Bean Gill

Benveet “Bean” Gill is an inclusion warrior, paralysis recovery pioneer, and award-winning entrepreneur who transformed a life-altering spinal cord injury into a powerful platform for advocacy, resilience, and organizational change. She speaks on overcoming adversity, disability inclusion, diversity and belonging, and redefining what is possible in work and life.

From Sudden Paralysis to Pioneering Advocate
In 2012, while on vacation in Las Vegas, a virus suddenly paralyzed Gill from the waist down at age thirty. A former athlete, model, and X-ray technologist, she was forced to rebuild her identity from the ground up. Rather than accept limitations, she chose to fight. In 2017, she co-founded ReYu Paralysis Recovery Center, a nonprofit that inspires and promotes recovery for individuals with spinal cord injuries and neurological disorders—built from zero capital with her Neuro-Exercise Specialist.

Award-Winning Changemaker and Media Personality
Gill starred in the CBC docuseries PUSH, the first major prime-time program featuring a leading cast of people with disabilities. She has been recognized by Mattel as one of Canada’s top 60 inspiring women for Barbie’s 60th Anniversary, earned the Top 40 Under 40, Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award, and Global’s Woman of Vision Award. She is the reigning Miss Wheelchair Canada and a self-described “trifecta of discrimination” who turns lived experience into actionable change.

Her keynotes challenge stigmas, inspire courageous conversations about inclusion, and equip leaders with strategies for building accessible, equitable organizations.

Rejecting Impossible: Standing Strong When Life Gets Flipped Upside Down

During summer vacation of 2012, while relaxing in a Las Vegas hotel room with close friends, Bean Gill felt a sudden, stabbing pain in her spine. She went numb from the waist down.

“The pain lasted only a few minutes, and then I couldn’t move my right leg. I was paralyzed within 10 minutes.” She couldn’t roll over, sit up, or get out of bed without help. She felt betrayed by her own body. She was faced with two choices: Give up or keep going. Although she wanted to give up many times, she chose to keep going. Today Bean Gill grips the handles of her walker, her muscular frame tense as she lifts her legs to take a few laborious steps she never thought would be possible.

Bean shares with audiences her journey to rebuild her life and regain her strength and co-founded ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre, a growing non-profit organization where they reconnect the brain to the body, retrain the nervous system and redefine what is possible for people living with Spinal Cord Injuries and associated conditions.

“One of the reasons why we opened ReYu is because I went through so many of my dark times alone, and that’s very scary. And I don’t want anybody else to have to go through their dark times alone … It’s incredible to see when you believe in somebody, and you give them hope, and you give them the tools they need, how they blossom.” – Benveet Gill

Modeling Diversity: The Transformational Impact of Unrelenting Inclusion

Bean shares what it was like to grow up in a strict Indian family and a culture that had rigid religious rules. Heavily bullied as a child, her sudden disability was a catalyst that forced her to face trauma head on. Bean took her health into her own hands, got the answers and help she needed, and bravely embraced an ‘attitude of gratitude’. Her vast experience, strong background in human connection and positive thinking strategies makes her perfect for organizations who seek ways to help employees overcome adversity, improve self-awareness, limit self-doubt, and inspire individuals to embrace change within themselves and their communities.

She delivers fun, upbeat engaging presentations which leave the audience feeling rejuvenated and ready to change their world. “I want to rid the world of the stigma surrounding people with disabilities and will continue to speak about racism and discrimination. By educating others we can release bias, anger and hatred.”