Alum Liam Doyle is using his political science degree from UL Lafayette to become an entrepreneur and advocate for people with disabilities.
Just after graduating in 2021, Liam established Accessibility in Motion (AIM), a first-of-its-kind consulting company in Lafayette that works with businesses and governments to improve their physical locations and customer service practices to better serve people with disabilities. He’s also working with local organizations to improve compliance and equity for people with disabilities.
Liam, who uses a wheelchair, got his start in advocacy after becoming increasingly frustrated with the difficulties of navigating the city in his wheelchair, including one particular utility pole located in the middle of a sidewalk — but he decided to turn his frustration into something positive.
“I heard for years that I would be a good advocate, and I heard for years that I had a natural sort of inclination for this line of work, but I wasn’t ready,” he said. “I always would say, ‘Oh, somebody else is going to do it,’ and then nobody did — and literally it was that one pole and that’s what kicked everything off. And you know what? Why not me?
"I went from saying ‘not me’ to 'why not me.’”
His political science degree and accompanying experience in local government has prepared him his new role leading Accessibility in Motion. While his company is still young, he’s already developed important relationships with local leaders as a member of multiple local and campus organizations and from his time as the Disability Awareness Coordinator with Lafayette Consolidated Government.
“At the local level, that’s really where things are happening,” he said.
“No disrespect to state and national, but local government is as exciting — if not more exciting, in my opinion — than your national stuff, because it’s so tied to your community and your day-to-day life.”
He also served as the professional advisor for UL Lafayette’s Beacon Club, which promotes disability awareness, and established the Department of Political Science’s Change Program, which connects students with state and local government officials, including lawyers, lobbyists, elected officials, and aides.
“It’s a really fun program, and I think I’ll leave a legacy of change and forward motion and progress,” he said. “That’s only going to benefit people who come after me, and I’m totally on board with that. What I do today affects the people who come tomorrow. That’s very much the same thing with government: it takes time today, but it’s going to be better for tomorrow.”
Liam also credits his professors for giving him the knowledge and the support he needed to start his new venture.
“The professors really take an interest in all of their students and I cannot say enough good things about every one of them,” he said. “It made me a better government employee because I have a better understanding of how things work that I didn’t have going in.”
For future political science majors, Liam’s advice is to believe in your ability to affect change.
“I think the perception is that you’re in college so you can’t make a difference and your voice isn’t being heard, and that’s not true,” he said. “There’s no, sort of, ‘You have to be this age.’ You just have to be ready for it and you have to allow yourself to want it and be willing to work for it. That’s the biggest thing.
“There were times when I was first starting out that I absolutely wanted to quit and say, ‘Why am I doing this? No one is listening,’” he said. “And you have take that on and say, ‘The right people are listening’ and keep going. If you stop, then nothing gets done.”
