Business Leaders Empower Disability Inclusion in the C-Suite

On the 32nd anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) during Disability Pride Month, Valuable 500 has announced the companies that are supporting its new leadership programme – Generation Valuable – to empower disability inclusion in the C-suite.

ADA changed the world as we know it by providing people with disabilities access to buildings and equitable education. It also made it illegal to discriminate against a qualified person for employment. Although strides have been made towards improving disability inclusion, there is so much more to be done. ‘Generation Valuable’, launched this year as reported, aims to accelerate disability inclusion through revolutionising the boardrooms of tomorrow. It will build a community of disabled talent to inform the C-suite about how to make businesses more inclusive.

“This initiative proves that there is an array of disabled talent within businesses. And that they are more than capable of occupying positions of power and leadership,” stated Caroline Casey, Founder, the Valuable 500. “The Valuable 500 is striving to radically change the awful results of research conducted by Tortoise Media that found that ‘no FTSE company had a senior leader or above who identified as having a disability’.”

EARLY ADOPTERS

The 28 early adopters of the leadership up-mentoring programme for people with disabilities span four continents. They include:

• Alstom
• ATOS
• AXA Group
• Boston Consulting Group
• Centrica
• Channel 4
• Clifford Chance
• Coles Group
• Deloitte 
• Enel
• EY
• Fidelity International
• HSBC
• ISS/AS
• ITV
• L’Oréal
• Macquarie Group
• Mahindra
• Nielsen 
• MSD 
• Omnicom Group 
• Ottobock
• P&G
• Reach PLC
• Roche
• Springer Nature
• TD Bank Group 
• Telefonica

C-SUITE MENTORSHIP

Generation Valuable participants will be paired with a C-Suite level mentor within their organisation. They will also deep dive into each of the Valuable 500’s transformation pillars over a year. The first cohort of 75 will be announced on International Day for Persons with Disabilities in December.

Commenting on the initiative Steven Cain, CEO of Coles Group, said: “At Coles, accessibility and disability inclusion is a key priority. Our aim is always to build a team that’s representative of the diverse local communities we serve. We’re proud to take part in Generation Valuable to provide an important mentoring and development opportunity to our talented team members with disability and support them to become future leaders at Coles. This programme is an exciting next step in Coles’ commitment to provide meaningful employment and career pathways to people with disability.”

ACCELERATING DISABILITY INCLUSION

For Telefónica, contributing to providing opportunities for people with disabilities is not only an ethical imperative, “but also a question of talent and business,” shared Telefónica’s Charman and CEO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallette. “In the current context, no company can afford to do without any valuable professional. Diversity allows us to better understand the real needs of customers, to connect with society, and to be more innovative and productive. Together, we need to empower people with disabilities to humanise technology and break down barriers with digitalisation.”

EY’s Co-founder Arthur Young was trained as a lawyer, but couldn’t practice after losing his hearing, shared Hank Prybylski, EY’s Global Vice Chair, Transformation and Global Executive Sponsor for Disability. “Needing to leverage his talents in new ways, he started an accounting firm, creating many of the core accounting principles still used today. On the anniversary of the ADA, we are proud to honour his legacy of driving innovation through diversity by joining Generation Valuable. Through executive leadership mentorships, we will accelerate disability inclusion and long-lasting change. I am excited for EY to be part of this first cohort, and for the invaluable personal opportunity to serve as a mentor.”

MEANINGFUL C-SUITE ENGAGEMENT

Nielsen’s CEO David Kenny believes that a disability-inclusive workplace “won’t happen without meaningful engagement from the C-Suite”. “Nielsen is proud to be part of the first cohort of the Generation Valuable programme, which we hope will help lead to systemic advancement for people with disabilities across the corporate world,” noted Kenny. “With this programme, both the mentor and the mentee will be actively creating change. Our people are our biggest assets. Building an inclusive culture where everyone can bring their full selves to work ensures we can get the best out of every person. There is a very clear and consistent link between inclusion and business performance.”

Jim Mullen, CEO of Reach PLC, said he is “proud to be one of the Valuable 500’s first partners”. “The team here has made tremendous strides in making Reach a more welcoming place for disabled people. We’ve also seen this commitment reflected in our editorial coverage. For example, with this month’s series from the Mirror: Disabled Britain: Doing it for Ourselves,” shared Mullen. Generation Valuable will be an exciting next step to unlocking even more talent, perspectives and leadership across the business.”

INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP CULTURE

 “Employers cannot ignore the striking under representation of d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people in their workforce,” highlighted ITV’s CEO Carolyn McCall. “We at ITV are committed to taking steps across multiple fronts to ensure our culture is inclusive, attractive and accessible to the best talent out there. Senior leaders play an important role in culture, so leadership programmes such as this can have powerful ripple effects.”

For ISS, “it is all about our people and we have a 121-year long history of diversity, belonging and inclusion,” highlighted Jacob Aarup-Anderson, CEO of ISS Group. “However, we still need to learn as an organisation and to foster management talents from all parts of our company. That is why it is only natural for us to take part in the Valuable 500 Generation Valuable programme. We believe that this mentoring programme offers a unique opportunity not only to gain further insights into the challenges that upcoming leaders with (dis)abilities face, but also to make sure we foster a truly diverse and inclusive leadership culture. We can’t wait to get started with this great initiative.”

DISABILITY INCLUSION & ACCESSABILITY

“Inclusion sits at the heart of Clifford Chance. If we want to bring and keep the best talent at our firm, it is imperative that we remove the systemic barriers that many people with disabilities face in their careers and elevate those driving disability inclusion and accessibility efforts,” added Charles Adams, Global Managing Partner at Clifford Chance. “We have seen through other areas of our organisation, that bringing together our colleagues from underrepresented groups with senior leaders can have significant positive impacts which cascade across every level of firm.” He said he’s “grateful to be part of the inaugural Valuable 500”. He also looks forward to “listening, learning and growing as a truly inclusive business”.

As Centrica’s CEO Chris O’Shea rightly pointed out, “Diversity and inclusion strategies don’t work when they’re led from the top by people who don’t understand what it means to be part of an underrepresented group. To be successful diverse voices and representation from across the organisation are needed. So, it’s hugely important to the way we operate at Centrica, and to me personally, that everybody has a voice and is heard. I’m excited and proud to be part of the ‘Generation Valuable’ Programme, in partnership with the Valuable 500.”

The first-of-its-kind initiative “will create development opportunities and elevate the voices of people who have disabilities, have lived experience, or care for someone with a disability”, added O’Shea.

IMPROVING DISABILITY INCLUSION

“I am personally committed to this effort because I believe that AXA is for everyone. There is a moral, social and economic imperative to inclusion of persons with disabilities. I am grateful for the opportunity to support and develop talent as Executive Mentor,” shared AXA’s Deputy CEO, Frederic de Courtois. Over the next year, he hopes to gain a greater understanding of the experiences and perspectives of persons with disabilities. He also wants to “examine the ways that we can improve disability inclusion for our employees, customers and society.”

“The next generation of business leaders needs to have a diverse range of backgrounds and lived experience, including disability,” highlighted ATOS CEO Nourdine Bihmane. “To develop they require executive mentors who can share their insights. Of course, mentoring is not a one-way process. We know from our experience of running mentoring programs that mentors also gain important knowledge and insights from their mentees.” Bihmane hopes this commitment to Valuable 500 “will have a reinforcing positive impact on the inclusivity of our culture”.

More companies are employing people with disabilities in leadership roles than last year, confirmed another new report. Click here to read more.