DEI

Investors and executives are increasingly demanding information on disability inclusion efforts

Report: The 2022 Disability Equality Index releases information on what more than 400 companies are doing to ensure greater inclusion
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The just released Disability Equality Index (DEI) – a joint initiative between Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) –  is the latest “comprehensive benchmarking tool for disability inclusion in business.”

The DEI states, “[Employers] need to invest in their pipeline, minimize biases, be open-minded about who is qualified, and be more attentive to what a candidate is looking for in their next position.”

It continues, “As part of ESG (environmental, social, and governance), investors and executives are increasingly demanding information on disability inclusion efforts to make informed decisions. Disability inclusion in ESG is key to not only closing the inequality gap faced in the workplace by individuals with disabilities, but also increasing the long-term value of companies and returns to shareholders.”

More than 400 companies – representing 29 industries – shared their approaches to disability inclusion for the 2022 DEI. That is a 30% increase in the number of participating companies in 2021.

Among the findings, 60% have company-wide external hiring goals for people with disabilities and 61% make job seekers aware of the option to request accommodation for interviews. Regarding community engagement, 88% provide philanthropic support for a disability-related event or organization.

The DEI states, “The future of work must be accessible, diverse, and have a global reach. Companies that lean into progressively inclusive practices, rather than just primary-level ones, are well-positioned for sustainable growth.”

Read the 2022 DEI here.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.