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Facetime
Disability:IN 2019 conference
connects corporations, disability-owned firms
By DeAnn Daley Holcomb
The goal of Disability:IN is to grow an inclusive global
economy where people with disabilities participate fully
and meaningfully and that was the focus of the 2019
annual Disability:IN Conference and Engagement Expo held
in Chicago, Illinois.
Disability:IN is the only business to business national membership
organization with local affiliates that focus on sharing
and developing proven strategies for including people with
disabilities in the workplace, supply chain and marketplace.
An important part of the conference included the presentation
of four separate educational tracks from the Workplace,
Supply Chain, Global and Technology. The presentations targeted
topics, roundtable sessions and high-profile speakers.
The theme of this year’s conference was IN for Inclusion.
It drew more than 2,000 attendees from 16 countries, and included
over 185 corporate partners, 80 educational tracks, 59
exhibitors and 23 Disability:IN state and local affiliates.
“The 2019 Disability:IN Annual Conference was a clear indicator
that increased corporate disability inclusion is on the
horizon,” said Jill Houghton, president and CEO, Disability
:IN. “Registration sold out at 2,000 people months in advance
, and we had a high caliber of conversations and action
plans. Now, our work begins to ensure that energy converts
into commitment and action.”
One of the main conference features was individual educational
track offerings with emphasis on workplace, supply
chain, technology and global. Through targeted topical presentations
, roundtable sessions and high-profile speakers, events
were designed to engage attendees at all levels of career development
with or without disabilities.
The conference also gave participants the opportunity for facetime
with disability-owned business enterprises and inclusive, diversity-focused
corporations that actively employ and work with
people with disabilities.
“In addition, over 150 NextGen students with disabilities were
interviewed and 250 interviews/hires took place on-site,” Houghton
said.
The 2019 Disability:IN® Inclusion Awards were also presented
during the conference. See the list of winners and the Disability:IN
Annual Conference Review here: https://conference.disabilityin.
org/2019/
Workplace, supply chain, technology and global track chairs
included:
• Catherine P.Bessant, conference chair, chief Operations
and technology officer, Bank of America;
• Betta Beasley, founder and CEO, 2rbConsulting Inc.
• Carlos Cubia, global vice president and chief diversity officer
, Walgreens Boots Alliance;
•
Jenny Lay-Flurrie,
chief accessibility
officer, Microsoft;
• Tim Ruddell, manager
, supplier diversity,
Sony Pictures;
• Arvind Prabhat Shankar
, global managing
director,Enterprise
Enablement, Accenture
• Celeste Warren, vice
president, human
resources & global diversity
and inclusion
center of excellence,
Merck
Ted Kennedy Jr.,board
chair, American Association
of People with Dis-
Jill Houghton
abilities was among the
keynote speakers at the conference.
Other keynote speakers included:
• Bank of America’s Catherine P.Bessant
• Chris Capossela, chief marketing officer and executive vice
president, marketing and consumer Business, Microsoft
, Walgreens Boots Alliance
• Amy Fuller, chief marketing & communications officer,
Accenture
• Regina Heyward, senior vice president and head of supplier
diversity, Wells Fargo
• Kodi Lee, musician and America’s Got Talent, Golden
Buzzer winner
• Craig Leen, director, office of Federal Contract compliance
programs
• Marne Levine, vice president of Global Partnerships, Business
and Corporate Development, Facebook
• Rodney Martin, chairman and chief executive officer, Voya
Financial
• Mike O’Grady,president and CEO, Northern Trust
• Holly Robinson Peete, actress, author, talk show host, activist
and philanthropist, HollyRod Foundation
“The key messages from our keynote speakers was all about
making the world inclusive for everyone along with how to incorporate
the latest accessibility of tech innovations along with equal
employment opportunities for all,” Houghton said. “Overall, the
conference was a huge success; we sold out months in advance and
now we are already looking forward to 2020 in Orlando, Florida.”
202
MBN USA Vol. 4, 2019
mbnusa.biz
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