Moving Towards a Disability Inclusive Workforce
The CEO Commission for Disability Employment works to increase access to the workforce for people with disabilities. This session focuses on the value of hiring people with disabilities, steps businesses can take to promote inclusion, and the need to look to the future in these critical reforms. It features experts in corporate talent acquisition and employees with disabilities. Hear directly from those who are impacted by the pursuit of greater disability inclusion.
Learning Objectives:
- Understanding the value that people with disabilities bring to the workplace, from a business and cultural prospective.
- Strategies that maximize an organization’s ability to effectively recruit and support employees with disabilities.
- Implications that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on disability employment.
- Preparing for the workplace of the future and the need to continue including people with disabilities.
Erin Riehle
Erin Riehle is the Senior Director of Disability Services at Cincinnati Children's. Project SEARCH is an internship-based training and skill development program that gives individuals with disabilities access to a multitude of job sights and integrated internship opportunities. Since its inception, Project SEARCH has grown from a single program site at Cincinnati Children’s to a large and continuously expanding international network of sites. Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to secure competitive employment for people with disabilities.
Rodney O. Martin, Jr.
Rodney O. Martin, Jr., is chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), which helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving approximately 13.8 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $7.5 billion in revenue in 2019.
A veteran of the retirement, insurance and financial services industry with more than 40 years of high-profile experience, Martin joined Voya (formerly ING U.S.) in 2011, and led it through an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2013. Since then, he has overseen a significant financial, operational and cultural transformation within the company.
Martin received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Alfred University. He is a fellow, Life Underwriter Training Council, a board member of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) and Junior Achievement (JA) USA, and has served on the board of the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA).
Antonio Myers
Antonio Myers is a native Washingtonian who is a high school valedictorian and college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Minor in Psychology. Antonio graduated from RCM’s Direct Support Professional Academy and is a designated disability services provider by the DC Department of Disability Services. Antonio was recently was appointed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to The District of Columbia State Rehabilitation Council.
Anil Lewis
Anil Lewis was born in 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently employed as the executive director for Blindness Initiatives for the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), located in Baltimore, Maryland, he coordinates outreach, marketing, and fund raising activities for a national nonprofit organization. As a sighted man he fairly easily found respectable employment with wages high above the minimum wage. Then in 1989, while pursuing his bachelor’s of business administration in computer information systems at Georgia State University (GSU), he became blind from retinitis pigmentosa. At that point, although he had always considered himself socially aware, he became personally acquainted with actual social injustice and discrimination. Speaking of his personal life, Anil Lewis says that his proudest accomplishment is his bright, ambitious son Amari, born in 1997.
Kandi Pickard
Kandi Pickard is the President & CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) where she provides vision and leadership, working collaboratively with individuals and organizations to support the entire Down syndrome community. Kandi holds a degree in business administration and brings two decades of experience in operations and effective administration management to her role at NDSS. Kandi’s involvement in the Down syndrome community first began as a local volunteer and advocate after her youngest son, Mason was born with Down syndrome. Nine years later, she leads NDSS with a focus on building community and keeping people with Down syndrome at the center of everything the organization does. Kandi’s vision for the future of NDSS includes resources, programs and support for individuals with Down syndrome and their families from birth to adulthood, with a special focus on caregiving, public health and supporting aging adults.