Just Released: NOD’s Report to the Field

We help employers put ability to work.NOD Report to the Field 2018 -2019“>NOD Report to the Field 2018 -2019

Discover how we’re making an impact for Americans with disabilities in our newly released Report to the Field. Covering highlights from NOD’s innovative disability employment programs, this newly released report reveals how:

  • In 2019, over 200 U.S. companies employing 9 million people took the Disability Employment Tracker assessment,
  • The Look Closer campaign reached over 110 million people since launching in October 2018,
  • And so much more!

Learn more about how NOD is helping businesses tap into the disability labor force. Text-only version.

Take Action.

Despite these positive developments, employment rates for people with disabilities still fall short. You can make an impact by:

Shifting the Talent Paradigm | Shift Communications: Breaking Barriers with Technology

 

September 26, 2019 – More than 200 diversity and inclusion leaders from companies around the country gathered at the National Organization on Disability’s (NOD) Annual Forum and Dinner, entitled Shifting the Talent Paradigm: Inclusive Culture for a Modern Workforce. Sponsored by Lead Partners PwC and Spectrum, the all-day forum explored the best change management tactics that corporate leaders can deploy to create a more diverse and inclusive culture. Senior managers heard from executives and experts on the most effect tools and tactics to create an inclusive culture, as well as the leadership skills and personal attributes needed to lead a culture change.

Featuring: Rhonda Nesmith Crichlow, Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer, Charter Communications; Mark Balsano, Vice President of Accessibility, Charter Communications; Amy Warner, Vice President and General Manager, IT Digital Business Solutions and Corporate Director of Accessibility, Intel; and Simon Dermer, CEO & Co-Founder, eSSENTIAL Accessibility

Want more content like this? Join the NOD Corporate Leadership Council to access resources in the Members’ Only Portal

Shifting the Talent Paradigm | Crossroads of Compliance, Disclosure and Trust

September 26, 2019 – More than 200 diversity and inclusion leaders from companies around the country gathered at the National Organization on Disability’s (NOD) Annual Forum and Dinner, entitled Shifting the Talent Paradigm: Inclusive Culture for a Modern Workforce. Sponsored by Lead Partners PwC and Spectrum, the all-day forum explored the best change management tactics that corporate leaders can deploy to create a more diverse and inclusive culture. Senior managers heard from executives and experts on the most effect tools and tactics to create an inclusive culture, as well as the leadership skills and personal attributes needed to lead a culture change.

Featuring: Craig E. Leen, Director, OFCCP, U.S. Department of Labor; Candee Chambers, Executive Director, DirectEmployers Association; and Karen Brown, Bridge Arrow

Want more content like this? Join the NOD Corporate Leadership Council to access resources in the Members’ Only Portal

Celebrate the 2019 International Day of People With Disabilities

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (IDPWD):

Since 1945, the United Nations (UN) has outlined and reiterated its commitment to calling for the creation of inclusive, accessible and sustainable societies and communities – most notably with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Over time, the UN has honed its focus on promoting the well-being and welfare of people living with disabilities, and in 1992 called for an international day of celebration for people living with disabilities to be held on December 3 each year.

NOD Founder and first Chairman, Alan Reich, played an important role in the UN’s focus on disability issues, including as the first wheelchair user to ever speak before the General Assembly in 1981.

The International Day of People with Disabilities is not owned by the UN – it is owned by everyone: people, organisations, agencies, charities, places of learning – all of whom have a vital role to play in identifying and addressing discrimination, marginalization, exclusion and inaccessibility that many people living with disabilities face. International Day of People with Disabilities is one day on the international calendar, yet it symbolizes the actions we should take every day, in order to create diverse and accepting communities.

 

WHAT IS IDPWD FOR?

  • Reflection – to look at our own past individual and collective actions, and to identify our goals for the future;
  • Celebration – to recognize and value the diversity of our global community, and to cherish the role we all play, regardless of our abilities;
  • Learning – to understand and learn from the experiences of people with living with a disability;
  • It is a day for optimism – to look towards the future and the creation of a world where a person is not characterized by their disabilities, but by their abilities;
  • Action – where all people, organisations, agencies and charities not only show their support for International Day of People with Disabilities, but take on a commitment to create a world characterized by equal human rights.

DOWNLOAD IDPWD RESOURCES AND MATERIALS

 

How you can get involved:

• Use #IDPWD, #thefutureisaccessible, and #LookCloser to engage in the global conversation on social media. Share your stories as people with disabilities and allies at work or in the community

• For companies, join NOD’s Corporate Leadership Council & Look Closer campaign to advance your commitment to disability inclusion in 2020

Make a donation to NOD

NOD Chairman, Gov. Tom Ridge, Presents to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

On Friday, November 15th, 2019, NOD Chairman and former Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Ridge, sat before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights representing the National Organization on Disability. There to discuss the abolition of sub-minimum wages for Americans with disabilities, Gov. Ridge’s remarks touched upon the dignity of work, and the right of all Americans to participate in our national prosperity towards independence and financial security.

Governor Tom Ridge presents before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Gov. Ridge presents to the Civil Rights Commission

Read the full text of Gov. Ridge’s remarks, below.

 

Remarks on Behalf of National Organization on Disability
To the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
November 15, 2019

Good afternoon. First let me thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. It is an honor to appear as chairman of the National Organization of Disability, which I have been privileged to serve since shortly after I left public service in 2005.

I also want to acknowledge the comments of my fellow panelists for their expertise and remarks.

The National Organization on Disability is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the full participation and contributions of America’s 57 million people with disabilities n all aspects of life. We primarily focus on increasing employment opportunities for the nearly 80% of working age Americans with disabilities who are not employed.

The core civil rights vision of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability rights laws inform the approach NOD takes to improving the lives of children and adults with disabilities. The historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 unequivocally told the world that discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, or national orientation would not be tolerated within America. The ADA expanded the Civil Rights Act’s powerful and historic protections to include people with disabilities. All Americans should have the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

Over the last few months, I’ve had the privilege, through my work with NOD, to meet with many of the largest, most politically influential, and most effective disability organizations in America today. We’ve put aside our specific agendas and individual priorities and found common cause. Collectively, we represent a powerful political constituency. We concluded that we needed to collaborate to bring more workers with disabilities into the competitive labor market with fair wages. We concluded that we would work together to phase out section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which sanctions paying individuals with disabilities less than minimum wage. We concluded this is a civil rights issue and that 14(c) is inconsistent with the fairness and equal opportunity guaranteed to every citizen in the Unites under existing legislation.

Some people working under 14(c) certificates earn mere pennies per hour. We see this clearly as a Civil Rights issue. No one, regardless of creed, race, gender, age, or disability, should be subject to such economic discrimination. This system tells Americans with disabilities and their families that they are not worth the same as other Americans, that society values them and their labor less.

This practice is also contrary to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which sought to achieve fairness by providing statutory protection of the rights of Americans with disabilities to compete on a level playing filed with their non-disabled peers.

Back in 1938, when the FLSA legislation was first passed, everyone assumed that a worker with a disability was less productive than a non-disabled worker. In retrospect, a flawed assumption. We want to be fair to the intent of the original legislation, which was to provide, at minimum, individuals with disabilities an opportunity to enter the workforce.

80 years later, however, the law still contains Section 14(c). Now we know that workers with disabilities, given equal opportunity and appropriate tools or technologies, can perform as well as their non-disabled counterparts.

NOD has proof of this. Each year, NOD recognizes businesses through their Leading Disability Employer Seal™. This applauds organizations that are leading the way in disability inclusion and tapping into the many benefits of hiring talent with disabilities, including high rates of productivity and dedication, and greater employee engagement across the workforce.

The experience of these companies confirms that individuals with disabilities perform far beyond typical expectations and as well as their non-disabled peers.

Some well-intentioned advocates express concern that elimination of 14(c) would severely limit opportunities for many Americans with disabilities who may use workshops as both a place for meaningful social interaction and a respite for caregivers. We understand their concern, but we remind them there are other options available. 14(c) is not a funding program, it is a certificate. Federal funding will still be available to support individuals with disabilities.

Person-centered planning, where funding goes directly to the individual with a disability instead of to a 14(c)-certificate holding agency is an excellent option. Person-centered planning gives an opportunity for individuals with disabilities to have a greater voice in their life direction. Let me give you a wonderful example. NOD’s executive director Carol Glazer’s son, Jacob, has a severe disability. He also has meaningful employment.

Thanks to a person-centered planning model, Jacob works part-time, above minimum wage at the NBA store. Medicaid pays for his job coach at the store. Jacob also volunteers in integrated settings the rest of the time and takes weekly classes in art, music, cooking, and fitness. We believe that transitioning federal supports toward a person-centered planning model will give people more choices than they realize, like Jacob has choices.
Individuals with disabilities, parents, and caregivers can then choose to use federal funding for job coaches, supports, or ultimately at agencies. Eliminating 14(c) would give individuals with disabilities, their families, and the organizations that support them greater flexibility.

All this being said, we understand that transitioning away from our current model will take time and resources. We believe that supports to states and providers to transition away from 14(c) are necessary to help make this successful.

In 2016, the Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities released a report. As you are aware, the Advisory Committee was established under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The Committee was comprised of government officials, self-advocates, providers of employment services, representatives of national disability advocacy organizations, experts with a background in academia, employer representatives, and others with related expertise. The Advisory Committee called on Congress to allow for a multi-year, well-planned phase out of Section 14(c). It detailed that the federal government should assist with building the capacity of service systems to provide alternatives to those provided for under programs using a 14(c) certificate.
Similarly, the National Council on Disability’s released a report, “National Disability Employment Policy, From the New Deal to the Real Deal: Joining the Industries of the Future.” The National Council on Disability is an independent federal agency charged with advising the President, Congress, and other federal agencies regarding policies that affect people with disabilities. NCD also recommends phasing out of 14(c) while providing increased capacity supports as well. It recommended that the Department of Labor issue a two-year moratorium on any new 14(c) certificates, and that oversight of the existing 14(c) system be increased until the phase-out is complete.
These two established, respected groups, are absolutely right. The federal government should phase out 14(c) AND provide supports to ensure the transition is smooth. That is why the National Organization on Disability, along with the more than dozen groups we have joined together with, support the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act introduced by Senators Casey and Van Hollen and Representatives Bobby Scott and Cathy McMorris Rodgers. This legislation was carefully crafted to phase-out 14(c) while providing resources to states, services providers, subminimum wage certificate holders, and other agencies to ensure inclusive wraparound services for individuals with disabilities. These resources could be used to help providers create new models of workforce opportunities for individuals with disabilities that do not rely on subminimum wage.

In 2019, there is no excuse for treating an entire class of workers differently from others based solely on the characteristic of disability. Such treatment is discriminatory, just as it would be if applied to individuals of a specific race, gender, or sex. All Americans, including those with disabilities, must have a chance to have the financial freedom and security we all desire. Their sense of self-worth and the value of their labor requires society to protect their right to secure employment at least at minimum wage. After 80 years, phasing out Section 14(c) is a step that we can take right now to move closer to that goal. It is long past time to take this fair, commonsense step in the march to freedom for Americans with disabilities.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share these thoughts with you – and yes – thank you for your public service.

NOD Remembers Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard J. Tyson, a Visionary and Social Justice Champion

Bernard J. Tyson
Bernard J. Tyson

November 13, 2019 – The National Organization on Disability today honors the life and legacy of Bernard J. Tyson, a tireless advocate for equality, who passed this weekend at the age of 60. During his 30-year career with the organization, Tyson earned the rank of chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente Health Systems and Foundation Hospitals.

Tyson was a visionary, who helped shaped the future of healthcare. Under his leadership, Kaiser Permanente sought to mitigate the root causes of public health epidemics, like obesity, mental illness and homelessness, rather than simply treating affected patients.

As Kaiser Permanente’s first black CEO, Tyson became a leading voice for the African-American community and used his platform to champion social justice for minorities, including people with disabilities. By enthusiastically embracing diversity, Kaiser Permanente built an inclusive workforce that fueled a culture of innovation.

Just prior to his passing, Bernard addressed a corporate audience, saying: “What I’m after is bringing the most diverse populations inside of my organization and tapping into the brilliant minds that come from a universe of experiences that are very different depending on how you grew up, your community, your neighborhood, how you solve problems.”

NOD Board Director Ronald Copeland, M.D., F.A.C.S., who serves Kaiser Permanente as Senior Vice President & Chief Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Officer, shared his reflections on the sudden loss of Tyson: “The robust recognition and praise he has received by so many KP employees, national leaders and communities for his vision, courage, compassion and actions serves as a healing force for grief. We will transcend this moment and honor his legacy with dignity and courage.”

Bernard J. Tyson was an optimistic and fearless agent of change, which we at NOD hope and strive to embody in his memory.