Feature Issue on Employment and IDD

How did you get into this work?

After graduating from Indiana University, I worked for the Medicaid office in the state of Indiana, managing the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant. I was able to build a five-year strategic plan to overcome barriers to employment at the state level. I also built my expertise in affirmative action and federal contractor compliance, among other things that have helped me build and evolve Disability Solutions.

I also came to accept that I was and am a person with disabilities. I received an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis at the age of 30 that probably saved, but definitely changed, my life and my career. I’ve lived with depression, anxiety, and panic disorder since my early 20s. During my time with the state, I had just some great leadership, who said, “We know you’re working hard and doing great, you’re an ‘A’ player, but this isn’t what stable looks like.” With help, I got the leadership and other skills I needed to better manage projects and people. Then, I went on to some other grant writing and helped technology vendors build business models for better affirmative action compliance. As a one-off, I wrote a grant that funded a hiring program for people with autism, called Roses for Autism. About a year later I got a call from the then-chief executive of Ability Beyond, the parent company of Disability Solutions. PepsiCo, a member of Ability Beyond’s board of directors, wanted to build an outcomes-focused way to hire great talent with disabilities. Simply put, would I come build it? It was the easiest question I ever answered. One does not pass up the opportunity to create change with one of the largest and most respected brands in the world.

Where did you start?

I spent the first years studying hiring processes, and could see all of the barriers to employment that existed in application processes and technologies. The systems companies use to hire are designed to maximize efficiencies, get the best possible hire, and minimize risk. These systems decrease the likelihood people with all types of disabilities can get the job we all need to live to our fullest.

At that point, I could see the opportunity. We could build something that would work to scale instead of continuing one-off programs that created great champions, but never helped the company as a whole. The goal was always to build something that will outlive us and outgrow us. Ultimately, we’ll touch more lives, and our motto is to change minds and change lives. Pepsi is still a client, and we’ve expanded into Frito Lay. Today we work with more than 80 companies globally and know that more than 8,000 people with disabilities have been hired, and our numbers are growing.

Are people with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, breaking into more meaningful work?

There are a couple of things continuing to create barriers. First is that we are setting dramatically low expectations for young adults coming out of the educational system. I admit I am a very protective, helicopter mom to my children, who do not have disabilities. I’m the voice for my children, and its’ a cautious voice. The culture of disability has been built most often by parents and caregivers, and not having a voice themselves continues to affect our community. Lately there has been more of a presence, with people engaging with their identity and speaking for themselves. The hiring process has more “teeth” due to revisions of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [which bars federal contractors from discriminating against people with disabilities]. That is making a dramatic improvement.

What is on your plate today?

As I always say to my team, this is a lifetime’s worth of work and we are focused on continuing to change minds and change lives. Despite some great progress, employer focus is still far too performative. There are too many indices and PR activities and not nearly enough great outcomes.

We want to make sure well-intentioned employers are building proactive strategies and tactics that aren’t actually building more barriers. For example, if you have someone who simply needs an accommodation, we’re often seeing them being re-routed through intensive programs that aren’t necessary. Let’s not apply every solution to every person with a disability. The other thing I’m urging employers to do is to avoid getting hyper-focused on one disability type because that is ultimately damaging to their brand, creating additional risk and minimizing the amazing talent with disability they can hire into their organizations today. Start with the whole community first, and then get granular about what specific employees need.