Austin Whitney has a Juris Doctorate from UC Berkeley School and is the founder of Ten Fifty Entertainment and Accessible Festivals. In the last ten years he has been the ADA Compliance Director for over one hundred events including for the last 7 years at the Coachella Music and Art Festival. He is this year’s presenter on “ADA Compliance at Temporary Events” for the National ADA Symposium in May and regularly speaks on accessibility and inclusion.

Codie works endlessly on listening to 1,000 albums and seeing 50-100 films every single year. Codie met Cassie at a Knuckle Puck show through a wondrous moment of eavesdropping regarding a conversation about Julien Baker. But their friendship didn’t truly blossom for another week on Leap Year Day (2/29/16) at From Indian Lakes. From there on out, Cassie has been his best friend. Codie joined Half Access because every single human being deserves to enjoy their favorite artists/bands (and then some), no matter what. Since Cassie started it on day one, he knew he wanted to do something to help, and now we all can.

Favorite artists: Nick Cave, Bruce Springsteen, Run The Jewels, My Chemical Romance, and clipping..

I lead Cause & Advocacy at Wasserman, a global marketing, talent, music and brand agency.

Valerie is a lifelong music fan who works with the independent label, Xtra Mile Recordings doing social media and fan engagement. Her academic pursuits led her to graduate school where she continues to study music fandom. Her scholarly work has been presented at various conferences and has been published in the Journal of Popular Culture. She also crafts and sells her art online.

Valerie was drawn to Half Access because of her own chronic illnesses and disabilities, which include Fibromyalgia and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. She’s struggled with having her own access needs met in the past, both in the crowd as a fan and backstage as a music industry professional. She is honored to join the Half Access team to continue to raise awareness on the discrimination disabled fans face and work to solve these problems so everyone has a chance to experience the power and joy of live music.

Valerie never takes Frank Turner, Chris Farren, Jeff Rosenstock, They Might Be Giants, Lizzo, or the Menzingers off repeat.

Kit’s life mission is to create safe and inclusive spaces online and off. Kit has over a decade of experience in community management, content creation, and user advocacy, and she currently works at a Fortune 5 company. Kit doesn’t let her chronic illnesses stop her from attending a show (115 and counting) and she is passionate about ensuring everyone gets to experience the joy of live music. In her downtime, Kit can be found caring for her guinea pigs, gaming on her PC, or baking some chocolate chip cookies.

Nova studied Music & Sonic Arts at Portland Community College with a focus on audio engineering and experimental art. She spends most of her time trying to harness her muses by pursuing many creative outlets including writing a novel, scoring imaginary films, and trying to perfect latte art. 

Nova has a passion for volunteering and enjoys being a part of all things innovative and exciting in the local community. Nova moved to Oregon in the fall of 2016 where she met Cassie via mutual friends. With a shared passion for live music and the increasing awareness of the inequality in venues, Nova is proud to join Half Access on its vital journey.

Nova’s probably listening to Halsey, Ashe, Half Waif, or Waxahatchee at any given moment.