Disability Inclusion for Leadership

Disability Inclusion
for Leadership
Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH, CPACC
@BlindishLatina

What will we
discuss today?
● Talk through why inclusive
managers make a difference.
● Deﬁne disability inclusion.
● Understand barriers to
achieving disability inclusion
in the workplace.
● Learn practical best practices
for being an inclusive
manager and leader.
Slides by Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH

An Invitation: Be Present
Slides by Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH

Who am I? ● Visual description
● Pronouns: she/her/hers
● Land Acknowledgement
● My perspective
Slides by Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH, CPACC
Land Acknowledgement: This presentation
was created on the traditional, stolen lands of
the Piscataway and Nacotchtank (Anacostan)
people.

Reflection Moment:
Think about someone who was/is a supportive manager to you.
What made/makes them a good manager for you? Can you
think of any specific examples or stories of their management
in action?
Reflect for 2 minutes, then share in the chat if you would like.

Disability Inclusion:
What is it?

Accommodations = tailored to
individuals who disclose only
Disability Inclusion = creates an
inclusive culture for all

What are barriers to disability
inclusion? Share in the chat box.

Key Myths
● MYTH: People with disabilities are “somewhere else”.
● MYTH: There are not many people with disabilities.
● MYTH: There are no disabled employees at this company.
● MYTH: Accessibility is something we can focus on later.

Intersectionality
Anyone can be disabled or become disabled at any time.

Disability
is part of the natural diversity of humankind.

Disabled people
are the largest minority group.

At least 1 in 4
adults in the United States are disabled.*
*CDC, 2018

Only 21%
of disabled employees disclose to HR.
*Harvard Business Review, 2019

30%
of college-educated employees aged 21-65
are disabled.*
*CoQual, 2019

Accessibility
beneﬁts everyone.

Curb Cuts
beneﬁt everyone.

Closed Captions
beneﬁt everyone.

Accessibility
leads to greater innovation and proﬁt.

“Disability-inclusive
companies achieved – on average – 28 percent higher
revenue, double the net income and 30 percent higher
economic proﬁt margins than other companies.”
*Accenture “Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage” report

$13 trillion
“The Disability Market inﬂuences over $13 trillion in
annual disposable income” globally.
*Return on Disability 2020 Annual Report: The Global Economics of Disability

Expanded reach
Higher SEO rankings, more video views, etc.

CHAT BOX: What role can
managers/leaders play in
creating disability inclusion?

Your role as a
manager/leader
● Create an inclusive team culture
and environment.
● Advocate on behalf of your team
members within the company.
● Develop your team members +
support their growth.
● Create psychological safety.
● Actively own + engage in your own
learning journey.
● Validate your team members and
help them thrive.
● Listen.

Work on the basics! ● I cover these in more depth in my
“A Practical Introduction to
Disability Awareness” session:
○ Avoid microaggressions
(verbal + physical)
○ Use inclusive, non-ableist
language
○ Respond appropriately to
disability disclosure
○ Disability is not a bad word

Disability
Disclosure: What to
Do
● Listen ﬁrst.
● Don’t assume that
someone is asking for
accommodations or
asking for action.
● You can say:
“Thank you for trusting me
with this. I’m here to support
you however I can.”

Introducing inclusive
management practices

1. Create ﬂexibility, always.

Flexibility in method of
participation in events/meetings

“Just jump in.”

- Raise hand feature
- Use chat box
- Send thoughts via email

“Cameras have
to be on.”

- Build a culture of trust
- Acknowledge mental health
- Cameras can be on/off
- Don’t exclude camera off
participants

Flexibility in how you
communicate information

Meetings that only
include a verbal
discussion

- Create a structured meeting
agenda
- Provide closed captions
- Use visuals, not just audio-only
- Visuals should be high contrast +
readable

- Allow for processing time
- Provide background context ﬁrst
- Check for understanding before
moving to brainstorming or
higher-level discussions

Flexibility in how to solve a
problem or reach a goal

“I know the best way
to solve this
problem.”

- Listen more
- Value all ideas
- Allow experimentation and
testing
- Recognize that different
leadership styles and values exist

2. Adopt best practices for
inclusive meetings.

Meeting agendas
support everyone.

Meeting notes
support everyone.

Closed captions
support everyone.

“Do you have any
questions?”

“What questions do
you have?”

Disability Inclusion for
Different Functions

for Executive
Leaders
● Representation: Do you
have any openly disabled
executives?
● Make the ﬁnancial
investment in inclusion.
● Engage in your own
learning journey and
demonstrate vulnerability.

for HR Leaders
● Create a clear &
understandable reasonable
accommodations process.
Support employees to ﬁgure
out solutions together.
● Create accessibility
guidelines for all work +
employee initiatives.
● Require accessibility plans.
● Hire + promote disabled
talent.

for Middle
Managers
● Recognize your importance
within DEI work.
● Use inclusive, non-ableist
language. Self-correct in the
moment when you slip up, it
happens to everyone.
● Be familiar with the reasonable
accommodations process and
have resources for supporting
your staff (askjan.org).

for Marketing
Teams
● Create accessible content.
○ Closed captions
○ Alt text
○ Image descriptions
○ Camel case hashtags
● Share transcripts for videos.
● Check color contrast.
● Select fonts wisely.
● Show diverse people in your
photos + marketing.
● Learn about digital accessibility.

for Product Teams
● Design with the disability
community, not for.
● Avoid simulations.
● Use disabled testers + pay
them fairly.
● Make sure your product
integrates with assistive
technology.
● Create accessible packaging.
● Design with accessibility in
mind from the beginning. Don’t
postpone it.

Key Takeaways:
● Accommodations are the ﬂoor, not the
ceiling.
● Creating disability inclusion beneﬁts
everyone.
● Leaders play a powerful role in inclusion.

What can you do
now?
● Continue learning,
especially from
disabled voices.
● Focus on your sphere of
inﬂuence.
● Talk about disability.
● Take action!

Thank you!
Q&A + Discussion
Let’s stay connected!
Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH, CPACC
catarinarivera.com
IG: @BlindishLatina
linkedin.com/in/catarinarivera

Disability Inclusion for Leadership

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