Employing Abilities @Work: Research, Best Practices and Case Studies
People with disabilities represent more than 25% of the adult population in the U.S. However, they are underemployed at a rate significantly higher than their peers without disabilities. Companies who actively prioritize building inclusive hiring processes and workplaces where people with disabilities can thrive have seen the business and cultural benefits of inclusion. Learn from companies like yours who have implemented disability inclusion programs as they discuss their key learnings and strategies for successes and hear insights from SHRM’s latest research on disability inclusion in the workplace.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the attitudes and opinions of HR professionals, managers and independent contributors towards individuals with disabilities in the workplace.
- Understand the impact of SHRM’s research findings on company recruitment, development and retention.
- Walk away with strategies to improve employment for individuals with disabilities in your workplace.
Trent Burner, SHRM-SCP
Trent serves as the VP of Research at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest HR professional society, representing more than 300,000 members in more than 165 countries. In this position, Trent leads a comprehensive research program that identifies workplace needs, conducts research, and develops research-based solutions and products to allow HR and business leaders to further the goals of their organization. Trent also served as a SHRM Certification Commissioner. In this position, Trent served as a chief technical advisor for the development of the SHRM competency model and certification exams. Prior to SHRM, Trent spent 15 years at Walmart Stores, Inc. leading global HR Centers of Expertise and has led large, multinational HR projects in China, India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, Canada, the UK, and the US. Trent holds a BA in Psychology and a MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Akron. He is also holds the SHRM-SCP certification.
Ryan Hitsman
Ryan has 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience in a variety of corporate and field roles with blue chip companies such as Sephora, Toyota, and Shell Oil. Ryan joined Sephora nearly three years ago as HR business leader to launch a new Southeast distribution division in Olive Branch, MS (greater Memphis area) which services Sephora’s e-commerce and retail stores. As part of the Southeast launch, Ryan championed a large scale PWD hiring initiative modeled after Walgreens, leading Sephora’s Olive Branch location to hire more PWD’s than any employer in the history of Mississippi, earning Sephora “Employer of the Year” honors from the state. He recently relocated to Las Vegas to open Sephora’s new Western region distribution hub and implement a similar PWD hiring initiative. Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a master’s degree in Human Resources & Labor Relations, both from Michigan State University. He is originally from Michigan and married to his wife Sofia. They have one child, a nine-month old son named Rickey.
Wendi Safstrom
Wendi Safstrom is a senior non-profit leader committed to serving the public through philanthropic program management, cultivating strategic partnerships and managing and developing high performing teams. She has both association and nonprofit management experience including; national program development and administration, membership strategy, marketing and product development, grant management, development and donor stewardship, and leading cross functional teams. Safstrom currently serves as President for the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation (SHRM Foundation), where she leads the development and implementation of SHRM Foundation's programmatic, development, and marketing and communication strategies in support of SHRM Foundation's new mission and vision, creating growth plans and ensuring alignment with SHRM goals.
Prior to assuming the role at SHRM Foundation, Safstrom served as Vice President at the National Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, where she led the development and implementation of their Foundation's most recent five-year strategic plan, and was responsible for all Foundation programming, including workforce development initiatives, scholarship and event management, community relations and engagement initiatives. The NRAEF's philanthropic programming supported a number of audiences including high school youth, veterans transitioning from service to civilian work and life, opportunity youth and incumbent workers. Of particular note, she led the implementation of the restaurant industry's premier high school career and technical education program, growing the program to over 2,000 public high schools, engaging over 150,000 students annually, nationwide. In 2016, she served as lead project director for the development of a $10 million contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to develop the hospitality industry's first apprenticeship program, and was instrumental in the Foundation's reorganization and relocation of operations from Chicago, Illinois to Washington, D.C., transforming the staff and culture.
Safstrom has also held human resource management roles with the Leo Burnett Company and Hyatt Hotels Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. She has a BS in Business Administration from the Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University and was recognized as a member of the 2014 "Power 20" by Restaurant Business Magazine as a leader in philanthropy within the restaurant industry.
Brad Nardick
Patricia Toledo
Patricia brings more than 20 years of digital and international business experience to her role as Vice President of the Workplace Initiative by Understood. She is an innovative and experienced executive with a track record of successfully leading teams in startup and enterprise settings to deliver in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Throughout her career, Patricia has launched and scaled a wide array of services, including the first large-scale internet banking and online brokerage service in Brazil. Patricia has also managed corporate digital business and product P&Ls for Santander Bank, among other Fortune 100 companies.
As the co-founder of two companies and leader of large (300+) teams, Patricia knows first-hand the value of building inclusive and efficient workplaces that embrace and promote diversity. As Vice President of the Workplace Initiative by Understood, Patricia has leveraged her knowledge and experience in developing and delivering digital products to drive innovation, scale, and social impact in the disability inclusion field. Under her leadership, the Workplace Initiative, by Understood, will launch a scalable framework that will allow organizations to implement disability inclusion initiatives nationwide."