![A-Group-of-Diverse-Colleagues-Work-Together-in-an-Office-Crop A group of diverse colleagues with disabilities gather around a conference table with the skyline showing in the background.](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/A-Group-of-Diverse-Colleagues-Work-Together-in-an-Office-Crop-scaled.jpg)
Innovative program customized for people with disabilities also equips companies to retain, train, and advance disability talent
ALEXANDRIA, VA. (May 2, 2024)—Disability:IN, the global nonprofit driving disability inclusion in business, today introduced the Early Career Talent Accelerator—a first-of-its-kind development program for professionals with disabilities—and announced the initial cohort of 25 individuals.
Launching this week, the Early Career Talent Accelerator will give participants the opportunity to develop the skills needed for several aspects of holistic career development. With curriculum designed to be culturally competent, Disability:IN created the program to be inclusive of the unique experiences of professionals with disabilities. The program also considers participants’ career stages and relevant needs as individual contributors or first-time supervisors. The entire cohort self-identifies as a person with a disability, and more than half of the cohort identifies as either a person of color or a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
“The Early Career Talent Accelerator was created in response to interest from our partner network to address the gap in corporate career development programs for people with disabilities,” said Jill Houghton, president and CEO, Disability:IN. “We’re providing training on skills that all professionals need regardless of identity, and we’re doing it through a disability lens. We want our participants to confidently own their story and position their disability as a meaningful aspect of their professional identity.”
The Early Career Talent Accelerator offers employers an opportunity to retain and engage valued employees as well as signal their commitment to disability inclusion. In the 2023 Disability Equality Index®, a median disability self-identification rate of 4.6% was reported from among the subset of 485 participating companies that provided such data. Furthermore, only 5% of these companies said they offer employee retention and advancement programs that solely focus on employees with disabilities.
The program follows Disability:IN’s NextGen Leader Initiatives, which provide professional mentoring and career readiness resources for college students and recent graduates with disabilities. The 12-week Early Career Talent Accelerator combines self-paced content with virtual instruction and will culminate with an in-person capstone learning session and graduation at the 2024 Disability:IN Global Conference & Expo on July 15-18 in Las Vegas.
The inaugural cohort was selected after a competitive, nomination-based process that evaluated candidates on their career accomplishments to date and projectable potential to benefit from the program. Disability:IN engaged subject matter experts within its network to create the curriculum, and each week’s session will be led by a professional with a disability. U.S. salaried employees of a Disability:IN corporate partner company are eligible for the program.
Sena Pottackal, an associate of client experience, DEI, and corporate communications at Current Global, is an Early Career Talent Accelerator participant and NextGen Leaders alum. “I’m seeking guidance on embracing my new identity as a neurodivergent person with a mental health disability, and I look forward to meeting others with shared experiences and empowering each other to grow,” Pottackal said. “Together, we can learn how to leverage the power of our stories to champion disability inclusion in the workplace.”
2024 Early Career Talent Accelerator Cohort
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Chiril Calin
Pfizer
![2024 ECTA Cohort Headshots Circle_Christmann Olivia Christmann headshot](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-ECTA-Cohort-Headshots-Circle_Christmann.png)
Olivia Christmann
Pegasystems Inc.
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Tolliver Davis
Walmart Inc.
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Brittany Emery
UnitedHealth Group
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Alyse Erickson
NextGen Coordinator
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Jon Fancher
Ernst & Young
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Katie Frayer
Whirlpool Corporation
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Colleen Giblin
Gartner
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Alex Gill
Dell
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Agatha Ibe
Micron Technology
![2024 ECTA Cohort Headshots Circle_Kauffman Amanda Kauffman headshot](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-ECTA-Cohort-Headshots-Circle_Kauffman.png)
Amanda Kauffman
Medline
![2024 ECTA Cohort Headshots Circle_Kilcoin-McPherren Lucas Kilcoin-McPherren headshot](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-ECTA-Cohort-Headshots-Circle_Kilcoin-McPherren.png)
Lucas Kilcoin-McPherren
Blue Origin
![2024 ECTA Cohort Headshots Circle_Lieberman Alexander Lieberman headshot](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-ECTA-Cohort-Headshots-Circle_Lieberman.png)
Alexander Lieberman
Wells Fargo
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Shannon Maher
Manager, NextGen Initiatives
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Corinne Marlow
Discover
![2024 ECTA Cohort Headshots Circle_Martin Angela Martin headshot](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-ECTA-Cohort-Headshots-Circle_Martin.png)
Angela Martin
Lenovo
![2024 ECTA Cohort Headshots Circle_Notaroberta Brittany Notaroberta headshot](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-ECTA-Cohort-Headshots-Circle_Notaroberta.png)
Brittany Notaroberta
Neiman Marcus Group
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Victoria O’Rear
Northrop Grumman Corporation
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Andrea Pitts
Experian
![2024 ECTA Cohort Headshots Circle_Pottackal Sena Pottackal headshot](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-ECTA-Cohort-Headshots-Circle_Pottackal.png)
Sena Pottackal
Current Global
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Robert Slater
Reckitt
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Kaitlin Strathdee
Intel
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McCall Teicher
Charles Schwab
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Harrison Tu
US Bank
![2024 ECTA Cohort Headshots Circle_Wu Benjamin Wu headshot](https://disabilityin.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-ECTA-Cohort-Headshots-Circle_Wu.png)
Benjamin Wu
Unum