Shaping the future of accessibility: How Handy Signs and Social Tides mentor Mitch de Leon are refining a real-time translation app

When Handy Signs joined the Grow AI program, founder and CEO Emanuele Chiusaroli knew they’d be matched with a mentor to support their growth, but the mentoring relationship has grown beyond what they had imagined. 

Handy Signs aims to bridge communication gaps and empower Deaf people with an AI-based digital interpreter of Italian Sign Language (LIS). The app provides companies and administrations with a tool to overcome communication barriers and to make their services “truly accessible and inclusive” to Deaf people. Soon, the app will also become available to Deaf communities themselves to support communication at work, in education, and in daily life.

But when Emanuele joined Grow AI, he knew that Handy Signs’ biggest challenge was market validation. Fortunately, Handy Signs’ mentor Mitch de Leon, Director at Xceleration Lab in Lund, Sweden, encouraged Emanuele to dive deeper into the market itself.

Both Emanuele and Mitch noted that addressing the challenge of market validation was a major turning point in their relationship. “There's a clear gap between the perception of communication and accessibility issues that Deaf people experience and the actual perception of companies: this is why we talk about invisible disability,” said Emanuele. “Mitch helped us in structuring a market analysis method based on phenomenology, that is, understanding the what, how, where, when, and how much ... and ultimately, what is the Unique Value that Handy Signs offers to solve that problem.”

Emanuele also praised Mitch’s experience as a mentor, including his willingness to listen and highlight real problems amid a complicated set of activities and tasks. 

“Mitch is a kind of super-surgeon; he knows where to open, where to look for the problem, where to cut, how to stitch it together, and how to prescribe the cure,” said Emanuele. “I'm not talking about a magic wand, […] but a professional ability of making you focus on your real problem, giving you the courage and motivation to tackle it, and supporting you with a toolbox you can use from that moment on, whenever you need it.”

As a mentee, Emanuele recommends that other social entrepreneurs looking for a mentor build honesty, trust, and discipline with themselves and their potential mentor. 

“... most important: Think big,” said Emanuele. “Share your vision, your values, your ambitions, the fire that wakes you up every morning on your journey of change, and use the courage and motivation your mentor will give you as fuel to keep that fire alive.”

Though the Grow AI cohort ended earlier this year, Mitch and Handy Signs’ relationship continues. Mitch explains that he “invests [his] time in people long-term,” and he still has conversations with Emanuele and the Handy Signs team beyond the formal scope of Grow AI. 

“Founding a company is a long, long journey,” said Mitch. “I tend to stay until the very end, or if I am told, they are "good". In the case of Handy Signs, as long as Emanuele and his team appreciate our "honest conversations, I'll help with no obligations or expectations.”

To other mentors or those considering becoming a mentor, Mitch offers simple yet honest advice:

“Time is linear, binary and irreversible. … My father, who was himself a mentor, helped hundreds of people succeed. He said: ‘Never expect anyone to thank you, but help those whom you can and those people with integrity and potential.’ There will be a ripple effect of good,” said Mitch.

To learn more about Handy Signs, visit their website. To become a mentor for INCO Entrepreneurs, visit https://www.socialtides.eu/become-a-mentor.