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DISABILITY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
DECEMBER 2023
25 DAYS LEFT
To Take advantage of the 50% New Member savings!
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Companies that Lead in Disability Inclusion
Outperform Peers Financially
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Last week, Disability:IN and Accenture announced the release of their new report: The Disability Inclusion Imperative. Building on the 2018 landmark report on disability inclusion at work in the United States, the 2023 update to the business case is enlightening.
Companies that lead their peers in disability inclusion realize considerable financial gains: they earn 1.6x more revenue, 2.6x more net income, and 2x more economic profit than other companies in the Disability Equality Index.
Read the Accenture Report (PDF)
"People with disabilities are a tremendous source of talent and innovation as well as market share. Last year, 485 companies leveraged the DEI to benchmark their inclusion efforts and build for sustainable, long-term performance. We encourage companies to measure their progress and use the data to identify tangible ways to advance disability inclusion across their enterprise."
Jill Houghton
President & CEO, Disability:IN
"Disability inclusion is a topic close to my heart, and it is imperative, both from a business and societal aspect, to build an accessible, inclusive environment where all our people can belong and thrive."
Jill Kramer
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Accenture
Co-Chair, Disability:IN CMO & CCO Coalition
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Disability:IN DC Metro is a Proud Sponsor
of Omnium Circus 2024!
Great for Holiday or Birthday Gifting!
Mark Your Calendar for February 24, 2024!
Buy Your VIP Tickets Today
$AVE with 2023 prices!
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Join Disability:IN DC Metro for this amazing "I'm Possible" Event!
OMNIUM CIRCUS is a world-renowned comprehensively inclusive and accessible circus company bringing excitement, thrills and joy to people of all ages as only a circus can! Step into a world of all things possible where we discover the power, the passion, and the perseverance of the human spirit within each one of us!
Your tickets will ensure that you, your guests and your family enjoy this amazing event. As a DC Metro Member or Friend, your tickets enable you "pre-show access" to meet and engage with the performers, enjoy refreshments in the VIP Lounge during the show and support Disability:IN DC Metro at the same time - Tax-Free!
Capital One Hall
7750 Capital One Tower Rd
Tysons, Virginia
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25 DAYS LEFT
To Take advantage of the 50% New Member savings!
in honor of the
50th Anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
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Not a Member?
Don't have an Affiliate Near You?
You don't have to live in the National Capital Region to engage and enjoy DC Metro's Professional Development Courses and topical Hybrid Programming!
Join Today!
Membership is open to all individuals, corporate partners, universities, non-profits and government agencies. All our programs are offered virtually with access to Disability IQ e-Professional Development Courses. Diamond and above level members have access to request a live disability 101 webinar.
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Showcase your Commitment to DEIA
and become a 2024 DC Metro Sponsor Partner!
Be recognized in the
National Capital Region as a DEIA leader!
What's the Brand Benefit?
As a DEIA leader, branding plays an important part in your work. As a Disability:IN DC Metro Sponsor Partner you can grow customer loyalty, compete in the Washington DC Metro market and attract talent.
Sponsor Partners are featured prominently on our website, in our monthly newsletter and on our Disability IQ Professional Development Center and can sponsor a program. The Titanium and Platinum options offer the opportunity to keynote a program. You can also become a Keynote Sponsor regardless of your employee count for $5,000.
Become a Sponsor Partner Today!
$850- $10,000
Members can be Sponsor Partners too!
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Thank You to Our Sponsor Partners! | |
DC METRO NEWS 2024 and Beyond! | |
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DC Metro is excited to announce its newest Working Group
"College 2 Career"
We will develop, pilot and hold quarterly events in the National Capital Region for Employers and Students with Disabilities to engage with one another with a focus on the Talent Pipeline for the Future. It will be modeled in part on the former organization Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) that was housed at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, led by its Executive Director Alan Muir.
This new Working Group will include current D:IN Board members Gallaudet and BroadFutures, interested member companies and Youth Subject Matter Experts. Invitations to become involved with this group will include invitations to Disability/Career Services Offices and Students at NTID, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, American University, NextGen (Disability:IN) and BroadFutures Students and Alumni.
Invitations to join C2C will be sent out early January by Disability:IN DC Metro with suggested virtual meeting dates to begin planning for the Pilot Event.
Contact Katherine McCary to Join or Sponsor the Working Group!
An agenda at these quarterly events may include:
- Keynote Speaker/CEO level
- Employer presentations
- Student presentations
- Disability and Career Services Offices
- Resume Review by employers
- Mock Interviewing
- 1 on 1 Employer Student meetings
- Disability:IN DC Metro/BroadFutures Striving and Thriving Student Professional Development e-courses
- Roundtable discussions
- Technology Mini-Fair
- Preparatory work for employers: Tips on successful interviewing students with disabilities, including Deaf students.
- Mentorship and Internship Opportunities
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Get Engaged with Us in 2024!
Disability:IN DC Metro is seeking disability business leaders and/or disability subject matter experts to join our Advisory Board! This opportunity provides leadership development, engagement with other disability leaders and a profound way to support DEIA+Belonging. Contact Katherine McCary for further information.
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DC Metro is proud to introduce Lingvano to our Members and Friends
The fun, fast and easy way to learn American Sign Language
Having met Lingvano at the M-Enabling Conference in October, we wanted to share this amazing learning product! Ideal for anyone and everyone-- great for Disability Employee Resource Groups!
Try For Free!
We offer special B2B packages, including an admin dashboard and special discounts for Disability:IN DC Metro Members!
Advantages of knowing how to sign:
Being able to communicate with members of the Deaf/HoH community who know how to sign.
Be an ally.
No need to try to hire an interpreter or use a relay service —> direct communication without the loss of information.
Add another skill to your portfolio.
Open up to a completely new, wonderful, visual world and get to know the Deaf community!
- Sign over far distances (in hospitality, wherever)
- Sign in quiet environments (don’t wake the baby!, taking a test, in a meeting, in the quiet compartment on the train,…)
- Sign in loud environments (industry, factories, events)
- Sign through glass doors or windows
- Signing when you have lost your voice
- Using your hands to describe locations or images
- Training your visual perception skills/ training new skills/ discover new learning and memorization methods!
More...
- You can make great progress with learning only 10 minutes a day.
- The lessons are bite-sized and interactive, it takes only a few minutes to finish a lesson and you can celebrate a success moment!
- We use gamification features to make learning entertaining and motivating. Our users love to share their streaks and accomplishments!
- There are different types of quizzes, we have dialogs to train following a conversation, there is a dictionary and 3 kinds of trainers: vocabulary, fingerspelling and numbers.
- We offer a mirror feature so that users can check on their signing a new sign and compare it with the signing of the teacher.
- In ASL there are 8 units, consisting of several chapters (between 12 -15) and those chapters are divided into lessons again. There is a lot of content!
- It is really flexible to use - you can use it on the web or an app, iOS and Android, anywhere, anytime. The user’s progress is synched automatically so that they can keep on learning where they last left off. They are not bound to a schedule or meeting time but are able to use it while waiting in line, commuting or enjoying a nice beverage.
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Lingvano- Zero Project 2024 Awardee
About Zero Project:
It is Zero Project’s mission to work for a world with zero barriers. Worldswide, the Zero Project find and shares solutions that improve the daily lives and legal rights of all persons with disabilities. The awardees 2024 have been selected by an international peer-review board in a multi-stage process. They have been selected among 523 nominations from 97 countries for our innovation, impact, and scalability #ZeroBarriers #CRPD. More information on zeroproject.org
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NextGen Mentor Applications Now Open! | |
The NextGen Leadership Program pairs mentors from Disability:IN Corporate Partner companies with mentees who are college students and recent graduates with disabilities. The goal of this six-month virtual mentoring program is to focus on career readiness and employment outcomes. | |
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2024 NextGen Leader Applications Now Open
The NextGen Leadership Program pairs mentors from Disability:IN Corporate Partner companies with mentees who are college students and recent graduates with disabilities. The goal of this six-month virtual mentoring program is to focus on career readiness and employment outcomes. You are eligible to reapply for the program up to 2 years post-graduation date.
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In the aftermath of the recent mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine — in which four deaf people were killed and five were injured — Gallaudet’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child Resilience Center (DHHCRC) rapidly released ASL videos on coping after mass violence, both for kids and teens, and how youth of different ages might respond to traumatic events.
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This report from the Southeast ADA Center outlines research findings about how people with disabilities use banking services, including both positive and negative experiences. The report offers recommendations for ways banks can improve disability inclusion, and a checklist, the Financial Inclusion Tool: Quality Indicators for Financial Institutions, to help assess the accessibility of financial services and facilities.
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Updating Schedule A
Could Relieve Labor Shortages
By Roy Maurer
November 16, 2023
President Joe Biden's recent executive order seeking to manage the implementation of artificial intelligence contains a measure that could be the key to addressing talent scarcity in the U.S.
In addition to a range of safety and security objectives around AI, the order includes initiatives designed to attract and retain foreign nationals with AI and other emerging technology skills.
One of the order's directives is for the Department of Labor (DOL) to consider expanding the Schedule A list of occupations.
"Schedule A is a list of occupations where the DOL has in essence predetermined a shortage exists in the labor market," said Dawn Lurie, senior counsel in the Immigration Practice Group of Seyfarth's Washington, D.C., office. "For occupations on this list, U.S. employers may bypass the labor market test that is currently required to sponsor foreign workers for green cards."
The DOL is expected next month to issue a request for information and solicit public input about possible additions to the Schedule A list. The agency will inquire about "identifying AI and other STEM-related occupations, as well as additional occupations across the economy, for which there is an insufficient number of ready, willing, able and qualified United States workers."
Lurie said that an expansion of the DOL Schedule A list of occupations "would be significant."
Read the rest of the SHRM article.
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W3C WCAG 2.2 Now Available
The US Access Board congratulates the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) with publishing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 as a
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Recommendation.
WCAG 2.2 adds nine new Success Criteria to WCAG 2.1 (which added 17 Success Criteria to WCAG 2.0) and includes links to supporting documents that explain how to make web content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities. The additional Success Criteria address barrier encountered by people with visual, mobility, hearing, and cognitive disabilities, but not covered by WCAG 2.1 or 2.0. The new requirements in WCAG 2.2 address ways to help users navigate and find content, operate functionality more easily through various inputs beyond keyboard, develop webpages to appear and operate in predictable ways, and readily avoid and correct mistakes. Additionally, WCAG 2.2 includes personas to help explain some aspects of the WCAG Success Criteria.
Learn More
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DRIVING CHANGE-
CREATING OPPORTUNITY
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The Latest News
from
The Office of Disability Employment Policy
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the addition of twelve states (including Delaware and Maryland here in the Mid-Atlantic region, along with the District of Columbia), to the National Expansion of Employment Opportunities Network (NEON). State agencies will receive consulting, capacity-building support, and ongoing mentoring to increase competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities.
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President Biden issued this executive order to establish a federal policy and framework for the responsible development of artificial intelligence (AI), in order to ensure that society can benefit from the potential of AI to help solve challenges and make our world more prosperous, productive, and innovative, while addressing the risks of fraud, discrimination, bias, and disinformation.
Among other issues addressed in the order, the U.S. Access Board is encouraged to solicit public participation and issue technical assistance and recommendations on the risks and benefits of using AI based on biometric data that may result in discrimination against people with disabilities.
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The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Releases Events Calendar for Stakeholders
The U.S Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has released a new Events Calendar. The new calendar includes information about compliance assistance, outreach, and other events happening throughout OFCCP’s offices nationwide. Employers, stakeholders and other interested persons can also register for events through the calendar. For assistance with the events calendar, please contact us.
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SAVE THESE DATES
2024 Events In The National Capital Area and Beyond
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Save the Date for ADAcon 2024
Inclusive Hospitality & Tourism
October 15 – 17, 2024
Hotel Du Pont
Wilmington, DE
Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details coming next year!
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Learn More About DC Metro | |
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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
- Professional Development courses
- Business to business networking
- Introductions to community partners
- Access to talent
- Hot topic programming led by Subject Matter Experts
- Webinars
Join our
LinkedIn Page
Follow us on
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Our Board
Board Members:
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Jennifer Bassett, Immediate Past Chair, JBG SMITH Companies
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Meghan Cadigan, Vice Chair and Secretary, KPMG
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Tashi Carper, Leidos
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Rahsaan Coefield, Lockheed Martin
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Ellen de Bremond, Treasurer
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Anjali Desai-Margolin, Gallaudet University
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Tom Downs, Booz Allen Hamilton
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Andrea Hall, General Dynamics Mission Systems
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Sophie Howard, General Dynamics IT
- Carrie Martin
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Eduardo Meza-Etienne, Level Access and DC Metro Chief Accessibility Officer
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Mary Sauder, Northrop Grumman
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Ryan Walters, Chair, Deloitte
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Myra Wilder, BAE Systems
Advisory Board Members:
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Jessica Lee Aiello, iYellow Group
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Michelle Crabtree, Town of Vienna
- Crosby Cromwell
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Lori Daly, Diversifi Consulting Group and Chair, Community Outreach
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Ron Drach, Drach Consulting, LLC
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Diane Monnig, The Arc of Northern VA
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Melody Goodspeed, The American Foundation for the Blind
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Karen Herson, Concepts, Inc.
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Carolyn Jeppsen, BroadFutures
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Craig Leen, K&L Gates, Former OFCCP Director
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Rick Rodgers, The Resource Network and Chair, Disability Supplier Diversity
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Kia SIlver-Hodge, Enterprise Community Partners
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. 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 Professional Development Courses designed for enterprise wide learning, now a DC Metro chapter member benefit!
Learn more about C5 Consulting
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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!
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!
Follow Us on LinkedIN and YouTube
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