10 Frameworks for a Radically Inclusive Workplace

ACCESS is designed for all professionals with a mission to transform their organizations. We’ve brought together leaders from all industries who’ve achieved inclusion and equality in the workplace; now they want to show you how. 

Diversity cannot exist without inclusion in the workplace. As defined by Gallup, “Inclusion refers to a cultural and environmental feeling of belonging…building diversity throughout an organization is becoming more of a ‘must-do’ than a ‘nice to do’ for both ethical and business reasons.”

An inclusive workplace drives performance, motivation, engagement, and innovation. It makes employees feel like their contributions matter to the overall success of the workplace.

Diversity takes this up a notch. It brings in a wide array of perspective and experiences that challenges businesses to think differently.

Who Should Attend ACCESS?

ACCESS is designed for professionals across all industries that are committed to creating an inclusive workplace. We’ll cover the basics of inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility, plus dive into tips for those who are already underway in their initiatives.

Whether you are in education, entertainment, corporate, fitness, publishing, or any other industry, you will find value within each lesson taught by experts who have paved the way in their organizations.

We encourage you to invite your team, leaders, friends, and anyone else who you think could benefit.

Advancing Disability Inclusion and Equality in the Workplace

ACCESS will kick off with an amazing session taught by Becky Kekula and Diana Codispoti from Disability: IN. Disability: IN is the nation’s largest disability rights organization. They’ve created a benchmark called the Disability Equality Index (DEI) that ranks hundreds of companies on their progress towards disability inclusion and equality.

Attend this session if you are interested in:

• Learning what makes a company rank in the 100, 90 and 80th percentile for disability inclusion and equality
• How to get leadership to value inclusivity
• What it means to become a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion
• Why major companies in the USA are prioritizing inclusivity
• Areas you can begin focusing on to improve your score

Creating a Dialogue Around Accessibility & the Importance of Internal Training

Matt May is the Head of Inclusive Design at Adobe who has created a workplace that proactively talks about disability. In doing so, Adobe has become a forerunner in inclusive design and ranked in the 100 percentile on the DEI.

By openly talking about accessibility, you create a culture that champions and prioritizes disability rights. You can begin to educate your workforce on why you should be designing curriculums, products, classes, conferences, and everything in between with accessibility in the center. You’ll begin to notice that inclusivity actually benefits everyone who interacts with your brand.

Attend this session if you are interested in:

• How to proactively talk about accessibility
• Learning why you don’t have to wait for leadership to drive inclusivity
• How to train employees on accessibility
• How Adobe got to where it is in regards to inclusivity in the workplace
• Tips you can begin to implement today

How to Increase Profitability, Productivity & Brand Reputation by Creating a Disability-Inclusive Culture

Dr. Christin Bradley is the CEO of Inclusive Community Home Care, and Founder of I Am Equal, and Founder of the Inclusive CEO Coaching Program.
In this session, we focus on the benefits your business can reap by focusing on inclusivity. Christin believes Inclusive Leadership is vital and you must inject inclusion into all aspects of society.

Attend this session if you are interested in:

• What is inclusive leadership
• Benefits of inclusivity for business
• How to measure your impact
• How to be vocal about your work and inspire others
• Disability awareness, people-first language & Accessible communication

Emily Yates – Journalist & Accessibility Consultant

When the London and Rio Olympics organizers needed help in ensuring the event would be accessible, they called upon the brilliant Emily Yates to consult on all aspects of the intricate operation. Emily works as an accessibility consultant and journalist in the UK. As a wheelchair user, she has made tremendous strides in championing the rights of disabled people.

Attend this session if you are interested in:

• An inspiring and personal story on why inclusivity matters
• Why access and inclusion is important in the workplace
• The spending power of disabled people
• The social model of disability

The Five stages of Accessible Recruiting

If you want to increase diversity in your company, you must start with how you are recruiting top talent. For many organizations, making simple changes to the recruitment strategy can become the key ingredient to vastly improving inclusivity in the workplace.

As VMware’s former Head of Accessibility, Sheri Byrne-Haber established a robust accessibility program that transformed the direction of the company. In this session, Sheri will share the best practices for accessible recruiting.

Attend this session if you are interested in:

• Best practices for job postings
• How to create a seamless application process
• Tips for interviewing and onboarding
• Potential biases in applicant tracking systems to watchout for

Implementing Accessibility with No Dedicated Resources

Many companies who are beginning to realize the importance of accessibility, inclusivity, and diversity may have limited resources or feel overwhelmed by their ambitious goals. However, you don’t need a vast pool of resources to make a difference in your workplace.

In this session, Lily Bond, Director of Marketing at 3Play Media, will share how 3Play has internally created a culture of inclusivity. She’ll share tips on getting leadership support, training employees, creating a task-force, and more.

Attend this session if:

• Are starting to implement disability, diversity, and inclusivity initiatives
• You are a small team with limited resources
• You don’t know where to start
• You are looking to create a roadmap

Creating an Internal Strategy for Inclusivity and Accessibility

Christopher Patnoe, Head of Accessibility Programs and Disability Inclusion at Google in conversation with Jennison Asuncion, Head of Accessibility Engineering Evangelism at LinkedIn will share their tips for internal inclusivity. Both Google and Linkedin ranked in the 100th percentile on the DEI and continue to set standards for all industries to follow suit.

Jennison and Christopher live for inclusivity and have a deep desire to help others achieve their ambitious goals. In this candid fireside chat, we’ll hear their personal stories, challenges, and lessons learned. In addition, the audience will be able to ask questions about their experiences in the workplace.

Attend this session if you are interested in:

• You want to hear how top companies continue to achieve their inclusivity goals
• Lessons and challenges one might face when implementing inclusivity iniatives
• Understand how to outline an internal accessibility strategy
• Creating a culture that champions accessibility

Unconscious Bias

In this course, diversity expert Stacey Gordon helps you recognize and acknowledge your own biases so that you can identify them when making decisions, and prevent yourself from making calls based on a biased viewpoint.

This session is helpful for all professionals to learn how to set aside biases in order to create a truly inclusive culture.

Attend this session if you are interested in:

• Understanding biases that are skewing judgement
• Tips for recruiting and hiring
• Learning the different types of biases
• Tips for overcoming biases

How Inclusive DEI Programs Can Ensure Better Product Accessibility

Taught by Natalie Tucker, Technical Program Manager at Dropbox, and Lori Samuels, Accessibility Director at NBC Universal Media, this powerful duo will share how DEI programs have transformed the way they create products. If you are a designer of products or programs, this session is perfect for you.

In this session, you will learn how diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to creating better products for your customers.

Attend this session if you are interested in:

• What does an inclusive DEI program look like
• How inclusive programs impact product design
• Internal training around accessible design