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People with Disabilities, An Overlooked Talent Pool

Lina Rojas - Inclúyeme.com
Regional Purpose Manager

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Cinthya Alaniz Salazar By Cinthya Alaniz Salazar | Journalist & Industry Analyst - Tue, 09/06/2022 - 11:49

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Q: How does Incluyeme.com's commercial proposition differ from other diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consulting companies?

A: Our differentiating factor is our specialization in the awareness of disability as a fundamental component of DEI. We have experience working with clients across all industry sectors because we firmly believe that people should be able to pursue and develop their career irrespective of any disability they may have. We have an established and growing presence in 11 Latin American countries, from Mexico to Argentina.

 

Q: How does Incluyeme.com support its network of over 230,000 people with disabilities? 

A: Our platform serves to disseminate job opportunities within this community, while also helping those in need to prepare for these opportunities by providing education, training and other programs. Most of those registered on our platform often use it both to look for opportunities and to stand out as a candidate. Job seekers can also share their curriculums on other job portals and organizations partnered with Incluyeme.com throughout the region.

 

Q: Private organizations have recently made concerted efforts to establish internal DEI initiatives. Has this interest generated greater business for Incluyeme.com? 

A: This trend represents an important opportunity not only for our business’ sustainability but also for the realization of our greater mission statement that seeks to normalize the social inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace and labor market. People in decision-making positions have an important duty to enable these conversations. As such, we have attempted to highlight this diverse talent pool and outline the ways in which they contribute to the earnings, competitiveness and innovation of their organizations.

Inclusiveness and the genuine commitment to people with disabilities generate a feeling of belonging that also augments loyalty to organizations, a valuable attribute in the face of great talent retention challenges. Overall, additional capital would permit our sustainability, advance our mission efforts and hopefully increase our presence beyond the 11 countries in which we operate.

 

Q: Is Incluyeme.com targeting a Series A funding round? 

A: Yes. We aim to augment our market penetration through greater strategic partnerships with organizations that identify with our mission and want to become more diverse and inclusive. We have alliances with multilateral technology organizations like Google.org that have financed scholarships, education and training programs. Our ability to continue drawing in investment is essential to continue providing education and training programs that have an important role in improving the lives of people with disabilities. We have the surmountable challenge of helping 230,000 people with disabilities to find employment, a herculean task that stands to benefit from the support of other organizations and public institutions.

 

Q: After working with more than 600 companies, what do you find to be the most prevalent misconceptions about hiring people with disabilities?

A: There are three main misconceptions companies hold. First, that the onboarding process for people with disabilities represents greater costs. Second, that hiring people with disabilities implies higher operational costs usually tied to assumptions related to accessibility. Third, that people with disabilities are less efficient and less effective at their jobs. There is a shared belief that making spaces accessible and equitable is expensive and time consuming. Thus, companies are afraid to invest in the inclusion of people with disabilities. Moreover, inclusion will not be achieved by demolishing a building and putting in ramps either; it begins with a change of mindset at every level of the organizational hierarchy. The main challenge is to break down norms and barriers, allowing people to start with smaller, incremental adjustments that snowball into greater movements. Not all disabilities are physical or even visible, which alludes to an overlooked and available talent pool that is relying on our ability to look beyond our own prejudices and biases that bar them from equal opportunity.

 

Q: How does the intersectionality of a disabled person's identity impact their employment prospects? 

A: Intersectionality is everything that makes up the identity of a human as a diverse being. People with disabilities are not just people with disabilities: we are citizens, men, women or guardians with different lived experiences, preferences and sense of belonging. While identities are to be celebrated, the convergence of these social labels makes us twice as vulnerable to discrimination. For example, a woman of color with a disability is three times as likely to be subject to discrimination, hurting her employment prospects, education and even reproductive rights. Our societies were constructed to favor white, able-bodied, cis-gender men. In such societies, a disability plus any other intersecting identity is a disadvantage.

We are part of a greater social experiment to reconfigure the rules and norms that guide our society in the aspiration of true equality. Maybe then intersectionality will come to pass from a perspective of compounding disadvantages to one of understanding the many components of a person's identity.

 

Q: As a B-certified company, Incluyeme.com has said that profit is a means to an end. What are Incluyeme.com’s immediate priorities for the Mexican market?

A: Incuyeme.com wants to add more organizations that believe in inclusion and diversify the sectors we reach in Mexico. We want to reach all of Mexico’s major companies and provide them with access to an overlooked and qualified talent pool. In the long term, our fundamental purpose in Mexico and in Latin America is to disappear because we want the hiring and participation of people with disabilities in the labor market to be normalized.

 

 

Inclúyeme.com, founded in 2013, promotes the employability of people with disabilities while helping companies develop and establish social and labor inclusion strategies.

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