Agenda

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

This space is designed for corporate partners to have one-on-one conversations with college students and recent graduates that are participating in the NextGen Program.

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Focus on ADA: Compliance to Competitive Advantage In recognition of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the 2020 JAN Academy will offer reasonable accommodation professionals expert training to build their ADA competence and boost their ADA confidence. Employers that implement reasonable accommodation policies and engage in workplace practices that are both ADA compliant and disability inclusive have a competitive advantage. The 2020 JAN Academy will give you the information you need to help your organization achieve that advantage. Participants will engage in a three-part training experience that will:

• Dissect the fundamental requirements of the ADA in a practical way, preparing you to confidently integrate ADA compliance into your business practices;
• Navigate a model interactive process that focuses on ADA issues that continue to challenge employers, like recognizing and responding to accommodation requests, determining who may receive accommodations, knowing when and how to request disability-related information, and deciding what accommodations are reasonable;
• Offer hiring best practices and practical guidance on pre-employment disability-related inquiry rules and the ADA; and
• Explore workplace flexibility-related accommodations related to when and where work is performed, to improve employee presence.

Learning Objectives

1. Employ practical strategies for engaging in an interactive process under the ADA to make smart reasonable accommodation decisions.
2. Access tangible resources that will enhance their organization’s reasonable accommodation practices to advance beyond ADA compliance towards a more competitive advantage.
3. Leverage workplace flexibility to provide accommodations intended to improve employee presence.

Note: Separate Registration and Fee Required

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

Note: Open only to NextGen Leaders and Corporate Hosts of the Session

During this one-on-one speed networking session, company representatives will be matched to NextGen Leaders who possess the field of study, educational background, and/or experience they are seeking in potential job applicants. Matchmaking is exclusive to Disability:IN corporate partners. The matching between the company and the NextGen Leaders will be conducted ahead of time, and companies will be provided the participants’ names and resumes prior to the conference.

Welcome all conference attendees to the annual Disability:IN Veterans Community Service Project and Opening Reception. Join the ‘assembly line’ and fill bags with essentials that will be distributed to homeless veterans in the greater Orlando area. Then enjoy refreshments and network with other attendees.

Bags provided by: Lowes

Join us for an accessible morning yoga session put on by the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

This space is designed for corporate partners to have one-on-one conversations with college students and recent graduates that are participating in the NextGen Program.

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

Bobby Silverstein, the former chief congressional aide to Senator Tom Harkin (the chief sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)) and current principal in the Washington DC-based Powers Law firm, will reflect on the efforts by the business and disability communities to enact the ADA and analyze emerging ADA implementation challenges, including a range of issues affecting people with disabilities such as voluntary affirmative action and self-identification and self-disclosure; artificial intelligence; the gig economy; accessibility of websites, online systems, and mobile apps; personal assistance services; and service and assistance animals. Learning Objectives: 1. Role of the business community and the disability community in securing enactment of the ADA and the four goals of disability policy articulated in the ADA. 2. Legal and policy authority for companies to adopt proactive voluntary affirmative action policies and practices regarding the recruitment and hiring of individuals with disabilities. 3. Challenges and opportunities facing companies that use artificial intelligence in their hiring systems. Note: This session is open only to Disability:IN Corporate Partners and Affiliate leaders.

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;
• 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

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.

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

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.

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

Did you know that Disability:IN has a network of 31 Affiliates (business to business, for business/by business networks) that span over 29 states and are located across the US? Engaging with an Affiliate an opportunity for a company to be involved year-round at the local level in developing a more inclusive workplace, supply chain and marketplace across your footprint. Come learn more about this amazing network and learn the benefits of local engagement!

Learning Objectives:

1. Introduction to the Disability:IN Affiliates and how an Affiliate can benefit small, mid-size and large markets
2. Engagement at the local level can give your company a competitive advantage
3. Articulating the value proposition for local affiliate partnership and national membership
4. Learn how and why corporate partners successfully participate with their local affiliate – from the perspective of both local affiliate leaders and some of their current corporate partners

During this one-on-one speed networking session, company representatives will be matched to NextGen Leaders who possess the field of study, educational background, and/or experience they are seeking in potential job applicants. Matchmaking is exclusive to Disability:IN corporate partners. The matching between the company and the NextGen Leaders will be conducted ahead of time, and companies will be provided the participants’ names and resumes prior to the conference.

Meet and network with Disability:IN affiliates, disability-owned businesses, and supplier diversity professionals.

Join us for an accessible morning jog put on by the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Disability:IN Corporate Partners are pre-matched with certified DOBEs, V-DOBEs and SDV-DOBEs, to make their pitches and discuss potential connections.

This space is designed for company recruiters and conference participants to have one-on-one conversations with college students and recent graduates that are participating in the NextGen Program.

Disability:IN Corporate Partners are launching disability awareness campaigns 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.

Global Roadmap to Mental Wellness in the Workplace 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.

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

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.

Hosted by: Microsoft

As the 30th anniversary of the ADA is celebrated this year it marks an opportunity for the ERG/BRG to help support the future of universal and inclusive design. This breakout session complements the Tuesday Microsoft Sponsored Breakout Session, Inclusive Design: What it is and why it’s key to your organization's accessibility efforts. This session will look at how the ERG/BRG can engage and help influence iterative universal and inclusive design in their organizations.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand how an ERG/BRG can help bring awareness to support their organizations with the principles of universal and inclusive design.
2. Discover practical tips for involving the ERG/BRG and people with disabilities in your organization’s products and services.
3. The role the ERG/BRG has in influencing growth and implementation of an iterative universal and inclusive design approach in an organization.

This session is designed for companies both new and experienced in disabled Veterans recruiting initiatives. During this knowledge-sharing session, corporate presenters will share what has worked in the recruitment and retention of Veterans with disabilities in their industry. Topics include: Innovative recruitment programs, engaging with Veterans transitioning form the military, onboarding, maintaining engagement, aligning company resources to support Veterans, educating on corporate versus military perspectives, outreach to student Veterans and Veteran ERG/BRGs.

Learning Objectives:

1. Engaging Veterans and the disability community to support the transition from warrior to workplace.
2. Innovative strategies that create opportunity for Veterans with disabilities.
3. Best practices for Veterans with disabilities focusing on retention, engagement and Veteran ERG/BRGs.

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.

A disability inclusive workplace is an accessible workplace. This includes physical accessibility and emergency 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 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.

When training customer-facing staff, turnover can be relatively high, available time and attention limited and whatever you do has to be memorable and actionable. Creating effective content that is memorable and actionable can also be a challenge, this session will offer suggestions and examples of how to effectively address this important need to raise disability confidence and thereby respect and likelihood of effectively serving guests/customers with disabilities.

Learning Objectives:

1. Reinforce business case for training
2. Learn about the type of content that makes an impact
3. Explore example(s) of how training can be provided quickly and cost-effectively

Reduce fears and increase confidence when interacting with guests/customers/coworkers with disabilities.

When many people think of disabilities, those disabilities that are visually apparent usually come to mind. But not all disabilities are seen by the human eye or are permanent. In order to fully identify and include disability owned businesses within your supply chain, it’s important to understand the wide breadth of disabilities: Apparent, Non-apparent and Temporary.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand different types of disabilities.
2. Learn how to ensure you are fostering an environment of inclusion among your suppliers and potential suppliers with all types of disabilities.
3. Learn how to empower individuals with disabilities to unleash potential within your supply chain.

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.

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.

During this dinner, Disability:IN will present several awards and DEI top-scoring companies will be recognized.

Please join this facilitated interactive session. Each table will be asked to share resources and promising practices on a specific disability inclusive workplace topic. These resources will be combined to create a resource hub on the Disability:IN website. After attending this session, you will have a list of resources that will be beneficial to your company.

Topics include:

1. Disability etiquette, effective communication and interaction with people with disabilities
2. Resources for identifying talent with disabilities, including online talent portals and virtual career fairs
3. Effective onboarding and employee development programs for new and existing employees with disabilities
4. Disability awareness campaigns and their return on investment
5. Accessible workplace technology
6. Employee experience and engagement
7. Reliable vendors that provide a range of services to assist a company throughout the employee life cycle
8. Sharing of conference highlights learned as it pertains to workplace inclusion

Designed for supplier diversity and procurement professionals, these popular interactive roundtable discussions led by industry leaders will focus on future trends and innovative ideas to drive greater success in disability supplier inclusion.

Join industry leaders in an interactive session to share best practices for making assistive and other technology part of your company’s accommodation program. What cutting edge technologies can help you grow your disability talent and allow employees with disabilities to thrive? What features are built into standard technologies that can improve accessibility simply by turning them on and proper training? How can Employee Resource Group members and others with disabilities best share their knowledge of available technologies? How can you put together a strong inter-disciplinary team to support accommodation requests? This roundtable-style session will give participants the opportunity to try out new technology and talk with people using various technologies at work. Employees and applicants with physical, sensory, mental health, and cognitive disabilities can all benefit from today’s technology trends. Come find out how.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn about technologies that can benefit your organization’s employees and applicants with disabilities.
2. Discover ways that top global organizations incorporate technology into their workplace accommodation programs.
3. Learn best practices for establishing a workplace accommodation support team and for sharing information and educating teams about the availability of assistive and other technologies.

This interactive session will include panelists representing EMEA, APEC, LATAM and NA regional needs and approaches. Following the panelists’ remarks, each participant will join a regional small group conversation focused on their region’s cultural perspectives, strategies for quota or non-quota countries, and how their global companies can develop flexible programming with overarching policies.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand regional variations in disability inclusion workplace strategies from global practitioners.
2. Describe variances in regional self-identification strategies based on cultural sentiment.
3. Learn regional strategies on how to approach accessibility and accommodations/adjustments as separate obligations.
4. Understand data and privacy concerns by region, including resources to support your organization’s implementation efforts.
5. Describe the role of language and how it impacts disclosure, self-identification, accommodations, and regulations.

Certified suppliers will discuss best practices, challenges, and opportunities to business growth. Led by experienced and successful DOBEs & SDV-DOBEs, these popular interactive roundtable discussions will provide suppliers with insights into successful strategies in building and growing their businesses.

Roundtables discuss respectful inclusion vs. problematic portrayals of marketing campaigns inclusive of people with disabilities. The roundtable will utilize case studies to discuss best practices. Discussion of rules of the road when collaborating with disability serving organizations.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explore what is considered respectful and positive
2. Unpack case studies, what’s worked, what hasn’t
3. Identify tips/guidance for collaborating with disability serving organizations (includes tactics and techniques needed)
4. Include importance of full digital accessibility and hiring talent with disabilities to collaborate in creating customer facing media
5. Debunk concerns about difficulty, creative impact, and expense of accessible media