Campbell Rutherford is a rising junior studying Applied Mathematics at Harvard University. Blind since birth, she is passionate about ensuring that blind individuals can access the resources necessary for them to succeed in school, the workplace, and life in general, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Before college, Campbell worked as both a website accessibility tester and an assistive technology instructor, specializing in teaching students to access and present mathematics materials, and she continues to take any opportunity she can to tell her story and educate others about the importance of assistive technology in the daily lives of people like her. In her free time, Campbell enjoys playing piano, reading, writing, and spending time with her family, friends, and six rescue cats.

Liza Rutherford is a choreographer from Dandridge, TN, and is the homeschool mom of two girls, Campbell and Harris, and wife to Mike. After a lengthy journey to get an accurate diagnosis for Campbell, suddenly the Rutherfords were immersed in the deep waters of acquiring services and an education for a braille reader in a rural Appalachian community with limited resources. After 3 years of Montessori School and 3 years of public school, they settled on homeschooling Campbell for grades 5 through 12. It was a fantastic 9 years of exploring, networking, and learning as a family, and ultimately led to Campbell now thriving in Cambridge, MA as an applied mathematics major at Harvard. In her free time, Liza enjoys reading, knitting, cooking, going to the theatre, and back-porch-sitting with her family in the hills of East Tennessee.

Liza and Campbell sat down with us recently to share their journey from diagnosis and early intervention to combatting low expectations in schools to their journey all the way to Harvard!