Agenda

We all have a role to play in building an inclusive global economy. Now, more than ever corporations, CEOs, investors and the community have a responsibility to advance disability inclusion and equality around the globe. Join the Disability:IN global movement and demonstrate your commitment to advancing disability inclusion and equality for all. Are You IN?

What if you found out that your company is significantly underutilizing a critical talent pool?  And, what if by recognizing the value of that talent pool and leveraging it, your company could also realize increased productivity, innovation and market share. In the journey to build a more inclusive culture, a growing number of Fortune 1000 companies are using the Disability Equality Index (DEI) to benchmark, assess & improve their disability inclusion practices and gain a competitive advantage. Corporate leaders will share how they’re working to advance disability inclusion in a manner that is aligned with their corporate values and purpose.

Disability Equality Index (DEI) top scoring companies will share how they used the DEI as a roadmap to become more inclusive. Participating brands will discuss why they chose to take the DEI, their initial expectations and key findings. They will also share their top five DEI generated workplace initiatives and their successful outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

1. Review how top scoring DEI companies are using DEI data as a roadmap to full workplace inclusion.
2. Discover best and evolving practices to launch your disability inclusion efforts.
3. Explore key DEI findings and learn how to turn them into initiatives to advance disability inclusion across your enterprise.

You chose to attend this conference because you want to hear what your industry peers are doing to be more disability inclusive.  Participation in this session is the first step. You will hear directly from individuals who experience a wide range of apparent and non-apparent disabilities. They will share what actions, words and interactions they consider good disability etiquette and what are the disability faux pas. This session will also offer a safe environment to ask those questions that seemed too awkward to ask.

Learning Objectives:

1. An understanding of how certain words or actions may be considered micro-aggressions
2. How respectful communication and interactions can help you successfully include employees, clients and customers in your business
3. Why authentic disability etiquette can positively impact your business

Employees today are more likely to care not just for children, but also for family members who have a disability or are elderly. In fact, approximately 20% of employees identify as a caregiver and an additional 20% do not consider themselves a caregiver even though they provide ongoing care for an aging family member, relative or friend, or someone with a disability or chronic health condition.  Organizations have an opportunity to support these employees by offering access to programs and resources that can help make their lives easier.  And they can expect to see a return on investment in the form of increased engagement and productivity just as they did after improving support for working mothers. Join us to learn about leading practices for supporting employees who are caregivers.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand what steps you can take to support your employees who have caregiver responsibilities.
2. Find out what benefits and resources employers are offering for caregivers and how they are educating employees, so they take advantage of those resources.
3. Hear how ERG/BRGs are supporting caregivers in their organizations.

First Steps to Scaling Your Business

Regardless of whether you’re an owner of a start-up or an established business, ensuring that you have strong business foundational elements in place, can dramatically affect the growth trajectory of your company. From implementing effective hiring practices to utilizing solid business processes, guarantee that your business is on a path to sustained success by attending this informative session. 

                                                Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the essential business fundamentals necessary to ensure your business is on a continued path to success.
2. Gain insights from successful business owners who have taken their companies to the next level and how they did it and the challenges along the way.
3. Learn how to accelerate the growth of your company by applying smart business practices.   

This session will feature companies that have successfully built talent pipelines to attract early career and experienced talent with disabilities. Innovative onboarding, initiatives to develop and advance talent with disabilities, and methods to engage disability business resource groups in recruitment and retention will also be highlighted. Companies will provide detailed information on how they achieved success and overcame obstacles.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn effective outreach and recruitment strategies to attract early career and experienced talent with disabilities.
2. Discover onboarding programs that increase employee engagement and job loyalty among new hires with disabilities.
3. Learn about development programs that grow and advance employees with disabilities.
4. Explore ways to engage your business resource group in all of the above.

Supporting Veterans with Disabilities throughout the Employment Life Cycle

An effective military recruitment and onboarding strategy doesn’t happen by accident.  There are a number of components to designing a program that gets results. And once you have hired the Veteran, how do you retain this invaluable talent?  This session is designed to help employers make informed decisions in hiring veterans with disabilities and will share best practices for supporting them throughout the employment life cycle.  Participants will hear from leaders in this space who will share how they built their Veteran recruiting program, as well as retention, employee assistance, and leadership development programs designed to support the Veteran and provide them an opportunity to develop the skills they need to move up within your organization, grow in their career, and help them feel more connected to the business.

Learning objectives:

1. Gain an understanding of the building blocks of an effective military recruitment program.Identify unconscious biases that may be preventing hiring managers from considering Veteran applicants.Discover the resources an employer can provide to support the needs of Veterans with disabilities (apparent and non-apparent) once they are onboarded.Learn about leadership development programs for Veterans that can generate higher employee morale and greater team productivity, creativity and innovation.

As the 30th anniversary of the ADA is celebrated this year it marks an opportunity for E/BRGs to support the future of inclusive and usable product design. This breakout session complements the Wednesday Microsoft Sponsored Breakout Session, Inclusive Design: What it is and why it’s key to your organization accessibility efforts. This session will look at how the E/BRG can engage with their businesses to drive the inclusiveness and usability of their organization’s internal systems, as well as the products and services they sell.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand how an E/BRG can help bring awareness to support their organizations efforts to ensure their workplace systems are usable for everyone.
2. Discover practical tips for involving the E/BRG and people with disabilities in the development of your organization’s products and service offerings.
3. Understand the role the E/BRG has in influencing growth and implementation of an iterative inclusive and usable design approach during product development.

Please join this interactive conversation with Director Craig Leen from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Director Leen will provide updates on Section 503 compliance, the agency’s Focused Reviews, and answer federal contractors’ questions.

As companies have expanded into the global marketplace, there is a need for employee/business resource groups (E/BRGs) to expand into new global locations as well.  This will come with new challenges, as well as tremendous opportunities for E/BRGs to support their businesses. Learn how global E/BRGs have been instrumental in improving their workplaces by shedding light on cross-cultural issues and have aligned with their organization’s global business objectives to ensure they are providing maximum value.

Learning objectives:

1. Understand the unique challenges and proven strategies to starting, growing, and sustaining global chapters of disability E/BRGs.
2. Discover different ways global E/BRGs have been successful in driving disability inclusion and supporting employees with disabilities including the development of future leaders and increasing employee engagement.
3. See how different disability E/BRGs are aligning with their organization’s global business objectives and helping expand their marketplace reach.

People with disabilities are receiving greater recognition as a loyal and profitable diverse marketing segment. During this session, corporate marketing and communications professionals will share creative examples of inclusive advertising campaigns. Learn about how to use authentic disability-friendly images and language in advertising that will appeal to potential customers with and without disabilities.

Learning Objectives:

1. The basic elements of strong and effective disability inclusive marketing & advertising.  
2. The comparative value of disability-centered advertising & marketing.
3. Incorporating disability inclusive social media in your advertising and marketing initiatives.

From the start-up to the well-established company, small, diverse businesses are facing unprecedented challenges under the current business conditions. To sustain the U.S. economic engine that is the small business community, the support of DOBEs and other diverse suppliers has never been so necessary. Learn how you can help small businesses continue to thrive in times of economic uncertainty and disruption.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the unique challenges that small, diverse business owners encounter during economic disruption
2. Evaluate different ways corporations can provide meaningful assistance to the small business community
3. Create long-term strategies in supporting DOBEs and other diverse supplier communities

By leveraging agility and innovation, disability-owned business enterprises are re-inventing how business is done and seizing on new and changing opportunities. Join us for this exciting plenary session featuring our ninth installment of the DOBE Pitch Tank Competition.

Curious about the secret sauce of a successful accessibility program? Inclusive Design is a methodology that enables and draws on the full range of human diversity including ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human difference. Come learn how Inclusive Design can strengthen workplace diversity and create game changing products and services for your customers. Inclusive design depends on learning from people with a range of perspectives, including people with disabilities. Find out what your peers are doing to incorporate inclusive design into their organizations and how they involve internal and external disability talent. You’ll also discover examples of products and services that have benefitted from Inclusive Design from the very beginning.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the principles of Inclusive Design and how they are implemented in some of the country’s top private sector organizations
2. Discover practical tips for involving people with disabilities in your organization’s products and services.
3. Discover resources to help grow and implement an Inclusive Design approach in your organization

The goal of Disability:IN’s Roadmap to Mental Wellness in the Workplace is to inspire action, improve workplace productivity and impact the well-being of millions of employees and their families around the world. This session will provide roadmap recommendations from global inclusion leaders for accessing leadership buy-in, establishing needed resources, reducing stigma through culturally sensitive discussions and actions, and tapping employee networks to grow mental wellness conversations and more.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of mental health.
2. Discover how to address cultural sensitivities in your efforts to reduce stigma around mental health conditions.
3. Learn how to develop leadership buy-in and participation in your organization’s mental wellness strategy and campaign.
4. Understand how to secure needed resources to offer access and scale while safeguarding privacy and considering regional cultural concerns.
5. Describe how to leverage employee networks and people to grow conversations.
6. Understand the interaction between workplace stress/environments and mental health and explore how to make the workplaces more positive for mental health.

Economic disruptions have forced some companies to pause recruiting efforts while others experience exponential growth in hiring. Learn how several companies are maintaining a commitment to disability inclusive hiring practices during the current business climate and the ways in which they have adjusted their practices to meet social distancing guidelines.

Learning Objectives:

1. Leveraging down time to enhance recruitment process accessibility and ramp up staff competence
2. Best practices in recruiting, interviewing and onboarding while following social distancing guidelines
3. Engaging ERG/BRG in navigating the new environment

Company Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and Business Resource Groups (BRGs) are valuable resources representing many facets of diversity (disability, minority, women, LGBT, etc.).  These groups have connections in areas where supplier diversity may have limited exposure and can help generate higher internal support.  Learn how to take advantage of these 'diversity goldmines' to help you further your supplier diversity program.

Learning Objectives:

1. Find ways to draw interest and support from your company’s ERGs/BRGs by aligning interests and objectives.
2. Understand how to develop a strategy on leveraging traditional ERG/BRG events/celebrations (i.e. Disability Awareness Month) into supplier diversity showcases.
3. Create a multi-layered communications plan to align various ERG/BRG activities with your supplier diversity strategy.

This Disability:IN Inclusion Works session will feature two companies with unique cross-functional teams, representative of internal functions, Employee Resource Groups & various business units. Learn how these teams collaborate to successfully drive disability inclusion across their companies’ footprints.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn how inclusive companies structure their disability inclusion programs
2. Identify organizational techniques that can be replicated in your workplace
3. Gain an understanding of how these companies’ organizational structures have resulted in success

Companies with international operations that take the Disability Equality Index (DEI) are asked to respond to a non-weighted set of questions on the inclusiveness of their global operations. This session will highlight global best practices shared on the 2020 DEI. 

Learning objectives:

1. Understand how companies leverage the DEI to accelerate internal global disability inclusion
2. Learn how companies harness the DEI to advance their global market and talent presence
3. Describe specific disability inclusion recruitment and advancement initiatives for global brands

Tracking spend with diverse suppliers has become only one part of measuring a supplier diversity program’s success and return on investment. Companies are leveraging other important metrics to measure program results and to tell a larger, compelling supplier diversity and inclusion story.

As a supplier diversity or procurement professional needing an ROI enhancement, you won’t want to miss this session!

Learning Objectives:           

1. Understand additional measurements beyond spend
2. Compare the differences and similarities between B2B and B2C economic impact studies
3. Learn how to leverage diverse supplier summits and other supplier development activities to build a compelling ROI

Wondering how to start or grow your digital accessibility initiative? A successful digital accessibility program depends on baking accessibility into your organizational structure, with participation from individuals and teams across the company in a variety of roles. Join top companies as they share best practices for organizing accessibility, so it sticks. Topics include creating a Chief Accessibility Office; raising and spreading the accessibility conversation; breaking down internal silos to get the right people on board (including HR, communications, development and design, procurement, etc.); developing an accessibility champions program; identifying roles needing accessibility training; ensuring accessibility throughout the product lifecycle; and involving disability talent every step of the way.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the many organizational roles that play a part in a successful digital accessibility program and how to involve them in your company’s accessibility efforts
2. Learn strategies to ensure that accessibility is not an afterthought, but a fundamental aspect of every product’s lifecycle.
3. Learn how employees with disabilities and the external disability community can help bake accessibility into your organizational structure

People with disabilities also are represented in all other demographic identities, and how people view and manage their health conditions is greatly influenced by their gender, culture, sexual orientation/identify, faith and military experience.  This session will explore how companies are effectively and creatively working across personal identities to meet employees needs in a cross culturally competent and inclusive manner.  

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand what is meant by intersectionality in the workplace
2. Learn about inclusive cross-cultural disability strategies and practices
3. Explore how collaboration across Employee/Business Resource Groups can enhance participation in your company's wellness resources and support

Disability:IN will announce the winners of the 2020 Inclusion Awards and unveil the Disability Equality Index (DEI) 2020 top-scoring companies. Bring your family and join us for a special performance by a musical guest!

This session will outline steps companies can take to ensure that employees and candidates with disabilities have access to the technology and accommodations they need to successfully participate in remote and return to workplace scenarios.

Companies are launching disability awareness campaigns around events like ADA30, Disability Employment Awareness Month, and International Day of Persons with Disabilities that successfully contribute to the inclusiveness of their workplaces and raise awareness of the disability inclusion advantage. This session will showcase disability awareness campaigns that have reduced stigma, raised awareness, and created a culture of inclusion and belonging, which drives self-identification.

Learning Objectives:           

1. Learn how-to effectively organize and launch disability awareness campaigns.
2. Experience other companies’ successes and how they can be replicated at your workplace.
3. Gain knowledge on how such campaigns have educated employees on workplace disability inclusion leading to a more inclusive culture, and increased applicant and employee self-identification.

A compelling capability statement can make your company stand out among the competition and increase your potential for winning bids. This interactive workshop will guide participants through the process of creating a powerful and effective capability statement.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discover the elements that make up a capability statement that reflects your company’s brand and competencies.
2. Gain insights into real examples of capability statements and evaluate their level of effectiveness.
3. Learn how to tailor a capability statement to different audiences.

Corporate leaders are the drivers of change in creating workplaces that support their employees’ mental and physical well-being. Mental illness is the leading cause of adult disability today, impacting one in four people worldwide. Billions of working days are lost each year due to untreated mental illness. Major employers increasingly recognize that improving mental health among their employees is one of the best investments they can make. Please join corporate leaders as they discuss how their mental wellness programs have benefitted their employees, their families and their workplaces.

1. Discover the importance of workplace mental wellness programs
2. Learn how corporate leaders are supporting workplace mental wellness programs
3. Learn how your company can replicate mental wellness successes

The disability advantage is now recognized globally with corporations seeking inclusive policies and practices. Join this session to learn from disability inclusion leaders regarding their experiences and recommendations for global self-identification campaigns, accommodation models, and best practices for implementing site accessibility and/or universal design policies around the world.

Learning objectives:

1. Learn global self-identification best practices, including how to address and manage varying data and privacy regulations.
2. Understand how to develop and implement global accommodations practices, including a global centralized fund and request process.
3. Gain insight into global site accessibility and universal design policies, programs and supporting resources.
4. Learn leading talent acquisition and recruitment models, in quota and non-quota countries.
5. Learn how to change perceptions and build cultural intelligence from the top down and bottom up

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers tremendous potential for people with disabilities and is already delivering on that promise. But if people with disabilities are not represented in AI data sets, AI also poses a risk to diversity and inclusion efforts, as well as to security and privacy. In an AI driven world – is your company inadvertently creating or procuring technology that excludes disability talent or undermines corporate security and privacy protocols? Come explore cutting-edge issues on the potential and pitfalls of AI. Topics include: How AI tools can enhance accommodation programs and grow and retain disability talent. What is AI fairness and how does it apply to business? Are your organization’s procurement processes designed to spot AI technology that may exclude applicants with disabilities or limit current employees? (Think talent acquisition tools such as resume scanners.) What safeguards ensure that AI vendors empower customers and employees with disabilities, not leave them out.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand how Artificial Intelligence tools can benefit applicants and employees with disabilities
2. Learn the ways in which Artificial Intelligence tools can inadvertently exclude and harm disability talent or create security risks.
3. Discover resources to ensure that your organization’s AI procurement and development processes avoid the pitfalls of AI while reaping the benefits for applicants and employees with disabilities.

Expanding your supplier diversity program to include disability-owned businesses can be difficult in a competitive and resource-challenged business environment. Ensuring that all diverse supplier communities have a seat at the procurement table is essential to a world-class and sustainable program.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the ROI of a supplier diversity program that includes everyone
2. Learn how to develop an effective business case for disability supplier inclusion
3. Gain insights into identifying and engaging disability-owned businesses

How do you ensure that your remote interviews are accessible to candidates with disabilities? This session will focus on what other companies have done to assure accessibility of their platforms and the inclusive strategies of their recruiters. 

A disability inclusive workplace is an accessible workplace. This includes physical accessibility and emergency and pandemic preparedness for employees and guests with disabilities. Attend this session to learn how companies have created accessible workplaces to ensure employees with disabilities have what they need to perform to their full potential and employees and guests feel safe and secure.

                                                Learning Objectives:                                               

1. Learn how to create physically accessible workplaces.
2. Gather ideas for emergency and pandemic preparedness that includes the needs of employees and guests with disabilities and takes into consideration the type of emergency.
3. Examine some of the most forgotten areas of accessibility in the workplace.

Around the world there is a growing recognition that digital accessibility is a civil / human right of people with disabilities, an innovation driver, and a public and corporate value. Laws and regulations support digital inclusion in a wide range of industries and in a growing number of countries across the globe. In the United States, legal activity around accessibility continues to expand, with an increase in lawsuits about the rights of employees to access digital workplace tools, and the rights of consumers to access digital products and services. Come learn how your company can meet legal obligations to your employees, applicants, customers and the public while establishing a culture of inclusion and accessibility to avoid legal pitfalls.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the current digital accessibility legal space – laws, court cases, settlements, and more (primarily a US focus, with reference to the global legal environment).
2. Learn strategies and best practices to create a culture of accessibility that can help your organization mitigate legal risk.
3. Discover resources to stay abreast of legal developments and keep your organization out in front on legal issues.

Employers with Autism Hiring Programs have been interviewing and hiring for their companies for a while now. As their employees grow in their role, or manage the day-to-day, change and growth is a part of the employee experience. Join EY, JP Morgan Chase and Microsoft to learn from their experiences building manager support, career development and change management.

Learning Objectives:

1. Building manager support and inclusive team culture
2. Considerations for career development conversations
3. Getting ahead of transitions and change – teams, managers, peers, environment

The most valuable resource that every business has are its people.  That is what makes Business Resource Groups critical to business performance. So, what can business do to foster an environment where employees belong?  Hear from executive sponsors of Disability Business Resource Groups about what it means to belong or be IN at work?