Matthew Shifrin

Matthew, a white man with red hair and a red beard, wearing a black collared shirt with vertical stripes, dark sunglasses, and a multicolored beaded choker-style necklace, looks neutrally into the camera.

Matthew Shifrin, He/him/his

Founder & CEO, Bricks for the Blind, USA

Matthew Shifrin is a blind entrepreneur, educator, and accessibility advocate who is transforming the way blind people experience LEGO and STEM education. Inspired by a family friend who created his first text-based LEGO instructions, Matthew founded Bricks for the Blind to provide free, accessible building instructions for blind and visually impaired builders. His team of 27 writers and testers has created instructions for more than 550 LEGO sets, downloaded over 40,000 times by builders in more than 120 countries. Since June 2025, the organization has adapted 201 additional sets. Matthew also traveled to LEGO’s headquarters in Denmark and successfully advocated for the company to launch its Accessible Building Instructions Initiative, giving blind builders access to instructions directly from LEGO for the first time. He has taught blind children at Perkins School for the Blind to use LEGO for rock climbing, neighborhood mapping, and music notation, and partners with FIRST LEGO League to support blind students in robotics. Matthew is also the creator of Blind Guy Travels, a podcast that premiered at Tribeca. Through innovation, advocacy, and education, he is expanding access to play, creativity, and STEM for blind people worldwide.