Jill Houghton

Disability:IN provides customized disability inclusion consulting for corporations and connects them to their peers. The Inclusion Works program provides participating companies with unlimited, customized, virtual, and onsite consulting provided by a team of disability inclusion experts, to help you create an inclusive culture while simultaneously developing a sustainable recruitment strategy. Joining Inclusion Works also connects companies to a Community of Corporations with exclusive meetings and shared best and evolving practices.

Get creative with advocacy – investigate new opportunities to think outside the box. For example, we are working with institutional investors, asset managers, and corporate boards to influence disability inclusion by creating shareholder demand for more inclusive companies and boards. This complements our work inside companies and alongside government affairs to change the conversation about what representation means. For example, we are asking companies to update their corporate governance charters to consider people with disabilities for corporate board service. This is a new kind of representative advocacy that has the potential to make senior leadership more inclusive.

Disability:IN's NextGen Leadership program provides 1:1 mentorship designed for STEM graduates with disabilities who want to contribute to corporate America, providing opportunities for professional development and matchmaking. Also, it's important to consider offering global recruiting showcases in different regions like APAC, EMEA, or LATAM. Disability:IN's Inclusion Works program has seen over 330,000 professionals with disabilities find meaningful employment; it's important to set and track employment goals. We’ve also broken the logjam for disability employment and others can too by studying our best practices. https://disabilityin.org/resource/disability-inclusion-employment-best-practices/

In addition to the humanizing benefits of disability-inclusive workplaces, there are financial performance indicators that quantify the benefits of inclusion. To make the case for disability-inclusive practices and policies with senior leadership, look no further than our study of performance that demonstrates a relationship between financial returns and inclusive structure. https://www.accenture.com/content/dam/accenture/final/accenture-com/document-2/Disability-Inclusion-Report-Business-Imperative.pdf

I encourage people to Google their company’s most recent sustainability report. Does it include people with disabilities? Annual reporting is the most effective way to communicate with current and future employees, investors and shareholders, and communities and consumers. Share your workforce representation data; highlight your ERG/BRG; spotlight your disability-focused supplier diversity initiatives. Make your commitment to disability inclusion public by voluntarily reporting on disability in your annual sustainability reports.

Disability:IN's Disability Equality Index can be any company's roadmap for building inclusive workplaces. The comprehensive benchmarking tool helps companies inventory current policies with the aim of improving the workplace for disabled talent and caregivers. It also helps companies identify gaps in their strategies and set aspirational goals for new workplace imperatives that improve inclusivity for all employees.