able to share,
like, are there some things onthe horizon for CSD that you
folks are working on that youcan share?
Is it around AI?
Is it around new types oftechnologies that you folks are
seeing coming down the pike thatyou think can be
transformational for thecommunity?
Is there anything there you canshare?
Chris Soukup (36:58):
There's a couple of things that I think are
important, and the first is, youknow, as we think about the
journey of the community and aswe move from one generation of
technology to the next, thereare some challenges, some risk,
you know, of people being leftbehind.
(37:20):
We have people that are stillreally dependent on an earlier
form of communication, that arebeing pressured to move into the
next generation of solutionsand maybe they don't want to,
they're not comfortable.
And so making sure that nothingis lost and we're able to
(37:40):
continue to deliver services andsupport those earlier forms of
services and earlier iterationsof technology.
As the world spins forward very,very rapidly and we see new
innovation and new changehappening all the time, and so
how we transition and the waythat we support the community as
(38:02):
we move through iterations oftechnology is a big part of what
we do, and that's going tocontinue to be very, very super
important as we move into thefuture and as we look to the
future and we look at AI and welook at the really exciting
projects that are happening.
(38:22):
You know we have avatartechnology, we have gesture
recognition, we have all ofthese emerging technologies that
are going to come together andcreate some beautiful
opportunities for deaf people tobe able to move about the world
freely, with complete autonomy,and to be able to engage with
(38:43):
the world completelyindependently.
And so we're so excited aboutthat and we're moving towards
that very, very rapidly and forthe next three, five years,
we're going to see some hugeleaps in that direction where
you'll have an AI interpreterand a human interpreter, kind of
(39:05):
working in tandem to supportthe communication needs of a
deaf person, and that's anincredibly exciting time to be
in.
But you know, also kind of alongthe way is, you know, making
sure that we're not forcing newtechnology on consumers before
they're ready and that wemaintain the ability to support
(39:30):
the differing communicationpreferences of the community.
And so there's a lot to thinkabout as we try to generate the
future.
Chris Maher (39:39):
Yeah, that's such a thoughtful and insightful
comment you made about thetransition of technology, and
there has to be a thoughtfultransition and overlapping, for
lack of a better term, or peoplewill get left behind.
I don't think people thinkabout that enough and it's
wonderful, that again soundslike something that you folks
(40:00):
have always thought about andyou've always done a good job of
for the community andrepresenting the community.
And so I think for all of us,and not just for technologies
and service for the deafcommunity, I think just for
society as a whole we need tothink about that more.
Chris Soukup (40:13):
Absolutel y, absolutely.
Chris Maher (40:13):
Yeah, Because people, I think, are getting
left behind every day as newtechnologies are rolling out.
So that's super thoughtful.
Chris Soukup (40:22):
I think there's a collision between.
I mean, the market seems toalways drive towards the most
cost-effective solution.
And so whatever is cheapest,whatever is going to meet our
legal obligation, whatever isgoing to, you know, that's the
form that is going to be putinto the forefront, whether or
not that is the most effectivecommunication, whether or not
(40:45):
that supports the needs of allthe diversity that you have
within deaf and disabilitycommunities.
And that's the challenge.
That's where, you know, meetingthe market where that pressure
point is.
Chris Maher (41:00):
Yeah, cheap and fast isn't necessarily effective
and good, right?
Chris Soukup (41:05):
Exactly, exactly.
Chris Maher (41:07):
And I can tell, just as you were talking about
the future around AI and avatarsand just how positively
impactful it's going to be forthe community going forward.
I can tell how excited you are.
Like our listeners are onlygoing to hear this on audio,
like I can see it in your faceand your body language how
excited you are about it.
So it's my sense is there'll bea part two to this conversation
(41:28):
where we'll bring you back totalk about some of that future
stuff.
But, as we wrap up here, beforewe let you go, Chris, how can
people and our listeners learnmore about you and the work you
folks are doing at CSD?
And we'll make sure we postthis in the show notes.
Chris Soukup (41:53):
I always encourage people to visit our website and
our social channels, and we doquite a bit in terms of advocacy
and creating awareness ofbroader issues that affect deaf
and disability communities, aswell as the specific things that
CSD is doing to to support that.
Chris Maher (42:04):
You got it, and if people want to connect with you
is LinkedIn the best place?
Chris Soukup (42:10):
LinkedIn.
I'm all over LinkedIn and andwelcome the opportunity to
commit to connect with peoplethere.
Chris Maher (42:16):
Terrific.
All right, Chris Soukup, CEO atCSD, you are the best, my
friend.
This was such a special treatand thank you for for spending
the time with us and telling usnot only about CSD, but also the
story of your family and it wasa super special conversation
and we thank you.
Chris Soukup (42:33):
Thank you so much.
Kelvin Crosby (42:35):
Well, that wraps up investing in accessibility.
As I always say, go live and beon your challenges and I will
see you next month.
If you would like to know how wedid this interview, there's a
bonus round at the end of theoutro.
Thank you for listening toInvesting Investing in
(42:55):
Accessibility a SamaritanPartners where where we invest
in change, for accessibility,not wait for change.
If you want to follow us, youcan find us on YouTube or
LinkedIn at@Samaritan Partners.
If you would like to invest inSamaritan Partners, email Chris
chris at chris@samaritanpartners.
com samaritanpartnerscom.
If you'd like to learn moreabout us, go to www.
(43:18):
samaritanpartners.
com wwwsamaritanpartnerscom.
You can take the first step ininvesting in change by giving us
five stars and sharing thispodcast with everybody that you
know, so we can spread the word,so that we can give access to
all by Investing investing inAccessibility accessibility.
So the way I was able to makethis interview work is I used
(43:51):
Google Meet and I ran it throughmy mixer and we were able to
record both on Google Meet andthrough my mixer, but we used
the AI captioning.
If you want to help deafindividuals do podcasting or
other things like that, just usesome Google Meet, Zoom zoom or
that That has an AI real-timecaptioning.
That is your strategy toovercome this challenge.
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