Class of 2018

Xian Horn profile picture

Xian Horn

Teacher, speaker, advocate, blogger

“Mentoring is about feeding seeds; seeing and expanding another’s ideas about one’s self; the present, future, and what’s possible; supporting someone in the face of doubt or perceived obstacle, and helping one take action (no matter how small or big) on their visions and dreams. It’s about honoring the process so that success and growth are present, no matter the results.”

We are proud to induct Xian Horn into the Susan Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame.

Xian Horn is a joyful half-Asian woman with Cerebral Palsy, who serves as teacher, speaker, advocate, blogger, and Exemplar for the AT&T NYU Connect Ability Challenge toward the creation of Assistive Technology. Xian’s Give Beauty Wings’ Self-Esteem programs originated and continue at NYU’s Initiative for Women with Disabilities, the Jewish Community Center Manhattan, and M.S. 131. Her programs have also been presented at United Cerebral Palsy, Center for the Independence of the Disabled NY, the Standing Tall school (a school for non-verbal children), & her alma mater New York City Lab School, where she was commencement speaker in 2014. With her personal stories and ongoing mentoring work, Xian Horn is invested in contributing positively to self-esteem and the collective self-image, especially for women.

Xian has spoken at Apple, AppNexus, for the New York Public Library, Barnard College, Williams College, the ReelAbilities film festival (where she is a member of the Film Selection Committee). This summer, Xian was invited to Cooper Hewitt’s Accessibility Advisory Committee. She has served on the NY Women’s Foundation Committee for the Future and mentored at the White House for Lights! Camera! Access! 2.0.,  the US Business Leadership Network’s Innovation Lab, coaching their Rising Leaders, as well as high school students at the Future Project and IMentor. Xian also ran vocational workshops for the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities for Disability Mentoring Day. She has served the State Department’s International Visitors Leadership Program’s European delegation no has been on the State Department’s Speaker’s Bureau since 2016. Xian has been featured in The White House Blog’s Women Working To Do Good series, NPR, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Bloomberg, NBC News, Fox 5 and NY1 among others. In December of 2015, Xian starred in the Starlight Children’s Foundation’s PSA, Give Actually campaign. Since Fall of 2016, Xian has worked with Open Style Lab’s team at Parson’s where they created a couture coat tailored for her needs. She is also a blogger for Positively Positive – a community of over 2.5 million readers.