Disability Business News
You Need to Know
September 2021
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This year's NDEAM poster is rectangular in shape with a deep rust color background. A cream-colored depiction of the United States and its territories spreads across the poster and is covered with illustrations of people of diverse races, sizes and disabilities wearing colorful outfits. Written in bold letters in the center of the map is the 2021 NDEAM theme, America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion. Under the theme in smaller letters are the words National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Along the bottom (left to right) is the DOL logo, followed by ODEP’s logo, followed by the words Office of Disability Employment Policy United States Department of Labor. In the right lower corner is ODEP’s website, dol.gov/ODEP, with hashtagNDEAM underneath.
Availability
Versions of the poster are available in English and Español for both download and mail order.
Order the Poster
Download the Poster
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Meet the New Assistant Secretary of Labor for Office of Disability Employment Policy
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Taryn advises the Secretary of Labor on how the Department’s policies and programs impact the employment of people with disabilities and leads the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), which works with employers and all levels of government to promote evidence-based policy that improves employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities.
Previously, Williams was the managing director for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at American Progress, which works on progressive policies focused on a broad range of anti-poverty strategies. Before joining American Progress, she worked at ODEP on a variety of issues related to education, workforce policy, Social Security, Medicaid and civil rights. In her role as director of youth policy, Williams led agency efforts to coordinate education and employment policy in support of improved labor force outcomes for disabled youth. From 2014 through 2016, Williams served as ODEP’s chief of staff. She also undertook detail assignments as associate director for public engagement and liaison to the disability community at the White House from 2014 through 2015 and as a policy adviser on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions from 2012 through 2013.
Prior to joining the federal government, Williams worked as the research coordinator for leadership programs at the Institute for Educational Leadership and as the director of programs at the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues headquartered in Chicago. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Brown University and a master’s degree in education with a concentration in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University. She resides in Washington, DC.
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DC Metro Webinars You May Have Missed
Ideal for Disability ERGs
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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.”
"In This Together" Campaign Continues
Please Donate!
Shop Amazon Smile!
In these ongoing unprecedented times, non-profits face the situation of limited funding. The DC Metro Chapter is no different. As we continue to provide education and resources with the newsletters and free virtual programming, your support is needed now more than ever. Please consider a donation to support our mission in support of our monthly efforts! As most of us are shopping virtually these, days, please shop on Amazon Smile!
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Support Our Mission through your Membership
Be Recognized for your Leadership Brand
Annual Membership
Corporate - $2,000
Gold - $3,000
Diamond - $5,000
Platinum - $10,000
Non-Profit - $750
Small Business - $800
Government - $2,300
Individual - $200
Introductory Corporate Friends - $600
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COVID-19 Resources
NOW ON OUR WEBSITE!
As the leading regional business on disability inclusion, it seems critical to provide our employers with important information on COVID 19. Check out the listings on our website. Contact us if you have others to add!
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IN THE NEWS - Articles of Interest |
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BroadFutures Employer Partner Spotlight - The Brookings Institution
We are thrilled to share this news from BroadFutures recognizing their new employer partner, the Brookings Institution!
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Their mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global level. Brookings brings together more than 300 leading experts in government and academia from all over the world in order to provide the highest quality research, policy recommendations, and analysis on a full range of public policy issues.
Michael O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow and Director of Research in Foreign Policy at Brookings, provided critical support to BroadFutures' intern, Lily, during her time at Brookings. Michael and Lily even co-authored an insightful article together, titled Do Not Take the War on Terror’s Big Success for Granted. “BroadFutures is a great organization that understands how important it is to make the intern experience structured, purposeful, and carefully stewarded," reflected Michael at the end of Lily's internship. "Frankly, their approach should probably be emulated by many organizations sponsoring internships of whatever type. It was a joy to work with Lily and the whole team.” Thank you Michael and we appreciate those kind words! It was a wonderful opportunity for BroadFutures to work with Brookings this summer and we look forward to continuing our partnership. Learn more about Brookings here. |
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National Cross-Disability Nonprofit RespectAbility Calls for Massive Attitudinal, Policy, and Programmatic Disruption of Status Quo through Bold New Strategic Plan
RespectAbility, a diverse disability-led nonprofit organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community, officially announced the release of its new strategic plan. The plan is the culmination of a year-long process that brought together a cadre of key influencers from across the country, building upon evidence-based research, refinement, and results from the past eight years. The result is a bold, forward-looking, and visionary five-year roadmap to shatter old paradigms by engaging in a multifaceted approach to remove physical, programmatic, and attitudinal barriers to full societal participation by people with all types of disabilities.As we look to the future to envision the full scope of what is truly possible, the challenges of today warrant nothing less than decisive and organized action,” said Ollie Cantos, the recently-elected Chairman of RespectAbility’s Board of Directors and the first member of the AAPI community to lead a national cross-disability group. “When individuals, organizations, private sector companies, and government agencies at all levels come together to achieve concrete and measurable outcomes that truly matter, everyone benefits.”
The strategic plan is driven by three foundational elements that are the heart of the transformation. Synergy results from combining these elements with three core tenets, which operationally drive the growth and development of four key programmatic areas of focus.
“Taken together, by blending both the philosophical underpinnings of a coherent roadmap for growth and the carefully-crafted operational steps necessary to bring to fruition precise goals that have the concrete effect of touching the lives of persons with disabilities across the lifespan, RespectAbility is well positioned to play a leading role in pioneering cutting-edge innovation to foster real and lasting impact,” Cantos added.
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It's Time to Include Disability in All Corporate Diversity Requirements | Opinion
TED KENNEDY, JR. , CO-CHAIR OF THE DISABILITY EQUALITY INDEX
When the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gave the green light to Nasdaq for its new board diversity reporting initiative, it rightfully included women, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ individuals. But people with disabilities were left out.
As a childhood bone cancer survivor, amputee and disability rights lawyer, I view this decision as the latest snub for the 33 million working-age people with disabilities in corporate America. Several states, including California, Maryland, Illinois and New York, also failed to include disability from board diversity-related requirements for companies headquartered in those states.
Even 31 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, systemic bias still has a strong grip. The ADA calls people with disabilities a "discrete and insular minority" that has been subjected to discrimination and unequal treatment. But we are still not viewed akin to other underrepresented minorities like women and people of color. We are still not seen as important enough to count in corporate diversity metrics, nor given the same business opportunities afforded to other diverse groups. Read the entire article.
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A JAN Interview with Marty Exline
The Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP)
Assistive technology (AT) is often an important component to successful employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Whether low tech or high tech, at JAN we are often sharing information with our customers about how devices can contribute to effective accommodation solutions. In this blog, we’re fortunate to interview Marty Exline from ATAP for more details about the work his organization does in the critical areas of AT information, training, and access.
For those who are not familiar with the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP), can you describe what your organization does and its relationship to State Assistive Technology Act Programs funded under the Assistive Technology Act (AT Act)? Can you describe what your role is in the ATAP organization?
ATAP is a membership organization of state and territory Assistive Technology (AT) Act programs. ATAP works primarily with national policy issues impacting access to assistive technology. The AT3 Center, a component of ATAP, is the national training and technical assistance provider for all 56 of the state and territory AT Act programs. AT3 stands for “Assistive Technology Act Technical Assistance and Training” Center.
I am the Director of the AT3 Center and work with other AT3 staff to provide training and technical assistance to the 56 AT Act programs.
What is the Assistive Technology Act (AT Act) and what are the main goals of this legislation?
The purpose of the Assistive Technology Act of 2004 is to support comprehensive statewide programs to improve the provision of assistive technology for individuals of all ages with all types of disabilities in all settings (community living, education, and employment). The goal of these programs is to increase individuals’ access to and acquisition of AT through a defined set of activities. The Act, administered by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), provides formula grants to support an AT program in each state and territory.
What services do the state AT programs provide to individuals with disabilities and how do they qualify for services?
There are four “state-level” activities defined in the AT Act that are provided by almost every state and territory program. These include:
- Device demonstration – Device demonstrations can be in-person or remote to allow individuals with disabilities, family members, and service providers to compare device features to decide which AT meets the needs of an individual.
- Short-term device loans – Device loans are to borrow AT to try out in a particular setting to make decisions about the AT that would best meet someone’s needs. The purpose of a device loan might also be to borrow as a temporary accommodation or when an individual’s device is in for repairs.
- State financing – State financing includes activities such as financial loans with favorable terms but can also include other activities that provide for the payment or other acquisition of AT. The purpose is to help individuals acquire devices once they are matched to the device that meets their needs.
- Device reuse – Device reuse activities can include the exchange, repair, recycling, or other reutilization of assistive technology devices for use by individuals with disabilities at no cost or at significantly reduced costs.
There are also “state leadership” activities that include training, technical assistance, information and referral, and public awareness. A portion of training and technical assistance activities are focused on transition (from school to work; from school to other aspects of adult life; or from congregate to community-based settings). Additionally, many states also conduct activities to improve accessibility of information and communication technology (ICT).
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Neurodiversity Checklist
Today, increased demand for workers in specialized fields such as information technology, financial services, health care and others is prompting more employers to tap new talent pools to meet workforce needs. As part of this, some companies have implemented programs targeting people on the autism spectrum and other neurodiverse individuals. A new checklist from EARN summarizes best practices gathered from successful neurodiversity initiatives, so that employers of all sizes can successfully scale and implement them in a variety of industries. Access the checklist.
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Job Seeker Observations Implementation Tool
EARN recently conducted focus groups to gather insight into the strategies job seekers with disabilities use and the types of content and messaging they consider most impactful in communicating a company’s commitment to disability inclusion. Based on findings from these focus groups, EARN developed a new fact sheet—Company Website Disability Inclusion Messaging: Observations of Job Seekers with Disabilities—that outlines effective strategies for engaging job seekers with disabilities in the online recruiting and selection process. Read the fact sheet.
Leveraging Remote Work to Increase Inclusion
The widespread shift to remote work because of COVID-19 has altered the workplace in ways that will be felt long after the pandemic. These changes will likely result in increased flexible work arrangements for a wide portion of the American workforce. A new EARN practice brief explores how, as employers reassess their employee recruitment, hiring, onboarding, compensation and evaluation processes, they can also increase the inclusion of people with disabilities within their organizations. Read the practice brief.
AskEARN
Q: We are reopening our office in phases and want to make sure we are doing so in a way that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability nondiscrimination laws. Can you help?
A: Yes! Many employers whose employees shifted to remote work at the start of the pandemic are now considering their plans for the future, which may include returning some or all staff to the office, whether in phases or all at once. To help employers navigate this process, EARN developed a policy brief, titled Disability-Inclusive COVID-19 Workplace Safety and Health Plans. The brief highlights how to ensure reopening plans align with disability and civil rights laws, including the ADA, and are consistent with public and occupational safety and health guidance.
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Web Accessibility Insurance: The Next Frontier
For business owners and web agencies alike, a staple part of any product or service that you offer is making sure you are protected properly via insurance. From general liability to cyber, having insurance gives you and your company peace of mind that you will be protected if the worst were to happen. However, for those that have heard of the stark increase in website accessibility lawsuits in the past few years, there has been a growing need for protection against these types of demand letters. There wasn’t a way to address it, until now. A new category has emerged: web accessibility insurance.
Web accessibility insurance is now becoming the next frontier in protection for your company. Just as you insure your premises against fire and theft and protect your online presence from malicious cyber-attacks and data breaches on work computer systems, you need to now be ever more aware of accessibility requirements, both so that you can ensure you are catering to all users, but also to protect your company from potentially very hefty fines.
What is web accessibility and why is it important?
You might think web accessibility doesn’t apply to you or that you already have it covered. But web accessibility applies to every website and, as rising levels of litigation are showing, many are not as compliant as they might think.
In the same way that a physical building needs to install wheelchair ramps and provide braille numbers on elevator buttons to make it accessible for blind and disabled users, your website needs to be similarly accessible to users with disabilities.
For example, people who have vision impairments often use screen reading technology to describe websites; this technology is more effective if the content on your website is displayed logically, if your images have alt text, and if buttons and links are correctly labelled. Web accessibility tools not only benefit users with disabilities, but any user who might need them in a specific moment — e.g., a screen reading tool may be useful when bright light prevents the user from seeing the screen properly.
Essentially, accessibility makes your website better for everyone and improves your SEO in the process, so it’s something you should be striving for irrespective of legal requirements.
In fact, these requirements have been around for a while in the form of guidelines such as the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), but it is only recently that focus has shifted to enforcement, with lawsuits and litigation against non-compliance becoming more and more commonplace. So, if you haven’t got around to addressing this issue yet, what are the risks and how can you protect yourself against them?
What is the risk if a website is not compliant?
If you haven’t heard about accessibility litigation yet, it is only a matter of time. Judging by current trends, most organizations will be sued at some stage for ADA non-compliance. Litigation lawyers have sniffed out an easy win, with many websites unprepared or unaware of what’s necessary and — with the difficulty of achieving and maintaining a fully compliant site — many companies are getting hit with huge fines, many of them repeatedly.
There are several reasons why companies fail with compliance and fall foul of these lawsuits:
- Lack of visibility – Whilst it’s easy to see if a ramp is missing from a building’s entrance, you can’t easily see if even basics like alt text are in place on your website. Litigation lawyers use tools and tricks of the trade to spot well-hidden issues and expose them even when you think you are fully covered.
- Complexity of requirements – Web accessibility is not simple to understand for the average content creator, and even so-called ‘experts’ and consultants can underestimate what is required. In addition, requirements are changing constantly and it’s hard to stay informed.
- Focus on “compliance” not “inclusion” – It can be distracting to base your strategy on checkpoint compliance and quick fixes because these don’t always address all the issues. By applying a genuinely ‘inclusive’ approach instead, you can focus on the material impact these changes will have on some of your users.
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Mental Health Conversation Corner |
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Nike Is Closing Its Corporate Offices, Giving Workers A Week Off To ‘Prioritize Mental Health’
Nike, the sneaker and apparel giant, closed its corporate office for a week to help its employees relax and recharge. The pandemic made us appreciate the importance of paying attention to mental health issues in the workplace. The outbreak forced us to confront the challenges that people have been enduring. Unrelenting anxiety, stress, uncertainty, fear and isolation have wreaked havoc on the mental health of many Americans.
Growing up in a hardscrabble part of Brooklyn, New York, before it became gentrified and hip, it wasn’t acceptable to talk about your feelings. If you wanted to share with friends that you were going through some depression or burnout, you’d be met with the unique Brooklynese vernacular of the time, “forgetaboutit,” stop complaining and “man up.”
It's different now. Companies have recognized that they need to look after the well-being of their people. It's unfortunate that it took a global pandemic to come to this realization, but better late than never. In a LinkedIn post, Matt Marrazzo, a senior manager of global marketing science at Nike wrote, “Teams at Nike will start closing their laptops for our regular Summer Friday hours. But today is *extra* special.” He then added, “Nike HQ is also powering down for a full week off starting next Monday. Our senior leaders are all sending a clear message: take the time to unwind, destress and spend time with your loved ones. Do not work.”
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Google Well Being Manifesto
As technology becomes more and more integral to everything we do, it can sometimes distract us from the things that matter most to us. We believe technology should improve life, not distract from it. We’re committed to giving everyone the tools they need to develop their own sense of digital wellbeing. So that life, not the technology in it, stays front and center. See Google's It's Ok to flyer.
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How game-makers are catering to disabled players
According to a recent study, more than 2 percent of the US population can't play video games due to poor accessibility options. This same study suggests more than 9 percent are unable to enjoy the traditional gaming experience because of visual, cognitive, or physical impairments. Additional research suggests 20 percent of the casual gaming audience is disabled in some fashion.
That amounts to millions of disabled players who are locked out of games because of a lack of support. But after decades in which accessibility options were absent or an afterthought, game developers in recent years have shown an increasing willingness to cater to this audience explicitly.
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Many independent game producers are continuing to invest in the hardware, tech, and tools necessary to bring gaming to a patiently waiting audience. Indie maven Aaron Fothergill, the co-founder of UK's Strange Flavour studio harnesses the power of gyro/camera controls and AR systems to assist the mobility impaired in his flagship game AiRburst. "This would also potentially make it playable from a wheelchair for someone with limited dexterity but the ability to rotate their chair," Fothergill said in an interview.
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Inclusion and diversity are imperatives in today’s workplace. For those who create training or administer training programs, that means considering and meeting the needs of learners with disabilities. This “Training Manager’s Guide to Accessible Elearning” provides practical steps for ensuring your online training fosters a welcoming experience for all of your learners, whether they are team members, clients, or the public.
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Events In The DC Metro Area and Beyond |
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21 Days to Build a Habit:
Accessibility Best Practices
Starts Monday, Sept. 13!
Our friends at Current Global are hosting a 21 Day Challenge to teach fundamentals of accessible communications for social media, the Microsoft Office Suite, and video and audio content. The challenge is based on research that indicates it takes at least 21 days to form a habit.
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The challenge will be hosted on www.accessible-communications.com.
- A new challenge will be featured each day with detailed instructions for completion.
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Organizations and participants can share their experience using #ABD21DayChallenge.
- After completing all 21 challenges, participants will earn a digital badge to show they are supporting accessible communications.
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Jobs Ability Webinar
Employment Opportunities and Training Program for PwD with Jobs Ability
Jobs Ability: Information Session for the Disability community.
Monday, Sept 13th at 1:30 pm
Learn about and how to access Our Ability’s job training and search system, Jobs Ability, which uses an accessible chatbot – ‘Abi’ – who helps candidates identifying their ideal job based on an individual’s education, work history, and most importantly their capabilities/skills.
For Job Seekers and Support Staff
- Be seen by employers looking to hire people with disabilities.
- Create a profile to showcase your employment skills and receive job matches.
- Add your location with city and state so employers can search for you by location.
- Check-in frequently as new positions are posted daily.
For Employers
- Daily scraping of your 'Careers' site for all current postings.
- Receive automated candidate matches.
- Search for candidates by skill, education/degree, industry, location, etc.
When: Monday, Sept 13th at 1:30 pm
Ally and Your Career Ally Financial only succeeds when its people do – and that’s more than some cliche people put on job postings.
Sincerely,
John Robinson
Our Ability
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2021 Affiliate Call Series
A Showcase of Affiliate 2021 NDEAM Events
Friday, September 17th 1:00-2:00 EST
Webinar link/dial-in will provided when you register
Call will be held on Zoom with ASL and CART provided.
Presenters:
- Sharon Denson: Executive Director, Disability: IN CT
- Brenda Perkins: Business Relations Consultant, Disability:IN Greater Kansas City.
- Elaine Kubik, Director of Marketing & Communications, Disability:IN
Learning Objectives:
- Event promotion
- Components of a successful celebration
- Budgets and revenue generation
- Keeping the momentum going- follow-up activities
- Tips for success
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Adding events to Disability:IN public calendar
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28th Annual Conference on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
September 21, 2021 2:00pm EDT to
September 23, 2021 4:30pm EDT
Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel
Baltimore, Maryland
Presented by TransCen, Inc. and the Mid-Atlantic ADA Center
Visit the information and registration site for details about the conference agenda and sessions, presenters, hotel facility (including health and safety information), local transit and tourist information, and opportunities for sponsors and exhibitors!
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Wednesday, September 22
1:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. CT / 11:30 a.m. MT / 10:30 a.m. PT
Neurodiversity, system collaborations and transition services for youth with disabilities are some of the most cutting-edge topics in the wider world of disability employment. Fostering cooperation between different programs is critical for achieving transformative results for people with significant barriers to employment.
The Neurodiversity at Work programs at the Kennedy Krieger Institute is built on a foundation of interdisciplinary and interagency collaboration. It offers critical lessons and emerging practices for other youth serving agencies, organizations, and programs. Please join us for this special webinar where we will unpack and discuss in detail what makes Kennedy Krieger’s work successful. [continue reading…]
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Register now for the complimentary Sept 23rd virtual meeting.
Our feature presentation, entitled “Highlights from the 2021 NILG Conference”, will include a speed round from WMILG members who were presented at, and/or attended, the 2021 NILG national conference. After the presentation, our OFCCP and EEOC representatives will also provide updates. If you attended NILG and are interested in providing highlights, please send an email to abowman@dciconsult.com by August 25th to express interest.
We would also like to repeat the invitation to our members and attendees who may be interested in joining the WMILG Steering Committee. If you are interested in serving on the committee in any capacity, please email WMILG President Joanna Colosimo at jcolosimo@dciconsult.com.
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The Arc’s 2021 National Convention
September 27–29 | New Orleans, LA
We know the last year and a half has been full of uncertainty and disruption. Our 2021 National Convention will both honor the struggles of the past year and renew our hope as we look to the future of the disability rights movement. Sessions will detail the challenges and advances made in the past year, including sessions on strategic crisis response, remote supports, diversity and inclusion, mental health struggles, and much more!
The in-person event—following the safety guidelines set by the city, state, and CDC—will feature dozens of speakers from across the disability sector, including family members and advocates, policy experts, and innovators at the forefront of disability services and supports.
We hope to see you at this exciting event. Let’s get inspired and prepared for the work ahead!
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October 4-6, Washington, DC
The M-Enabling Summit Conference and Showcase is dedicated to promoting digital environments and assistive technologies for senior citizens and users of all abilities. It is an annual meeting place for all who implement digital inclusion strategies or develop assistive solutions and accessible digital contents and services for workplaces, learning environments or consumer markets. With its theme of “Strategies for Inclusive Digital Transformations,” the 2021 M-Enabling Summit will highlight the major shifts in business, government and education driven by the pandemic that will affect anyone involved in inclusion, accessibility, services to Persons with Disabilities or compliance matters. A rich sharing of experience and interactions among advocates, business leaders and technology providers will provide insights on how to best meet the imperative to ensure that Persons with Disabilities have full access to critical digital content and services.
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The Third Annual Digital Accessibility Legal Summit - Online Event
October 7 and 8, 2021
- the premier annual event for digital accessibility legal practitioners
- in-depth talks and panels
- featuring leaders from the digital accessibility and legal fields
- tackling big practice issues
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DRA’s Virtual Gala: An Inspiring Celebration of DRA’s 2021 High-Impact Disability Justice Work.
Thursday, October 7th at 4pm PT/7pm ET
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IN Chicagoland
The Future of Work Amid the COVID 19 Pandemic
October 12 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
$45.00
Disability:IN Chicagoland continues its second annual Virtual Disability Inclusion Opportunity Summit program series on Tuesday, October 12th with a discussion on The Future of Work Amid the COVID 19 Pandemic. Over the last 18 months, businesses have done their best to create and update their return to work plans, and understanding how best to accommodate employees with disabilities in this planning can be a challenge. This includes things like re-creating in-person work spaces and resetting virtual work expectations. Questions continue to arise around topics like: vaccination; masks; flexible work schedules; telework; leave; and accommodations. Join Tracie DeFreitas, Principal Consultant at the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), for a conversation on best practices and legal requirements for companies working to support their employees with disabilities as they develop, implement and update return to work plans across their organizations.
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A Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Disability Inclusion Virtual Summit
October 13, 2021: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM BST
Organized by Disability:IN in Collaboration with Companies Participating on the Disability:IN Global Roundtable’s EMEA Subcommittee
This 4-hour Disability Inclusion Summit is available at no cost to the businesses and their employees based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
During the Summit, speakers from multi-national corporations, governments and non-governmental organizations will discuss their actions to advance disability inclusion in EMEA. More information on the agenda will be provided in the upcoming months.
There is no fee to participate. Registration Deadline: October 6, 2021
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Inclusion Works Webinar:
Mental Health in the Latin American Workplace
October 19 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Be sure to register by Tuesday, October 15
You are invited to the Mental Health in the Latin American Workplace webinar organized by Disability:IN in Collaboration with Companies Participating on the Global Roundtable’s LATAM Council. This webinar will provide statistics & information on the causes and prevalence of mental illnesses in Latin America, describe the most common workplace mental health conditions, and provide tips on how-to: Notice, Act and Refer.
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Save the Date!
October 23rd | 6:00 - 8:30pm
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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
Join our
Follow us on
Our Board
Board Members:
- John Annand, Marriott International
- Jennifer Bassett, Secretary, JBG SMITH Companies
- Michelle Crabtree, Town of Vienna
- Ellen de Bremond, Treasurer
- Anjali Desai-Margolin, Gallaudet University
- Tom Downs, Booz Allen Hamilton
- Dan Ellerman, Mars
- Andrea Hall, Past Chair, General Dynamics Mission Systems
- Sophie Howard, Chair, General Dynamics IT
- Eduardo Meza-Etienne, eSSENTIAL Accessibility
- Chrisonna Palmer, Vice Chair, EY
- Carrie Martin, MAXAR Technologies
- Jamel Walker, Northrop Grumman
- Ryan Walters, Deloitte
- Myra Wilder, BAE Systems
Advisory Board Members:
- Orly Barbosa, Sandy Spring Bank
- Meghan Cadigan, KPMG
- Crosby Cromwell, The Valuable 500
- Ron Drach, Drach Consulting, LLC
- Rikki Epstein, The Arc of Northern VA
- Sylvia Henri-Wonasue, Lockheed Martin
- Karen Herson, Concepts, Inc.
- Craig Leen, GMU Scalia Law, Former OFCCP Director
- Jessica Lee Aiello, IYellow Group
- Cynthia Richardson-Crooks, DC BLN Founding Chair
- Rick Rodgers, The Resource Network
- Kia Silver-Hodge, Enterprise Community Partners
- Bob Vetere, C5 Consulting, LLC
- Sue Werber, C5 Consulting, LLC
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. She recently joined GRACE Global Response and Collaborative Environment as Director of Inclusion.
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. With 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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