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
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
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.
• 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
By Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY | Published 9:56 p.m. ET Oct. 7, 2019
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to not hear Domino’s petition on whether its website is accessible to the disabled is considered a loss for the pizza giant and a win for disability advocates.
The case was one of a long list of those the Supreme Court announced it wouldn’t hear, and as is usual the high court made no comment in declining to take the case. Monday was the Supreme Court’s first day of arguments after its summer break.
The order to not hear the case keeps in place a January ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that Domino’s and other retailers must make its online services accessible. It also means the case is expected to go to trial.
“Although Domino’s is disappointed that the Supreme Court will not review this case, we look forward to presenting our case at the trial court,” Domino’s said in a statement posted on its website Monday. “We also remain steadfast in our belief in the need for federal standards for everyone to follow in making their websites and mobile apps accessible.”
Photo courtesy of Domino’s Pizza
Guillermo Robles, who is blind, claimed in U.S. District Court in California that the pizza maker violated the federal disability requirements because he couldn’t order a pizza on his iPhone: The website didn’t work with his screen-reader software.
“In today’s tech-savvy world, blind and visually-impaired people have the ability to access websites and mobile applications using keyboards in conjunction with screen access software that vocalizes the visual information found on a computer screen or displays the content on a refreshable Braille display,” the lawsuit argued.
In January, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Domino’s and other retailers must make its online services accessible.
Robles’ attorney, Joe Manning, said in a statement to CNBC Monday that the Supreme Court’s decision was “the right call on every level.”
“The blind and visually impaired must have access to websites and apps to fully and equally participate in modern society – something nobody disputes,” he said. “This outcome furthers that critical objective for them and is a credit to our society.”
Domino’s along with the National Retail Federation and Retail Litigation Center urged the Supreme Court to hear the case because the appeal court’s ruling “stretched the definition too far by deciding that websites and mobile applications must be judged as public accommodations rather than just considered as one of many ways in which a consumer might access a retailer’s offerings.”
According to the pizza company, a customized pizza can be ordered in-store, by phone, text, social media and voice-activated devices like Alexa and Google Home. Domino’s says it is developing a proprietary voice-ordering digital assistant, Dom.
“With a growing number of website accessibility cases being filed and conflicting rulings from circuit courts across the country, this is an issue that needs the clarity of a Supreme Court ruling,” said Stephanie Martz, the retail federation’s senior vice president and general counsel, in a statement. “Without guidance on what rules should apply, litigation will continue to divert resources from actually making websites accessible.”
Domino’s said in its statement that a nationwide standard would “eliminate the tsunami of website accessibility litigation that has been filed by plaintiffs’ lawyers exploiting the absence of a standard for their own benefit.”
To provide assistance with a disability hiring initiative at roasting plant and distribution sites.
OUTCOME
A Starbucks Inclusion Academy—a model originally piloted in a distribution center in Carson Valley, NV—was successfully established at Starbucks’ largest roasting plant (York, PA) with the first class of graduates hired by Starbucks. Starbucks Inclusion Academy is a unique on-the-job six-week training program that helps people with disabilities gain meaningful work experience in manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. Working at three facilities, NOD trained more than 600 supervisors and staff on working with individuals with disabilities; created a network of partners, such as the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation in York, to provide an ongoing candidate pipeline; and developed protocols to make sure that suppliers understand the company’s needs and provide effective onboarding of candidates.
TESTIMONIAL
“Not only was NOD able to provide training for Starbucks supervisors at our York Roasting Plant on how to manage individuals with disabilities, they helped us to quickly identify the most appropriate sourcing agencies and worked with those agencies to ensure they understood our workforce needs. NOD was an invaluable partner in helping us launch the Starbucks Inclusion Academy.”
Deverl Maserang | EVP of Global Supply Chain Operations, Starbucks
Learn from our findings about the career interests and support needs of severely injured veterans, particularly those with post-traumatic stress (PTS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sponsored by the Institute for Economic Empowerment/AbilityOne at NISH.
Bring in talent with diverse perspectives to solve business challenges, using PwC’s disability inclusion data to develop customized recommendations.
OUTCOME
PwC’s leaders opted for the Disability Inclusion Accelerator™to chart a path forward. PwC collaborated with NOD to understand the analysis of its Disability Employment Tracker™ results and built a high-level action plan to accelerate company-wide efforts to recruit top talent with disabilities.
OUR EXPERIENCE
“Our Tracker report showed our strengths and insights into other high-level benchmarks we could aspire towards in our disability inclusion journey. We obtained a different lens to direct our focus on talent that we next opted for NOD’s Disability Inclusion Accelerator™. The Accelerator gave us an even more data-rich, customized benchmarking, plus a specific action plan that would help us chart our short-term, medium- and longer-term initiatives and a roadmap for senior management’s evaluation. Our team was very pleased with what we learned and we’re now moving ahead with greater confidence with these new tools in hand.”
To provide assistance in recruiting and hiring people with disabilities at four of Lowe’s distribution centers and to provide training to Lowe’s staff, managers, and local partners.
OUTCOME
Lowe’s hired more than 150 new workers with disabilities in the first year, and an additional 250 workers in the following 18-month period. NOD provided training for more than 400 staff members and helped Lowe’s develop a local lead partner and a recruiting pipeline.
Among the new hires, turnover and absences were lower than or equal to that of other Lowe’s employees
After 18 months, with transition support from NOD, Lowe’s committed to expanding the program nationally, hiring a full-time disability employment expert to oversee the process
TESTIMONIAL
“Everybody wants to do the right thing. And everybody’s on a different part of their journey. What’s great is that NOD can play in all parts of that journey to help people be successful. It’s not only the right thing to do – it’s right for business.”
“Lowe’s has worked with the National Organization on Disability and many state vocational rehabilitation agencies to assist in hiring and increasing awareness of employment opportunities for people with disabilities. NOD has been a valued resource for Lowe’s and we commend them for the work they are doing…”
Steve Szilagyi | Supply Chain Executive, Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Giant Eagle + NOD | ‘A customized workplace solution from the ground up’
OBJECTIVE
To architect a plan to implement universal design principles – a designed environment that can be utilized by all people, regardless of their age, size, disability – in Giant Eagle’s distribution facility to make every job position within the facility available to people with disabilities.
OUTCOME
When Giant Eagle made the decision to extend their diversity and inclusion goals beyond retail outlets to distribution centers, they brought in experts from the National Organization on Disability (NOD) to help. NOD conducted interviews with Giant Eagle team members and held a collaborative workshop to tailor a plan unique to Giant Eagle’s goals and worksite. NOD also analyzed jobs at Giant Eagle, including assessing how work gets done, and identified feasible changes to job structures, roles and shifts. Giant Eagle attributes much of the success of the six-month engagement to NOD’s inherent knowledge of and experience in the business world, as well as NOD’s ability to build trust across the company during a time of change.
TESTIMONIALS
“The NOD team was incredibly professional. They clearly are experts. They took time to figure out our culture. They took the time to meet the right people. They brought the right people to the table, from the HR staff to the operations staff to the union representatives. And really built trust across all of the teams. You know, when we’re talking about making changes, not everyone is always open to that. NOD was just so good at making sure that they were leveraging their expertise, all the while making the team feel like they were developing the strategy themselves. And I think that that’s so important for the long-term ownership of the plan. I absolutely would recommend NOD to any company that’s trying to improve their disability inclusion. I know they helped us and their professionalism and expertise is unrivalled.”
Jeremy Shapira | Special Projects, Inclusion and Diversity
Michele C. Meyer-Shipp, Esq. is a diversity leader, who has built a track record of success by using D&I strategies to drive business results at Prudential Financial. As vice president and chief diversity officer, Michele is responsible for leading and directing all diversity initiatives for Prudential and ensuring ongoing compliance with federal and state equal employment opportunity/affirmative action laws. And, as a person with a disability and parent to a child with a disability, Michele is working hard to promote disability inclusion in the workforce, including serving on the National Organization on Disability’s (NOD) Board of Directors.
The National Organization on Disability recently sat down with Michele to find out what drives her passion for workplace inclusion—and learn more about her strategies for success.
1. What led you to choose a career in diversity inclusion?
I began my career as an attorney, specializing in employment and labor issues, and was later appointed to serve as the lead equal employment opportunity and affirmative action officer for the State of New Jersey by its then governor. So, when this job as Chief Diversity Officer became available, it was a natural fit for me. I have a passion for equality in all shapes and forms, am an advocate and work tirelessly for the underserved. Working to raise awareness of workplace diversity and inclusion issues, and being a catalyst for change, has been the opportunity of a lifetime.
2. Why has Prudential made disability a central part of its inclusion efforts?
Prudential is proud to be known as a leader in the disability inclusion space. We were recently informed that Prudential’s percentage of employees who have self-identified as having a disability is above the average found in NOD’s annual corporate survey, the Disability Employment Tracker™, which we can attribute in large part to our “Count Me In” campaign. “Count Me In” is about building awareness, trust, and appreciation, and these are the same ingredients that are important to engaging our workforce in general. “Count Me In” has helped some of our employees find their voice and share their full identity in a way they had not previously done at work.
We have a disability strategy in place and have partnered with NOD on a Disability Inclusion Accelerator™ briefing, which allowed us to go deeper in our benchmarking, assess progress against our plans, and identify new actions we need to incorporate into our future plans. Prudential is deeply committed to this work, and we are not resting on our success – we are looking to raise the bar even higher.
3. What elements of your strategy have been most instrumental in building a culture of inclusion at Prudential?
We have done a lot to communicate our commitment to disability inclusion – our ADAPT Business Resource Group is very active and has held numerous events to create awareness about disability in the workplace.
We track a wide-array of metrics that help us tell an evidenced-based story – we have built the business case and secured the commitment and investment needed to make change across the organization.
Also, I believe that the engagement of multiple leaders in this journey has been extremely instrumental in building a culture of inclusion at Prudential. This includes both senior business leaders and partners across corporate HR (Staffing, Employee Relations, Learning and Development and Health & Wellness to name a few). We have been able to bring these partners to the table to help us improve our ability to provide accommodations – and they all recognize the business case for creating an inclusive environment that allows Prudential to attract and retain the best talent.
4. What are you most proud of regarding your efforts at Prudential and elsewhere?
One of the things I am most proud of is the executive level support we’ve gotten for D&I efforts across the company. The high level of real-time commitment to the work of D&I by our senior leaders and corporate partners is extraordinary. They understand that D&I is not merely the work of the D&I professional, but the work of ALL. We have a terrific team of dedicated people working to drive inclusion and diversity and are making progress.
I am also proud of external recognition that Prudential has received for its diversity and inclusion efforts. While it is evidence of our commitment and progress, it is not why we do it. We do it to attract, hire and retain the best talent and to create a fair and inclusive work environment.
5. What drew you to want to serve on the board of the National Organization on Disability?
As a leader and change agent, it was a chance to advocate for those in need. Being on the board is an opportunity to lend my knowledge, skills and experience to help create awareness and more opportunities in terms of recruiting, retaining and providing an inclusive work environment for people with disabilities.
As a person with a disability, and the mom of a son with a disability, it is personally meaningful for me to support this community.
