Gayatri Kini’s Post

When everyone plays, we all win.   We commemorated International Day of Persons with Disabilities, UNIDPD, at the Microsoft Enabler Program, via a special event “Session on Accessible and Inclusive Culture: Disability Inclusive Hiring” dedicated to promoting inclusive hiring practices. Through the Microsoft Enabler Program, we foster a community where diversity is celebrated, and everyone has equal opportunities in the workplace.   Over 70 of our customers and partners joined the event and I had the opportunity to moderate the panel discussion on Disability Inclusive Hiring and here are my takeaways:   Best practice for Disability Inclusive Hiring (1) Think of alternative roles for PWD, focus on standardized hiring practice (2) Unconscious Bias training and awareness for managers, business leaders (3) Being intentional about hiring PWD (target, measuring success) (4) Utilize frameworks like the one offered by organizations like @SGEnable to get started in your Org   Being a better Ally for People with Disabilities (1) Learn and hear from People with Disabilities, its ok to ask and be curious (2) Important to identify when you are an active ally vs passive ally (3) For orgs having a top-down approach to keep inclusion top of mind, as a leader demand more on budgets, tech capability, have more employee led initiatives to focus on developing people with disability   With over a 1+ billion people in the world with disabilities, there are many who can benefit from assistive technology. Designing products, services, and environments with and for people with disabilities and accessibility has become core to Microsoft’s mission to empower individuals and organizations on the planet to achieve more. Thanks Pratima Amonkar and Jia Yuin Tay for the inspiring keynote. Thanks, Ritchell Anne de Loyola for pulling everything together!   BIG Thanks to our panel David Bergendahl Govind Chandranani Sarah Jael Cortez, RPm, CPHR, CCBP, CLDP Zoe Zora for your authentic sharing. Loved your energy and passion on this topic and look forward to collaborating for the Prepare for Employment series that we have kicked off again this year to provide training plus mentoring opportunity for students, job seekers and early-in-career persons with disabilities, to learn about key career readiness soft skills, and technical skills, to help them prepare for jobs. Andrea Della Mattea Kevin Wo Rita Boyle Rahul Gokhale Hari Tharmakumar Farida Charania Shaloo Sharma Daphne Choong Alvin Lau Juliana Cen Van Anh Huynh Anil Mathur Le Shin L. Miguel Arcilla Otis Chen Utpal Bora Vincent Moo Thanish Kumar Ramalingam Akash Kumar ☁ 阿卡什·库马尔 Sandeep Basu Yi Xiang Ong Nyana Rubini Alice Siaw Supriya Addanki Wai Yi Yik Vivek Anand Ravindran Vivek Puthucode Verdayne Nunis Shang Thong Yi

Read “Why Hiring People With Disabilities Is Good for Business.” https://lnkd.in/gct6npS This article lays out benefits of hiring people with disabilities and goes over some potential reasons why some businesses hold back. “Some companies avoid diversity, equity and inclusion practices because they incorrectly assume it will cost them excessive money or require complex expertise. However, this is not the case.” Find tips on creating inclusion of people with disabilities. What would work in your business or organization?   Image Description: A person using a wheelchair. The background is an office setting.

We are passionate about Transforming Lives. Always. December 3rd marked  the International Day of Persons With Disabilities (as recognised by the UN). This day provides an important moment of reflection on how we are creating an accessible culture at Lucid. We are committed to providing a compassionately human culture, where everyone is empowered to bring their whole self to work and achieve their full potential. This commitment extends to supporting candidates with disabilities in the recruitment process to ensure an inclusive experience. Supporting people with disabilities is the cornerstone of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy (DE&I). We see a natural link between our mission of transforming lives through meaningful health outcomes and creating an accessible world for everyone. Did you know… ·     1.3 billion people globally live with a disability – that is 16% of the world’s population ·     Anyone can be impacted by disability at any point in their lives. Over 80% of people with disabilities acquired disability later in life; fewer than 20% were born with a disability Progress in our accessibility journey ·     Joining the UK Government’s Disability Confident scheme (Level 1) and activating the scheme commitments (including offering a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role) ·     Partnering with the Drexel University Center for Autism and Neurodiversity in Philadelphia to provide inclusion training for our people ·     Creating a group-wide inclusion policy that explicitly prohibits discrimination, bullying or harassment on the grounds of disability or neurodiversity ·     Using the Equity Sequence to embed equity by design into everything we do at Lucid (the Equity Sequence has been developed by the amazing team at Tidal Equality) ·     Proactively offering adjustments and accommodations as part of the recruitment process to ensure that all candidates receive the support they need ·     Hosting a panel to mark World Mental Health Day, where our people shared their experiences of mental health and discussed how we can break the social stigma surrounding the topic Fran Elkington (Medical Editor at Lucid Group) shares here reflections on our culture of accessibility: "My quality of life has vastly improved since I’ve joined the company, and it’s not just because they provide me with what I need to comfortably do my job – it’s also because the attitude towards inclusion is so calm, straightforward and compassionate. It's a whole different mindset here, and the benchmark all companies should hold themselves to if they’re truly inclusive. Accessibility should always be this easy." Interested in joining us? We are always looking for new talent to join us, and we’re committed to providing an inclusive recruitment experience to candidates with physical or mental health conditions.  #lucidlife  #accessibility  #compassionatelyhuman

Small businesses are often too quick to disregard people with disabilities as employees and customers - and it's costing them money. Take a look at the article I published on Medium, highlighting the tangible reasons why hiring inclusively and embracing people with disabilities in general is crucial for your business. https://lnkd.in/gEUjdMaf

I want to share an observation I made recently. I talk to a number of people about our work at The Accidental Ally with our mission to create meaningful careers for people with Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and other cognitive disabilities. I hear all kinds of feedback from 'this can't be done' to 'this is inspiring'. But there is a consistent pattern I have noticed when talking to women of color. The conversation always starts with 'How can we make this happen?' instead of 'Why is this important?'. Every single time, I am talking with a woman of color, the conversation is extremely uplifting and very productive leading to incredible new opportunities and doors opening for us. Here is why - Women of color have a unique understanding of inclusion due to their experiences with intersectional discrimination, lived experiences, cultural awareness, advocacy, and a history of activism. They recognize that inclusion benefits all and plays a crucial role in societal progress, emphasizing the need for representation and equity in all aspects of life. The Disability/Accessibility space has exploded in the last few years with new founders stepping into the arena with innovative solutions to tackle different problems. I have made an interesting observation. What do Jhillika Kumar, Shilpi Kapoor, Alwar Pillai and I have in common? Other than the obvious fact that we are all women of Indian origin and women of color, we are all leading a vision of a better world for and with people with disabilities. Jhillika Kumar CEO of Mentra is building a platform to help neurodivergent people find meaningful careers. Shilpi Kapoor CEO of BarrierBreak aims to provide Web Accessibility services by employing people with disabilities. Alwar Pillai CEO of Fable is building a platform to make usability testing inclusive by employing people with disabilities. Gayatri Kini CEO of The Accidental Ally is creating a blueprint to develop sustainable pathways for people with cognitive disabilities to connect to meaningful careers. I am asked if I view these companies as competition. I think that is a ridiculous question. I see it as a collective effort to create a safety net that can support people with disabilities in various ways. I recognize the importance of diverse approaches and perspectives to address the unique needs of individuals with disabilities. It's heartening to see others building profitable businesses that serve this community, and we aspire to do the same. Ultimately, the true winners in this endeavor are the people with disabilities who have historically faced marginalization and exclusion. I am happy to see Shilpi, Jhillika, and Alwar build impactful businesses that are in service to people with disabilities. We aspire to do the same. Can someone put us on a panel together? Looking forward to meeting you ladies in person, soon, I hope! #entrepreneurship

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Tim Reitsma from Invisible Condition podcast on what it's like to live and work with an invisible disability. In this, we share tons of tips for employers as well as job seekers! Here are some of the things we discussed: - Creating an inclusive workspace environment - Overcoming bias and discrimination through communication - Disclosing your disability to an employer - Creating inclusive hiring practices - Hiring people with disabilities and why you should do so as a business! Want to listen? Apple: https://lnkd.in/gBUBNyrq Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gPKbf9Pj Website (with accessible transcripts): https://lnkd.in/g5Ue7GCF By the way, if you want to hire someone with a disability and are not sure where to start, Peak Performers can help with just that! We are a nationwide nonprofit staffing agency that helps clients find great talent and helps professionals with disabilities find jobs. Connect with me to find a time to chat! #DisabilityEmployment #DisabilityInclusion #Podcast #NowHiring #PeakPerformers

This is how businesses thrive when hiring inclusively. The Catalyst program is changing thought patterns within the employment field and I recommend businesses read about the nitty gritty of saving money and having long term reliable staff.

With the pandemic came a new perspective on professionalism as students studied from home and employees worked from home in a more relaxed setting. For far too long, uniformity was emphasized in the workplace and in school systems, uniformity which devalued diversity in our communities. As one example, before COVID, some companies clung to dress codes that presented barriers to equal access for disabled workers and required disabled workers to jump through hoops for something as simple as obtaining permission to wear a certain type of shoe at work. While a disabled worker might successfully secure the necessary accommodation, they often felt discriminated against afterward for being the odd one out. During the pandemic, such uniformity could not be easily enforced. Professionalism shifted to a focus on excellent outcomes that could be achieved while showing up as our authentic selves (University of Cincinnati, 2022). Spending their formative years during this change in perspective on professionalism, Gen Z notably has demonstrated higher levels of acceptance of self-expression and individuality in the workplace. Only time will tell how this generational shift will affect disability employment rates as more Gen Zers rise up the ranks in companies and are in positions to make hiring decisions. #HumanDiversity #GenZ #DisabilityInclusion #Professionalism #CultureShift #CulturalDiversity

#Jodie'sInsights Today we celebrate International Day of People with Disability around the world. So what does this day mean to me? It is a day to truly acknowledge people with lived experience of disability. Their persistence, tenacity, endurance, reslilience, mental toughness, strength, growth mindset, and creativity. They are problem solvers, are change agents and influencers. Oh wait, what? I believe I just used adjectives that describe leaders. How interesting. If you have been influenced to be more inclusive by just one person with disability, you have met a leader. Your job is to pass it on. Share the learnings and insights you have gained throughout your own circles of influence. You can add to the ripples of inclusion as they gain momentum building into what I hope one day will be a tsunami of positive change where the world is simply accessible and inclusive for everyone. Where it is a regular occurance to have public leaders with disability, the employment rate for people with disability matching that of the regular population and employees with disability having the adjustments they need to bring their best selves to work. Where there is plenty of accessible housing, accessible transport and where people living with disability are not unfairly judged or discriminated against, either consciously or unconsciously. I want to live in a world where people with disability can feel free to be themselves. To feel safe to share their lived experience and to be loud and proud if they choose to be so. A world where students with disability of any age can access their learning across all levels of education without physical,attitudinal, digital and informational barriers. A world where accessibility and inclusion has the same priority as safety and cyber security. Procurement doesn't happen unless products are accessible and inclusive. So over the next 366 days (next year is a leap year), Let's make those ripples larger and create a disability access and inclusion tsunami. We can change the world one person at a time. Happy #IDPWD #BeTheChange, #DisabilityAccessAndInclusion #Leadership #Disablity #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs

I love that the Harvard Business Review highlighted Bitty & Beau's Coffee Earlier this year, I offered a free coaching opportunity to businesses that employed people with disabilities. https://lnkd.in/dRVTaVmY We need more businesses to step up and include everyone. "First, recognize that disabilities are part of the human condition. Some people are born with them. Others acquire them through a health challenge or an accident, and that could happen to any of us. But disability is a difference that continues to engender severe marginalization. Let’s normalize it instead, and move toward integrating people with disabilities into society as we’ve tried to do with all other nonmajority groups." Even more, we needed businesses to step up and choose to work with businesses that include everyone. Perhaps the most important outcome of Bitty & Beau's story is how they've enabled other businesses to become more inclusive by supporting those who have made inclusivity their focus. "So far we’ve worked with three other companies directly—not to advise them on their DEI strategies but to serve Bitty & Beau’s coffee in their corporate offices." Lastly, we do need to address accessibility. The "cost of ownership of a Bitty & Beau’s Coffee shop ranges between $461,750 to $858,050" per their website. It's not sustainable if you need to be a millionaire to start an inclusive business. They add, "Remember that it’s OK to start small. You don’t need to bet the house on a big initiative right away. Begin by finding one person with a disability whom you can bring into your workplace—even for just a few hours one day a week—so that all those who don’t have a disability will start to get comfortable with being around someone who does." #disabilityinclusion #diversityandinclusion https://lnkd.in/gUeFTDHr