Making Workplaces Inclusive for People With Disabilities

Brut America

She's legally blind from a genetic condition called ocular albinism — and she knows how the tough workplace can be for people with disabilities. That’s why entrepreneur Caroline Casey says work must be inclusive for all. (Via Brut UK)

Transcript

00:00Every single human on this planet at some point in their life is going to experience disability.

00:06It is not okay that 90% of our companies claim to be passionate about diversity and inclusion

00:13and yet only 4% consider disability. That is not inclusion. That is a la carte,

00:21pick and mix, trendy, fashionable inclusion. Inclusion means all and it means everyone.

00:28I'm one of the 1.3 billion people in the world who have a disability but sitting here you wouldn't

00:34know that. It's invisible to you. Beyond my hand is blurry. It's like putting a pair of glasses on

00:41and putting Vaseline in front of them. I have a very unique story because I was born with this

00:48condition. My parents did not want me defined by my disability so they brought me up as a sighted

00:54child so I had no idea I couldn't see very well.

01:06Work in Accenture as a manager consultant, hiding a secret that I can't see beyond my nose,

01:12well can I just tell you, that makes me highly resourceful. I was incredibly able to, I had to

01:20think on my feet all the time, I had always to be a step ahead of everybody else, to constantly

01:25keep up, to detract, to deflect so that you wouldn't find out. What I would say to you the most,

01:34the greatest feeling was exhaustion. In October 1999, which is 20 years ago,

01:41is when I came out of the closet, the disability closet and I didn't plan it. I wish I could tell

01:46you I did and what did it feel like. You can hear it in my voice still to this day, it still

01:53makes my voice wobble and I didn't know what to do with it. I had no language, I was kind of lost

01:58and I think the most important thing that I can reflect on is just lack of confidence, just

02:08yeah, lack of confidence.

02:26We set out an ambition in Davos this year to get 500 of the most iconic brands and their CEOs

02:33to join the valuable 500. We need to reach that ambitious target because if you get 500

02:40of the world's most influential brands and CEOs, we create a tipping point that we can never go

02:45back from. There is an inequality crisis in society that affects 1.3 billion people of our

02:53population. It cannot be resolved without business and it cannot be resolved without business

02:58leadership. When human need meets a business opportunity, that is a potent driver for

03:05engagement because if you think that every person with a disability has a mum and a dad,

03:12that is 53% of our global consumers have a direct connection to disability. It's an 8 trillion

03:17market. I don't think disability should be a priority any more than anything else in business.

03:23I want it to be considered as equally important. It's 2019. It is not okay for any business to

03:33operate under this inclusion illusion. It has to end and leaders are accountable.

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