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Our Story
Ruh Global Communications (RGC) was founded in 2013 by our CEO Debra Ruh. Debra has worked as a Global Inclusion Strategist since 2001. Before she became an entrepreneur she was an executive in the banking industry for many years. She created Ruh Global Communications to help clients reduce their compliance and brand risks associated with inclusion and create programs that act as a positive differentiator.
The goal was to help our clients thrive in this space and empower them to be global problem solvers, champions of change, and transformational leaders of social change. Our works are in a time of rapid change, globalization, technology and medical
advancements, civil rights issues, cultural changes, accessibility, future of work, corporate social responsibility, and disability inclusion. Ruh Global Communications works with our clients to help them envision, develop, and execute dynamic business strategies that help you reduce your risks, enhance your brand and drive profitability amid disruption. Debra is a global leader and has worked with countries, UN agencies, national and multi-national firms all over the world helping then create programs, strategies, and processes that fully include persons with disabilities. Her catalyst for starting RGC was her daughter Sara born with Down syndrome.
Debra refused to accept this. Debra’s unshakable faith in the power of human potential and her love for her daughter led her to create Ruh Global Communications.
Debra Ruh
CEO-Founder
When told by ‘experts’ that her daughter, Sara, who was born with Down’s Syndrome, would be lucky to push shopping carts at the local grocery store, Debra refused to accept this. Debra’s unshakable faith in the power of human potential and her love for her daughter led her to create Ruh Global Communications and TecAccess.
This was her call to action to prove the ‘expert’ wrong, Debra created a path to empowerment and success for those with disabilities. Debra became a Global Keynote Speaker and was honored to be Invited to Address the United Nations General Assembly at the COSP9 by the President Office of the UN on May 13, 2016. She is a published author, radio host, blogger, and social media “influencer”.
Her work has been featured on NPR, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Business Week, Voice of America Television, Reinvention Radio, Kenya Television, Print and Radio, Barranquilla, Colombia Television, Print and Radio and many other radio, podcast, print and television appearances.
Debra has also won many awards for her work including Named as #1 person in the world posting about UN Sustainable Development Goals, #SDG Champions 2021. Dell “Take Your Own Path” Marketing Campaign; American Express Open Campaign; VMFA Muse Award; Dell’s Innovative Business Award; Northrop Grumman’s Community Support Award; Women in Technology (WIT) Leadership Award; Wells Fargo/NAWBO Trailblazer Award; National Association of Women Business Owners “Rising Star” Award; America-China Foundation Social Responsibility Award; SBA Small Business Person of the Year for Region III; and “Most Powerful Women in IT” Virginia Business Magazine. In 2001, Debra founded TecAccess to acknowledge the contributions of people with disabilities in both
the workplace and the marketplace and provide accessibility consulting solutions to companies around the world. The choice to become a for-profit company led to many other decisions that supported the success of TecAccess and its mission.
TecAccess -became a trusted, world-class provider of accessibility consulting solutions that helped other companies ensure their technology was accessible to all. In 2011, TecAccess merged with SSB BART Group (SSB), and Debra left shortly thereafter.
In 2013 Debra decided to start a new company, Ruh Global IMPACT, a social enterprise whose cause is the Inclusion of People with Disabilities and offers consulting services on inclusion, accessibility, and inclusive marketing.
Over the past 8 years, Ruh Global IMPACT has seen much success, working with major multi-national corporations, the UN, and foreign government agencies.
Throughout these 8 years, Ruh Global IMPACT noticed an obvious stigma attached to disability coupled with fragmentation inside the community of People with Disabilities, which led to PwDs not being meaningfully included and a supply gap in terms of employment.
To solve those problems, Debra saw it necessary to create a new non-profit organization named Billion Strong in honor of the 1.3 billion people with disabilities worldwide.
Billion Strong is now developing a Global ecosystem ( digital platform) for the disability community to empower our community and the Disability Persons Organizations to strengthen our voices so they are heard and valued.