#RespectTheAbility

#RespectTheAbility Campaign: Spotlight on Kwik Trip

Kwik Trip’s Retail Helper Program a “Blueprint” for Other Companies

Exterior of a Kwik Trip Store

Washington, Dec. 28 – Officially, Luke Cohran’s title at Kwik Trip’s Store 761 in La Crosse, Wisc. is retail helper. Unofficially? He’s the store singer. Whether he’s cleaning the gas pumps, restocking the coolers or checking inventory, 23-year-old Cochran can be found crooning.

“Our customers get such a joy out of Luke,” says Terry Johnson, the store leader who hired Cochran just over a year ago through the Wisconsin-based company’s Retail Helper program, which employs people with disabilities. Job duties include stocking, cleaning and food preparation, with shifts built around employees’ bus schedules. To start, employees work a maximum of 15 hours a week, a schedule that allows them to continue to receive disability benefits while gaining skills and independence. Once they master their job skills, they may apply for other positions at the stores.

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#RespectTheAbility Campaign: Spotlight on AT&T

Every Voice Matters: Fortune 50 Global Company is a Top Employer of People with Disabilities

Washington, Oct. 21 – “Every voice matters.”

That’s the message Cynthia Marshall, AT&T’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer, has for its employees.

“At AT&T, diversity and inclusion are woven into all our business strategies and are key in achieving our business goals.”

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Won Shin, senior manager in transaction advisory services at EY, speaks with coworkers Alejandra Preciat and Frances Smith (photo credit POSITIVE EXPOSURE)

#RespectAbility campaign spotlights model employers that demonstrate how hiring workers with disabilities benefits the employer, the employee and society

Washington, Sept. 30 – RespectAbilityUSA is launching its 2015 #RespectTheAbility campaign in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which begins tomorrow. The campaign highlights the benefits companies reap when they hire talented people with disabilities. Using the hashtag #RespectTheAbility, the campaign hopes to ultimately erase negative and untrue stigmas associated with hiring people with disabilities.

“Many companies hire the best talent out there, no matter what package that talent comes in,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of RespectAbilityUSA. “Employers’ focus should be on the abilities an individual brings to the table to better the organization, not any disabilities the individual may have. It is time for all employers to look beyond the disability, and understand the true value of these employees.”

The campaign comes on the heels of the U.S. Business Leadership Network (USBLN) and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)’s first Disability Equality Index (DEI) naming 19 companies as DEI Best Places to Work. Developed by the DEI Advisory Committee, a diverse group of business leaders, policy experts, and disability advocates, the DEI is a national, transparent benchmarking tool that offers businesses an opportunity to receive an objective score, on a scale of zero to 100, on their disability inclusion policies and practices.

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Washington, D.C. – Today the White House celebrated inclusive employment with a “Champions of Change” event. The official White House event recognized leaders who are making a positive impact on employment for people with disabilities.

Longtime leading institutions such as the USBLN, Kessler Foundation, government officials, Manpower, Walgreens and others were in attendance. So too were longtime leaders such as Ambassador Judy Heumann, Andy Imparato and others.

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RespectAbility Releases New Bi-Partisan Poll and Highlights #RespectTheAbility Campaign to Focus on How Hiring Workers with Disabilities Benefits the Employer, the Employee and Society

• 88 percent feel that as a customer it is important “that the companies you do business with do not discriminate against qualified people with disabilities.”
• Campaign spotlights model employers that demonstrate inclusive hiring can help their bottom line and starts by featuring Ernst & Young LLP

Washington, D.C., Oct. 2 – RespectAbilityUSA and POSITIVE EXPOSURE, two non-profits working to change how people see disabilities, have joined forces to create #RespectTheAbility, a campaign to focus on how hiring people with disabilities can make organizations stronger and more successful. The campaign highlights the benefits to employers that look beyond the disability and imagine the possibility when hiring talented employees with disabilities.

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Disabilities to Diverse Abilities: Changing the Workplace Paradigm
with Lori Golden

View the presentation here and listen to a recording of the call here.

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Campaign spotlights model employers that demonstrate inclusive hiring can help their bottom line and starts by featuring Ernst & Young LLP

NEW YORK – RespectAbilityUSA and POSITIVE EXPOSURE, two non-profits working to change how people see disabilities, have joined forces to create #RespectTheAbility, a campaign to focus on how hiring people with disabilities can make organizations stronger and more successful. The campaign highlights the benefits to employers that look beyond the disability and imagine the possibility when hiring talented employees with disabilities.

The campaign kicked off on with a conference call/webinar with Lori Golden, Abilities Strategy Leader from Ernst & Young LLP (EY), on “Disabilities to Diverse Abilities: Changing the Workplace Paradigm: EY as a Case Study”. The call is was recorded and you can find it and the powerpoint that goes with it HERE.

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#RespectTheAbility Campaign: Spotlight on Project SEARCH

Young people with disabilities help senior citizens: Provide excellent workforce for the future

Project SEARCH intern Haley McCormick-Thompson lends an attentive ear to a resident at United Hebrew New Rochelle (photo credit POSITIVE EXPOSURE)

Haley McCormick-Thompson, 21, spends part of her day transporting senior residents of the United Hebrew from their rooms to their various activities throughout the day. The seniors’ faces light up when they see Haley coming over to help them.

“I really care about the residents,” Haley said. “I like helping them if they’re sad and I like staying late and helping. I am always willing to do extra.”

Haley is a part of Project SEARCH, a program that allows young adults with developmental disabilities to cultivate a set of skills that they can use in the workforce. At United Hebrew, located in New Rochelle, New York, Project SEARCH interns assist the residents in their daily lives. The harmony between the residents and the interns is clear. The interns take their time with each resident, making sure they are comfortable, getting them involved in cheerful sing-alongs, partaking and setting up art therapy, transporting them to and from their daily activities, and lending an attentive ear to residents who just feel like talking.

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#RespectTheAbility Campaign: Spotlight on Project SEARCH

Workers with disabilities help hospitals help patients

Project SEARCH intern Anthony Telesford is all smiles while working in the kitchen at Montefiore New Rochelle (photo credit POSITIVE EXPOSURE)

Anthony Telesford works in the kitchen of Montefiore New Rochelle hospital with his co- worker Jennifer Dacres, cleaning dishes, collecting trays, and assisting their other co-workers in other kitchen and meal preparatory tasks. The two consider themselves good friends, and can often be seen playfully cracking jokes throughout the workday. Jennifer praises Anthony’s work ethic, and speaks highly of the contributions he’s made as a fellow employee at Montefiore New Rochelle.

Anthony is a part of Project SEARCH, a program that allows young adults with developmental disabilities to cultivate a set of skills that they can use in the workforce. But Jennifer doesn’t see the program as a part of who Anthony is as a worker, or a person.

“He is a regular worker,” said Dacres. “We work hard, he works hard. We don’t baby him. He does the same exact work as we do. He is just a regular employee here, and he is a friend.”

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