Becky Jackson Curran

Few advocates have reshaped how the entertainment industry sees disability like Becky Jackson Curran. Born with achondroplasia, the most common form of short-limbed dwarfism, she grew up in an average-height family, playing sports including sailing, skiing, soccer, and swimming alongside her peers. At Providence College, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and co-founded the campus chapter of Toastmasters International, fueling a passion for authentic media portrayals of people with disabilities. Her early public speaking roots ran through high school Forensics and Toastmasters clubs.

After graduation, Becky faced a brutal job market — 1,000 applications, 100 interviews, and three temp assignments — before landing at Creative Artists Agency, where she spent five years in Entertainment Marketing and Comedy Touring. She moved on to CBS Television Studios, assisting with casting of pilots and television series, while serving as Marketing Director and Co-Founding Board Member of the Catalina Film Festival. She also founded DisABILITY In Media, championing positive disability inclusion storytelling through social media.

Three and a half years followed in the Equity & Inclusion department at SAG-AFTRA, where she helped implement a national diversity plan of action for historically excluded groups. A motivational speaker since 2011, she has addressed more than 400 venues across the United States, Canada, and Kenya — including a keynote in Nairobi that helped launch the Little People Organization of Kenya in 2013. She delivered TEDx Talks in 2014 and 2021.

Today, Becky serves as Employment Chair of Little People of America and sits on the Board of Advisors for the National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University, Positive Exposure, Understanding Our Differences, and the Providence College National Alumni Association Council. Her message remains simple: “I never want to change but I want the way the outside world reacts to my difference to change.”