Reimagine Tomorrow - Doug Clark Editorial

Inspired by his own experience of losing his leg in a car accident, Doug works with the Disney teams that build apps and websites to ensure that they’re accessible for people with disabilities.

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Doug Clark at a rehabilitation program practicing walking with his prosthetic leg.

One way that I think diversity and inclusion benefits people, is building empathy. I mean, because I think that's a thing where you're learning and you're seeing all these different diverse cultures and people. And I think that not only educates you and informs you, but I think helps make you a more well-rounded person. And so for me, that's always been one of the big benefits of having that kind of exposure and that kind of inclusion in the media.

Doug playing bass guitar in a hospital bed.

In diversity and inclusion, there’s not much of a focus on disability. I think that’s probably partially because disability is maybe not something that’s always seen by people. I think that’s something that I’d like to see in a reimagined world, just this understanding that there can be a lot of people around you day to day and you may not even aware necessarily of the kind of disability they have. Trying to keep an open mind that there are a lot of people who are living with that and experiencing it, and think about that as you’re going through your day to day.

My first job after I finished school was that I worked at a company called Guitar Center, which is a national chain of musical instrument retail stores. It was a really interesting experience in the fact that I got to meet a lot of different musicians. I'd always been a fan of music. And just to have the opportunity to meet all these incredible personalities, a lot of whom were my kind of musical heroes, was sort of a dream come true, but also you got to kind of get down a level and actually meet the people.

Doug and his family smiling for a family photo.

I think my favorite Disney movie would be Star Wars: Episode IV, the original. It has so many different dimensions to it, different character traits — there's Luke Skywalker's young optimist, there's Han Solo, who's maybe a little older, a little jaded. There's Princess Leia, who's trying to make these big changes with very limited means or resources to do it, but through her emotion and passion and the passion of the people around her creating change.

In diversity and inclusion, there’s not much of a focus on disability. I think that’s probably partially because disability is maybe not something that’s always seen by people. I think that’s something that I’d like to see in a reimagined world, just this understanding that there can be a lot of people around you day to day and you may not even aware necessarily of the kind of disability they have. Trying to keep an open mind that there are a lot of people who are living with that and experiencing it, and think about that as you’re going through your day to day.

My first job after I finished school was that I worked at a company called Guitar Center, which is a national chain of musical instrument retail stores. It was a really interesting experience in the fact that I got to meet a lot of different musicians. I'd always been a fan of music. And just to have the opportunity to meet all these incredible personalities, a lot of whom were my kind of musical heroes, was sort of a dream come true, but also you got to kind of get down a level and actually meet the people.

A reimagined tomorrow to me is heightened kindness. Part of that is empathy, but also making sure that people are understanding and respecting of other people’s situations and their personal circumstances. Taking a moment to pause before they have an immediate reaction to think about that other person or that circumstance. Think about how they can employ their own kindness and bring it to the moment.