Yesterday we asked a question about understanding and prioritizing disability inclusion in the workforce to our panelist. See what our CEO @Donald Thompson had to say below:

So, let's talk about the numbers around why you should care, and then let's talk about the morality of it, right? First, the numbers. 43 million professionals with disabilities are unemployed or underemployed; these are leaders, emerging leaders, and consumers. They consume technology. They are buying homes and cars and a variety of products and services for their families. They are also talented emerging leaders, possibly already working in your organization. So, if you're limiting your talent search and cutting out 43 million people, how can you possibly be hiring the best candidate?

If you're trying to sell a product and build your marketing presence, but you're eliminating 43 million people because your website is not digitally accessible, you're limiting your opportunity for growth from a business standpoint. 

Now, when you take a step back and think about social equity and social justice, we all want the world that we live in to have a base-level human decency component that applies to all. We want to give each other the opportunity to have that American dream that we hold upright as the standard.

Still, in actuality, that dream does not really exist for many of our fellow citizens, which means we have a responsibility to do something about it. For business leaders, you have the financial prospect of 43 million consumers that you want to reach to sell more products, right? But then we also know it's the "right thing to do" mode, to make sure that the American dream is reachable and real for Americans with disabilities, which is 26% of the adult population.

Businesses that are truly leaning into disability and inclusion have a 28% higher revenue than their peers. So the numbers say you should pay attention!