October is the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and 2020 is the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). There seems like no better time to discuss disability in the workplace.
“Disability” is an incredibly broad term. Numerous conditions can shape our daily experiences and perspective in ways others might not even think about. In addition, being labeled “disabled” can still be very stigmatizing at work. For this reason, we at Mead & Hunt formed a disabilities interest group as a subset of our Employee Resource Group.
A guiding principle of this group is that each one of us will be impacted by disabilities in some form, at some point. Whether we become temporarily or permanently disabled ourselves through an injury or illness, care for someone with a disability, work with someone with a disability, or design spaces for people with disabilities as part of our jobs, we are all impacted one way or another. For this reason, any Mead & Hunt employee – including people with disabilities and those who simply want to support them and learn more – is welcome to join the group.
We will work to raise awareness, remove stigmas, and foster open discussions on issues associated with disabilities. We will hold an internal open discussion, so that we can better understand what issues may be affecting our team members. Through sharing our stories both internally and externally, we can all learn and grow together. Having these open discussions is vital as we attempt to create a more inclusive, diverse community.