About
Erica Carson-Sami IS THE founder of CARCO Disability Strategies and a proud member of the disability community with several years of lived, work and volunteer Experience.
Years Lived Experience
Working with the Disability Community
About Erica
Erica Carson-Sami is a fierce advocate for the disability community, bringing over a decade of professional experience and more than fifteen years of volunteer leadership to her work. She is known for her practical, collaborative approach to transforming employment outcomes for people with disabilities and for equipping employers with the tools to support disabled talent effectively. Erica’s approach blends expertise, lived experience, and systems-level insight, centering disabled voices while championing accessibility as an everyday practice and a cornerstone of strong, inclusive leadership.
Erica holds a Master’s in Social Work from Carleton University, where she also taught the course “Social Work and Disabled People” from 2020–2022. She led a vocational mentorship program for adults with disabilities entering the workforce which not only focused on mentorship and gaining experience, but on capacity building for employers as well. Erica played a pivotal role in a cross-institutional initiative among four Ottawa post-secondary institutions to improve employment outcomes for graduates with disabilities. Across all her roles, she has been a consistent force in challenging misconceptions about disability and advancing the value of lived experience as expertise.
As the founder of CARCO Disability Strategies, Erica supports disabled individuals in confidently advocating for their workplace needs while guiding employers to build meaningful, sustainable disability inclusion. She has delivered impactful trainings, spoken on panels, and authored widely shared blog posts that deepen understanding and drive action. Erica has also contributed to disability governance in Ontario as Chair of the Ottawa Independent Living Resource Centre (OILRC) and as a Board Member with Citizens with Disabilities Ontario (CWDO), where she championed community-driven approaches to equity, participation, and leadership.
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Erica has a Master’s in Social Work and a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s and Gender Studies.
What does the name CARCO mean?
CARCO is an ode to the two people who have most influenced the person that Erica is today – her parents. The CARCO name is a combination of her father’s last name and her mother’s maiden name. CARCO tells the story of two young parents, their business (CARCO Food Services), and doing whatever they could to give their three daughters a stable and secure future by working tirelessly together.
Erica’s parents never expected less from her because of her disability. They constantly cheered her on, and truly believed she could be anything she wanted to be (even the Prime Minister!). Her parents found the best recipe for parenting a disabled child – never ignoring their child’s disability, nor focusing all of their energy on it. They understood before Erica ever did, that her disability would be an important part of who she would become, while also knowing that she was capable of so much more than the limitations and bleak assumptions society imposed on her and others in the disability community.
TESTIMONIAL
Erica participated in a panel session with my department’s leadership, discussing the physical and attitudinal barriers faced by persons with disabilities in the workplace and how managers can support their employees with disabilities. Her presentation was uniformly praised for being eye-opening, thoughtful, and deeply moving. It clearly demonstrated her range of experiences, her ability to engage a diverse audience, her determination to overcome challenges as well as her strong commitment to accessible and inclusive workplaces. Erica will be an asset to any organization looking to build a more disability-inclusive workplace.
*The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the IMF, its Executive Board, or its management.