CEOs are IN. The IN is part of the Disability:IN logo. Navy blue background with icon envelope pattern.

CEO Letter on Disability Inclusion

Understanding that we are all operating in an unprecedented environment with multiple, competing interests for the time and attention of the CEO, we are writing to you – from a CEO to CEO perspective – to ask for your much-needed help in advancing equality and inclusion at a time when the need to make sure that no one is marginalized has never been more important.

July 2020 marked the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  While there is much to celebrate in the progress that has been made since the ADA was created, there is still a great deal of work to be done.  Specifically, we want to:

  1. Request your consideration to participate in the Disability Equality Index, the leading corporate benchmarking tool for disability equality, which is administered by the non-profit organizations, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and Disability:IN;
  2. Share important information on disability inclusion that details its impact on business performance; and
  3. Ensure that you’re aware of increasing investor interest in understanding how companies are inclusive of people with disabilities.

We have experienced first-hand, within our companies, the potential for innovation, sustainability, and profit as a result of disability inclusion. It is important to us, now more than ever, to drive companies aligned with corporate values and meaningful purpose. Without disability inclusion, we will fail to build sustainable futures that empower all.

We kindly request that your company registers for the Disability Equality Index, a corporate benchmarking tool created by non-profit organizations AAPD and Disability:IN. 

Our respective companies leverage the Disability Equality Index to help build better products, stronger workforces, and innovative supply chains. At a larger scale, we stand to boost the American GDP by up to $25 billion if we hire just 1% of the untapped talent with disabilities.

Over one billion people have a disability across the globe – and it is a strength. We are leveraging this – by hiring inclusively, contracting with disability-owned business enterprises, and creating accessible tools and technology for all. We do this because it’s the right thing to do and it makes good business sense. Research reveals that companies that have led on key disability inclusion criteria during that time have realized: 1.6x more revenue, 2.6x more net income, and 2x more economic profit than other participants in Disability:IN’s annual benchmark survey.1 They are also 25% more likely to outperform on productivity compared to their industry peers that have not participated in the survey, measured as revenue per employee.

This is a growing topic for investors in driving sustainable performance. A global investor coalition, representing more than $2.8 trillion in combined assets, called on companies they invest in to become more disability inclusive. The coalition is led by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read, and includes large institutional investors such as California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and Bank of America.

We understand, firsthand, that many requests come across the CEO’s desk, which is why we’re reaching out directly to you on this topic. The business case for disability inclusion in the workplace is compelling. Investor interest – along with regulator and legislator interest – on the topic of workplace disability inclusion is increasing at an accelerated pace. And the Disability Equality Index provides an unbiased and confidential way to benchmark disability inclusion in the workplace.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Signed:

  1. Darius Adamczyk, Chairman & CEO, Honeywell
  2. Kevin Ali, CEO, Organon
  3. José (Joe) E. Almeida, Chairman, President & CEO, Baxter International Inc.
  4. Cristiano R. Amon, President & CEO, Qualcomm Incorporated
  5. Bill Anderson, Chairman of the Board of Management, Bayer AG, Bayer
  6. Peter Arduini, President & CEO, GE HealthCare
  7. Carl S. Armato, President & CEO, Novant Health
  8. Craig Arnold, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eaton
  9. Nikesh Arora, CEO and Chairman, Palo Alto Networks
  10. Tom Arseneault, President & CEO, BAE Systems, Inc.
  11. Stéphane Bancel, CEO, Moderna
  12. Steve Bandrowczak, Chief Executive Officer, Xerox Corporation
  13. Mary Barra, Chair and CEO, General Motors
  14. Corie Barry, CEO, Best Buy
  15. Brian Becker, CEO, RSM
  16. Marc Benioff, Chair & CEO, Salesforce
  17. Andy Bird, CEO, Pearson
  18. Frank Bisignano, President & CEO, Fiserv, Inc.
  19. Robert M. Blue, Chair, President & CEO, Dominion Energy, Inc.
  20. Jean-Michel Boers, President & CEO, and US Country Managing Director, Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation
  21. Gail Boudreaux, President & CEO, Elevance Health
  22. Dr. Albert Bourla, Chairman & CEO, Pfizer, Inc.
  23. Roz Brewer, CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance
  24. Bruce Broussard, President & CEO, Humana Inc.
  25. Greg Brown, Chairman & CEO, Motorola Solutions Inc
  26. Jeffrey J. Brown, CEO, Ally Financial Inc.
  27. Michele Buck, Chair of the Board President and Chief Executive Officer, The Hershey Company
  28. Bill Burns, CEO, Zebra Technologies
  29. David Burritt, President and CEO, U. S. Steel
  30. James Butcher, President & CEO, Chemonics International
  31. Giovanni Caforio, Chairman & CEO, Bristol Myers Squibb
  32. David Calhoun, President & CEO, The Boeing Company
  33. Anthony Capuano, CEO, Marriott International, Inc.
  34. Marc Casper, Chairman, President & CEO, Thermo Fisher Scientific
  35. Andy Cecere, Chairman & CEO, U.S. Bancorp
  36. Annette Clayton, North American President & CEO, Schneider Electric
  37. Frank Clyburn, CEO, IFF
  38. Steve Collis, Chairman, President and CEO, AmerisourceBergen
  39. Elizabeth B. Concordia, President and CEO, UCHealth
  40. David Cordani, President & CEO, Cigna Corporation
  41. Brian Cornell, Board Chairman & CEO, Target Corp.
  42. Roger Crandall, Chairman, President & CEO, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
  43. Joanne Crevoiserat, CEO, Tapestry, Inc.
  44. H. Lawrence (Larry) Culp Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive, GE Aerospace
  45. Terrence Curtin, CEO, TE Connectivity, Ltd.
  46. Paul Decker, President & CEO, Mathematica
  47. Keith Demmings, President & CEO, Assurant
  48. Antoine de Saint-Affrique, Chief Executive Officer, Danone
  49. Harry Dochelli, President & CEO, Essendant
  50. Joe Dominguez, President & CEO, Constellation Energy Corporation
  51. John Donahoe, President & CEO, NIKE, Inc.
  52. Brian Doubles, President & CEO, Synchrony
  53. Sandy Douglas, CEO, UNFI
  54. David Druley, CEO, Cambridge Associates
  55. Thasunda Brown Duckett, President & CEO, TIAA
  56. Marvin R. Ellison, President & CEO, Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
  57. John J. Engel, Chairman, President & CEO, Wesco International Inc.
  58. Ann Fandozzi, Chief Executive Officer, Convergint
  59. Mick Farrell, CEO, ResMed
  60. Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., President & CEO, Mayo Clinic
  61. Bradley H. Feldmann, Chairman, President & CEO, Cubic Corporation
  62. Jim Fitterling, Chair and CEO, Dow
  63. Kathleen Flanagan, CEO & President, Abt Global Inc.
  64. Beth Ford, President & CEO, Land O’Lakes, Inc.
  65. James C. Foster, Chairman, President and CEO, Charles River Laboratories, Inc.
  66. Richard Francis, President and Chief Executive Officer, Teva Pharmaceuticals
  67. Fabrizio Freda, President & CEO, The Estée Lauder Companies
  68. Lance Fritz, Chairman, President & CEO, Union Pacific
  69. Pat Gallagher, Chairman & CEO, Gallagher
  70. Belén Garijo, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
  71. Pat Gelsinger, CEO, Intel
  72. Paul Gentzkow, President & CEO, Talent Solutions, Robert Half
  73. Jim Giannopoulos, CEO, GHD
  74. Matt Goldberg, President & CEO, Tripadvisor, Inc.
  75. Jim Goodnight, Co-Founder & CEO, SAS Institute Inc.
  76. Ariane Gorin, Chief Executive Officer, Expedia Group
  77. Robert J. Grammig, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Holland & Knight LLP
  78. Mark Greatrex, President, Cox Communications, Inc.
  79. Kelly Grier, US Chair & Americas Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
  80. Sebastian Guth, President, Bayer U.S. & President Pharma, North America, Bayer
  81. Monty Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer, Sparq
  82. Matt Hammerstein, CEO Barclays UK and Global Agenda Sponsor for Disability Inclusion, Barclays UK
  83. M. Susan Hardwick, President & CEO, American Water Works, Inc.
  84. Cain A. Hayes, President & CEO, Point32Health, Inc.
  85. Gregory J. Hayes, Chairman & CEO, Raytheon Technologies
  86. Joe Hinrichs, President & CEO, CSX Corporation
  87. Lauren Hobart, President & CEO, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc.
  88. Roger Hochschild, President & CEO, Discover Financial Services
  89. Kevin Hourican, President & CEO, Sysco Corporation
  90. Peyton Howell, Chief Executive Officer, Parexel
  91. Barbara Humpton, CEO, Siemens USA
  92. Jean Hynes, CEO, Wellington Management
  93. Steve Ichinaga, President, Hyve Solutions
  94. Robert Isom, Chief Executive Officer, American Airlines Group
  95. Anthony Jabbour, CEO, Black Knight, Inc. and Dun & Bradstreet
  96. Brad Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, XPO Logistics, Inc.
  97. Haakan Jonsson, Chairman and President, Covestro
  98. Robert E. Jordan, CEO, Southwest Airlines
  99. Dr. Ilham Kadri, CEO, Syensqo
  100. Rick Keyes, President & CEO, Meijer
  101. Julie Kim, President, U.S. Business Unit and U.S. Country Head, Takeda
  102. Scott Kirby, CEO, United Airlines
  103. Tim Knavish, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), PPG Industries, Inc.
  104. Paul Knopp, U.S. Chair & CEO, KPMG
  105. Ramon Laguarta, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo
  106. Ralph A. LaRossa, Chair, President & CEO, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG)
  107. Heather Lavallee, CEO, Voya Financial, Inc.
  108. Alex Liu, Managing Partner, Chairman and Chief Diversity Officer, Kearney
  109. Sarah London, CEO, Centene Corporation
  110. Enrique Lores, President and CEO, HP Inc.
  111. Charles F. Lowrey, Chairman & CEO, Prudential Financial, Inc.
  112. Mike Mahoney, Chairman & CEO, Boston Scientific
  113. Paul Markovich, President & CEO, Blue Shield of California
  114. Judy Marks, Chair, CEO & President, Otis Worldwide
  115. Geoff Martha, CEO, Medtronic
  116. Rodney Martin, Chairman & CEO, Voya Financial
  117. Alessandro Maselli, President & CEO, Catalent Pharma Solutions
  118. Pamela Maynard, CEO, Avanade
  119. Bill McDermott, Chairman & CEO, ServiceNow
  120. James R. McDonald, President, Americas Land, SLB
  121. Richard P. McKenney, President & CEO, Unum
  122. Doug McMillon, President & CEO, Walmart Inc.
  123. Rodney McMullen, Chairman & CEO, The Kroger Companies
  124. Sanjay Mehrotra, President & CEO, Micron Technology, Inc.
  125. Larry Merlo, President & CEO, CVS Health
  126. Charles Meyers, President and CEO, Equinix
  127. Ben Minicucci, CEO & President, Alaska Airlines
  128. Sarosh Mistry, Chair, Sodexo North America, Sodexo
  129. Mark Mondello, CEO, Jabil Inc.
  130. Curt Morgan, CEO, Vistra Corp.
  131. Sarah Morrison, CEO, Shepherd Center
  132. Iva Morse, Country Speaker USA. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
  133. William S. Mosakowski, CEO, Public Consulting Group
  134. Brian Moynihan, Chairman of the Board & CEO, Bank of America
  135. Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft
  136. Laxman Narasimhan, CEO, Starbucks
  137. Chris Nassetta, President & CEO, Hilton
  138. Antonio Neri, President & CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  139. Alan S. Ogilvie, President & Chief Executive Officer, Church Mutual Insurance Co., S.I.
  140. Ronald P. O’Hanley, Chairman & CEO , State Street Corporation
  141. Ken Paulus, President & CEO, Prime Therapeutics LLC
  142. Mark Pearson, CEO, Equitable Holdings
  143. Wendy Perkins, President and CEO, WPS, A Health Solutions Company
  144. Douglas L. Peterson, President & CEO, S&P Global
  145. Tom Pickett, CEO, Headspace
  146. Pedro Pizarro, President & CEO, Edison International
  147. Tom Polen, Chairman, CEO & President, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)
  148. Patti Poppe, CEO PG&E Corporation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
  149. Bob Pragada, Chief Executive Officer, Jacobs
  150. Heike Prinz, Chief Talent Officer & Labor Director, Bayer AG, Bayer
  151. Peter Quigley, CEO, Kelly
  152. Tom Reeg, CEO, Caesars Entertainment
  153. Dave Regnery, Chair & CEO, Trane Technologies
  154. Dave Ricks, Chairman & CEO, Eli Lilly and Company
  155. Michelle Riley-Brown, President and CEO, Children’s National Hospital
  156. David Risher, CEO, Lyft
  157. Dino E. Robusto, Chairman & CEO, CNA Financial Corporation
  158. Jorge M. Rodriguez, President & CEO, Sorenson
  159. Horacio Rozanski, President and Chief Executive Officer, Booz Allen Hamilton
  160. Jim Ryan, Chairman & CEO, Old National Bank
  161. Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment
  162. Tim Ryan, US Chair & Senior Partner, PwC
  163. Vincent L. Sadusky, Chief Executive Officer; Executive Director, IGT
  164. Leo Salom, President & CEO, TD Bank
  165. Tom Salvaggio, President & CEO, CAI
  166. Rafael Santana, President and CEO, Wabtec Corporation
  167. Rodrigo Santos, President Bayer Crop Science Division, Bayer
  168. Julien Sauvagnargues, President, Olympus Corporation of the Americas (OCA)
  169. Kevin Sayer, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Dexcom, Inc.
  170. Charlie Scharf, CEO, Wells Fargo & Company
  171. Jay Shah, Chief Executive Officer, Edelman Financial Engines
  172. Alan Shaw, President & CEO, Norfolk Southern Corporation
  173. Brian Shepherd, President and CEO, CSG
  174. Seth Siegel, CEO, Grant Thornton LLP
  175. Brian Sikes, President & CEO, Cargill
  176.  Mike Sievert, President & CEO, T-Mobile
  177. Josh Silverman, CEO, Etsy, Inc.
  178. Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman & CEO, Baker Hughes
  179. Vince Sorgi, President & CEO, PPL Corporation
  180.  Evan Spiegel, CEO, Snap Inc.
  181. John Stankey, CEO, AT&T
  182. Steve D. Steinour, President and CEO, Huntington National Bank
  183. Scott Strazik, Chief Executive Officer, GE Vernova
  184. Michael Stubblefield, President and CEO, Avantor
  185. Robert E. Sulentic, President & CEO, CBRE
  186.  Julie Sweet, CEO, Accenture
  187.  Mike Swinford, CEO, NuMotion
  188. J.K. Symancyk, President & CEO, PetSmart
  189. James D. Taiclet, Chairman, President & CEO, Lockheed Martin
  190.  Joe Tarantino, President & CEO, Protiviti
  191. Rob Taylor, President Sonepar North America, Sonepar
  192.  Jacob Thaysen, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Illumina
  193. Laurent Therivel, CEO, US Cellular
  194. Sanjeev Tirath, CEO, Pyramid Consulting
  195.  Carol B. Tomé, CEO, United Parcel Service
  196. Robert N. Trunzo, President & CEO, TruStage
  197. Brian Turner, CEO & President, Point B LLC
  198.  Sherri Turpin, CEO, ZVRS and Purple Communications
  199. Brian Tyler, CEO, McKesson Corporation
  200. Joe Ucuzoglu, CEO, Deloitte Global
  201.  Hans Vestberg, Chairman & CEO, Verizon
  202. Robin Vince, President & CEO, BNY Mellon
  203. Steve Vondran, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Tower Corporation
  204.  Michel Vounatsos, CEO, Biogen
  205.  Keith Waddell, CEO, Robert Half International
  206. Pat Walsh, CPA, MBA, CEO, Withum
  207.  Kathy Warden, Chairman, CEO & President, Northrop Grumman Corporation
  208.  Mike Wirth, Chairman & CEO, Chevron Corporation
  209.  Dr. Jerry Wohletz, President & CEO, Draper
  210.  Anne Wojcicki, CEO & Co-Founder, 23andMe
  211. Patrick Zammit, CEO, TD SYNNEX
  212.  John Zillmer, CEO, Aramark