Disability Business News
You Need to Know
November-December 2019
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Announcing Our New Website!
The Board of the DC Metro affiliate of Disability:IN is pleased to announce our new website and social media sites. Encourage your team and business peers to sign up for our newsletter mailing. Become a member and brand your organization as disability inclusive on our website!
Please take a moment to check it out!
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Are you looking for proven ways to increase your organization’s disability inclusion?
The Disability:IN DC Metro is
the local best-practice business resource for you!
Our Mission
“Building the Business Network for Disability Inclusion.”
Our Vision
“Cultivate workforces and workplaces where talent with disabilities are recruited, included, promoted, retained and valued as both internal talent and innovative vendors.”
2020 Programming Opportunities
We are hard at work planning for our 2020 monthly programs and webinars. The Board is currently considering the topics below and we would like your input! Please contact
Katherine McCary
with your comments.
- All Day Forum: Culture Change and Disability Inclusion
- Autism and Neuro Diversity
- Assistive Technology, Accessibility, Accommodations
- Branding for Inclusion
- Caregivers as Employees
- College Recruitment
- Community Partnership
- Covering and Self Disclosure
- Customer Service
- Employee/Business Resource Groups (ERG/BRG)
- Federal Updates
- Generational Inclusion
- Intersectionality
- Marketplace
- Mental Wellness/Health
- Recruiting and Hiring Mangers
- Self-ID
- Supplier Diversity
- Veterans
Program Host Opportunities
Are you looking for an opportunity to provide free training to your employees? Become a Program Host! (Limited to Business members). Choose your topic or suggest another hot topic on disability inclusion. Contact
Katherine McCary
for more information on how to support your internal education, maximize your disability-focused ERG, educate your senior leaders!
Member Renewals
Need to Renew Your Membership?
If you need to know your renewal date, need an invoice or planning for next year's budget, contact
Katherine McCary.
Become a Member- Annual Membership
All local employees are members.
Corporate
-
$2,000:
TWO
Program Passes per event.
Additional Registrations: $65
Gold
- $3,000:
THREE
Program Passes per event.
Additional Registrations: $65
Diamond
- $5,000:
FIVE
Program Passes per event.
Additional Registrations: $65
Platinum
- $10,000:
Unlimited
Program Registration
Non-Profit
- $750:
ONE
Program Pass per event.
Additional Registrations: $65
Small Business
- $800:
ONE
Program Pass per event.
Additional Registrations: $65
Government
- $2,300:
Unlimited
Program Registration
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Andrea Hall,
Chair
Diversity & Inclusion Sr. Manager
- General Dynamics Mission Systems
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The Hon. Katherine McCary
CEO, Executive Director
President
C5 Consulting, LLC
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Board Members:
- Jennifer Bassett, JBG SMITH Companies
- Michelle Crabtree, Hyatt
- Ellen DeBremond, Treasurer
- Anjali Desai-Margolin, Gallaudet University
- Tom Downs, Gartner
- Dan Ellerman, Boeing
- Andrea Hall, Chair, General Dynamics Mission Systems
- Sophie Howard, Vice Chair, General Dynamics IT
- Charlesiah Mclean, Leidos
- Eduardo Meza-Etienne, eSSENTIAL Accessibility
- Chrisonna Palmer, Secretary, EY
- Carrie Schroeder, PwC
- Jamel Walker, Northrop Grumman
- Myra Wilder, BAE Systems
- Emily Yee, Deloitte
Advisory Board Members:
- Orly Barbosa, Sandy Spring Bank
- Meghan Cadigan, KPMG
- Ron Drach, Drach Consulting, LLC
- Rikki Epstein, The Arc of Northern VA
- Sylvia Henri-Wonasue, Lockheed Martin
- Karen Herson, Concepts Communication
- Bryan Moseley, TCS Associates
- Rick Rodgers, The Resource Network
- Kia Silver-Hodge, C5 Consulting, LLC
- Bob Vetere, C5 Consulting, LLC
- Sue Werber, C5 Consulting, LLC
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Support Us This Holiday Season by shopping on Amazon Smile
Did you know that when you shop for the holidays at
AmazonSmile donates to Disability: IN DC Metro?
(T/A District of Columbia Business Leadership Network)
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IN THE NEWS - Articles of Interest
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Campaign Aims To Create 1 Million Jobs For People With Disabilities
Three of the nation’s most prominent disability organizations are banding together in an effort to bring about a million jobs for people with developmental disabilities by 2025.
Autism Speaks, Special Olympics and Best Buddies said this week that they are launching a campaign called Delivering Jobs to encourage employers across the country to hire people with disabilities and to give job seekers the tools needed to prepare for opportunities in the workforce.
The campaign is also aimed at educating the public about low rates of employment among those with developmental disabilities and the need to advocate for inclusion, the groups said.
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Elaine Katz of Kessler Foundation Named Humanitarian of the Year by Community Access Unlimited
November 6, 2019, East Hanover, NJ.
Elaine E. Katz, MS, CCC-SLP, senior VP of grants and communications at Kessler Foundation, received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from Community Access Unlimited. The award was presented at the organization’s Annual Gala Dinner Dance at the Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott on October 24, 2019.
Katz was one of three members of the community recognized at the event, which marked Community Access Unlimited’s 40
th
year of service to the disability community. Stephen Hehl of the law firm Hehl and Hehl received the Public Leadership Award, and community organizer Arthur “Skip” Winter was honored with the Ira Geller Award for volunteerism.
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You Did What?? Dealing with Undocumented Accommodations
Many employers assign their human resources (HR department) the duty of processing accommodation requests from employees with disabilities rather than allow individual supervisors to process the requests; having one person or department be responsible for accommodations can help with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, consistency, and documentation. However, even when HR is responsible for processing accommodations, it’s the supervisors who often receive initial requests, which can lead to problems if supervisors don’t pass the requests on to HR. In some cases, well-meaning supervisors decide they will just informally help an employee without telling HR. In other cases, not so well-meaning supervisors make a decision to deny an accommodation request without consulting HR. Here are some examples:
Example 1: An employer’s policy is to allow supervisors the discretion to let employees telework once a week. One supervisor is against telework and does not let any employees telework, including employees with disabilities who ask to telework as an accommodation. One employee with a disability decides to go to HR after the supervisor denies his request to telework. That’s when HR discovers what the supervisor has been doing.
Example 2: A supervisor has been informally helping a long term employee who has a progressive medical condition and limitations that interfere with job performance. After a while it gets to the point that the supervisor is doing most of the employee’s job. When the supervisor starts having trouble getting her own work done, she tells HR about the situation.
Example 3: An employer has job descriptions that outline the essential and marginal functions of its jobs. The employer relies on these job descriptions when determining whether someone is qualified for a job and when providing accommodations. When a supervisor retires and a new supervisor takes over the department, he finds out the old supervisor had been removing essential functions for employees with disabilities when needed. The old supervisor had never reported this practice to HR.
Now what? How can these employers undo what the supervisors have done? Here are a few suggestions:
- Immediately review any accommodation requests that were denied and determine whether you can approve them or provide alternative accommodations.
- Don’t make immediate changes to undocumented accommodations. Even if a supervisor went beyond the requirements of the ADA, the employee has been relying on the accommodations that were provided and you don’t want to change or remove them without considering other accommodations first.
- If the supervisor removed essential functions from an employee’s job, decide whether you can still claim that the functions are essential. For example, you might consider how long the functions were removed from the employee’s job. Who was performing the functions that were removed? What burden did this place on coworkers or the supervisor? Are there others in the same position who are required to perform the functions?
- If you decide that you want the employee to resume performing the essential functions, communicate this to the employee. Then, work with the employee to determine whether you can provide accommodations that would enable the employee to perform the functions again. If you can, give the employee some time to adjust to performing the full job with accommodations and monitor progress.
- If you cannot provide accommodations that would enable the employee to perform all job functions, consider whether you can reassign the employee to a vacant position. If there is not a vacant position available, decide whether you want to continue excusing the employee from performing the essential functions until a vacancy is available.
Going forward, educate all supervisors about how to recognize an accommodation request and who to contact when an employee makes a request. Also, educate them about why keeping HR in the loop and tracking accommodations are important and the possible consequences of providing undocumented accommodations.
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U.S. Department of Labor NDEAM Event
On October 30, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia and Deputy Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella joined mental health advocates at an event marking National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) at the U.S. Department of Labor's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Hosted by the Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the event opened with remarks from Secretary Scalia and Deputy Secretary Pizzella. Following the remarks, a panel discussion moderated by Deputy Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Jennifer Sheehy addressed the need for awareness, accommodations, assistance, and access in a workplace that welcomes people with mental health conditions.
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Starbucks Signing Store First Year Anniversary
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From left to right: Andrea Hall, Disability:IN DC Metro Chair, Matthew Gilsbach, Store Manager Signing Store, Katherine McCary, Disability:IN DC Metro CEO and Rick Rogers, Disability:IN DC Metro DOBE Committee Chair.
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Disability:IN DC Metro visits Starbucks Signing Store in Washington, DC.
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The new Starbucks Signing Store in Washington, D.C., celebrates its first anniversary. The store is led by a diverse team of employees who are all fluent in American Sign Language (ASL).
The store, the first of its kind in the United States, is down the street from Gallaudet University, a bilingual (English and ASL) institution for Deaf and hard of hearing students. It was inspired by a similar store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that opened in 2016 with nine Deaf partners.
The infrastructure and experiences in the Washington, D.C., Signing Store were designed to create a melding of worlds and the best possible experience for partners and customers alike, whether they are Deaf, hard of hearing or hearing.
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The application period for the 2020 HIRE Vets Medallion Award may be a few months away, but your organization can start preparing now!
We encourage you to check out some of the resources we’ve provided to help you prepare for the 2020 application period.
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The National Center for Disability Entrepreneurship (NCDE) at The Viscardi Center is an extraordinary resource that educates and transforms innovative self-starters to achieve self-employment success.
The NCDE at The Viscardi Center provides an in-person and online program divided into phases which reflect every aspect of launching a business.
Each phase of the program features expert trainers and guest speakers and consists of, 90-minute weekly sessions over a 14 to 20 week period. Each session is followed by a Q&A, corresponding assignments with deadlines, tutoring as needed and access to the NCDE’s expert Mentor Team and E-Advisory Council within program guidelines.
The NCDE welcomes participants with all types of disabilities. Learning materials are fully accessible and delivery is optimized for people with different learning needs and accommodations, for example, visual or hearing impairments. Consideration will be given on a case by case basis for participants who express interest in only certain phases of the program.
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Congratulations to Gallaudet Student Entrepreneurs who participated in the 2019 BisonTank Innovation Pitch Competition!
1st place : Thinking Hands (EdTech)
2nd place: Fiore (Traveling Mixologist)
3rd place: Blue Mango (All Access App)
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Get involved in
National Apprenticeship Week
(NAW) by hosting an event to showcase your programs, facilities, and current apprentices to career seekers in your communities.
Not sure where to start? This
NAW Planning Toolkit
has all the resources you need to plan, organize, and host a successful event.
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October 2019 Jobs Report - National Trends in Disability Employment
Job gains wane for Americans with disabilities
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Kessler Foundation and University of New Hampshire nTIDE Report— featuring a successful model for returning people with spinal cord injury to the workplace
East Hanover, NJ – November 1, 2019 – Despite resilience of the overall labor market, economic indicators continued to soften in October for Americans with disabilities, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – Monthly Update (nTIDE), issued by
Kessler Foundation
and the
University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability
(UNH-IOD).
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The NTID Center on Employment (NCE) had representatives from 48 local and national corporations, federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations at the 19th annual Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf Career Fair.
During the morning presentation, Brian Trager, Byron Behm, and Wendy Daniels of the Center on Access Technology team provided an overview of the research and development in assistive technologies that the Center is currently working on in collaboration with industry partners.
NCE also presented the Outstanding Employer Partner Award for consistently hiring deaf and hard-of-hearing students and graduates this year to two companies; Tobyhanna Army Depot and Rochester School for the Deaf.
We welcome you to attend next year, and if you did not attend this year but wish to express your interest for next year, please reach out to our NCE representatives.
We invite you to reach out to our team for potential Summer 2020 co-ops and internships with our students. If you have any questions about hiring our students, we will be happy to assist you.
Contact
John Macko
Director - NTID Center on Employment at Rochester Institute of Technology
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Save the Date!
We hope you will join us for the Release of the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium on February 11, 2020 in Washington, DC.
The agenda is being developed. Participate in person or online. Watch for a link to register in the fall!
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2020 AAPD Leadership Awards Gala
March 10, 2020
Washington Hilton
1919 Connecticut Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20009
The AAPD Leadership Awards Gala provides a unique opportunity for AAPD’s partners, supporters, and colleagues to show their support of disability rights and inclusion for all Americans with disabilities, while bringing together the disability community with business and government leaders for one night each year.
Join us as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of AAPD and 30 years since the passing of the ADA. The annual AAPD Leadership Awards Gala will take place on March 10th at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC.
Special guests and awardees will be announced soon!
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Save the Date: July 13th – 16th, 2020
2020 Disability:IN Annual Conference & Expo
Ritz Carlton and J.W. Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida
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Lights! Camera! Access! (LCA)
Coming to Baltimore Fall 2020
LCA is designed for aspiring media professionals with disabilities who want to explore careers in all forms of media and technology.
LCA regional career exploration summits are designed for aspiring media professionals with disabilities who want to explore careers in all forms of media and technology.
Are you, or someone you know…a media employer looking for aspiring
filmmakers, storytellers, video game developers, writers, performers,
directors, editors, musicians, dancers, or animators with a disability?
Are you, or someone you know… a college student, recent graduate,
transitioning youth or Veteran with a disability?
LCA is coming to Baltimore to empower aspiring media professionals
- television
- film and documentaries
- advertising
- news
- theatre
- interactive, including video games
LCA is designed for college students, recent graduates, transitioning youth and Veterans with disabilities. We are planning to produce LCA Baltimore next September or October.
LCA Objectives:
Increase
employment of people with disabilities in front of/behind the camera
Improve
disability images
Increase
accessible media with captions and audio descriptions
For context, check out
TV Guide
coverage of BBDO-hosted
LCA NYC:
This is NOT a job fair – LCA is a Career Exploration Summit
We have produced Lights! Camera! Access! (LCA) San Diego Career Exploration Summit with 24 talented aspiring media professionals with disabilities meeting BBDO ad agency, Cox Media, ABC News 10, La Jolla Playhouse, National Disability Theatre, creators of the Amazon Prime show ABLE, and others.
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Our focus is on Culture Change!
Our organization,
formerly the DC Metro Business Leadership Network,
is the largest regional member network of a variety of industry employers advocating for inclusion of individuals with disabilities in today's workforce, marketplace and supply chain. A non-profit business-led network established in 2006, our purpose is to bring the business community together in a dialog through education, training and resources with a focus on removing attitudinal and organizational barriers by exchanging best practices to ensure that the inclusion of individuals with disabilities as smart business.
Our Members and Guests have access to resources, programs and partners to strengthen the disability inclusion efforts and outcomes.
- Thought leadership
- Business to business networking
- Introductions to community partners
- Access to talent
- Hot topic programming led by Subject Matter Experts
- Webinars
Our Staff
The Hon. Katherine McCary, President, C5 Consulting, LLC serves as CEO and Executive Director. Katherine served as founding chair of the USBLN (now Disability:IN) for nine years, the founding chair of the VA BLN (Now Virginia Ability) for 13 years and has launched more than 11 chapters. She received the USBLN Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.
C5 is a global disability inclusion strategy consultancy comprised exclusively of private sector disability leaders,
experienced disability from a variety of areas; as individuals, as caregivers, and as parents of individuals with disabilities. W
ith more than 50 years combined expertise and a deep knowledge of culture change developed through customized business strategies. C5 is the pioneer of disability inclusion
"for business by business"
with just in time training Disability Inclusion IQ designed for enterprise wide learning.
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