It started with a night we won't forget.
Not because of the show. Because of what happened before it even started.
Colette and Josh went to see Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City to celebrate their anniversary. It should have been simple: find their seats, settle in, enjoy the show.
It wasn't. The assistive listening equipment the theater provided didn't work. What was supposed to help someone hear the performance instead left them straining through most of it, physically present in the room but shut out from the story everyone around them was experiencing together.
That gap, between being there and actually being included, stayed with them long after the curtain came down. Accessible technology existed. It just wasn't reliable, wasn't well maintained, and wasn't treated like it mattered. So they decided to build something that would treat it like it mattered.
The Joshua Tree Project was founded to close that gap: not just by putting hearing aids and captioning glasses into people's hands, but by pushing the venues where people gather to make inclusion a standard, not an afterthought.
Being there isn't the same as being included.
Technology can get someone through the door. It can't make them feel like they belong once they're inside. That's the harder problem, and it's the one we started this to solve, one device, one venue, one person at a time.
Colette & Josh
Co-founders of The Joshua Tree Project. What began as one frustrating night out became a shared mission: making sure no one has to choose between showing up and being part of it.
The people helping build what's next.
Alison Pickett
A Chief People Officer and keynote speaker with more than 25 years of experience, Alison specializes in building strong cultures and developing leaders, guiding high-growth companies through significant transformation and M&A.
Matt Long
A revenue and growth executive in payments and fan engagement technology, Matt is EVP of Strategic Alliances and Sales at Ordr, and previously served as Chief Revenue Officer at Gigg, with earlier leadership roles at Checkout.com and Shift4 Payments.
Damon Wellman
A sports strategist and venture builder, Damon is a two-time NBA Champion with the Golden State Warriors front office, and the founder of The Sport House and Three X Global Ventures.
