Former Exchange Pacific Region Commander Helps Associates Honor National Disability Employment Awareness Month with Lunch-and-Learn
Michelle Gardner-Ince, director of the Department of Veteran Affairs’ Women Veteran-Owned Small Business Initiative and former Exchange Pacific Region Commander, joined more than 170 Exchange associates for a virtual lunch-and-learn Oct. 15.
The event was organized by the Exchange’s Able, Believe, Lead, Empower (ABLE) disability special emphasis group in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Gardner-Ince explored how prioritizing accessibility and equity, allowing a safe space, and creating a culture of support not only uplifts people with disabilities but helps organizations like the Exchange achieve their business goals—an area she has ample experience in having spent the last decade connecting Veteran entrepreneurs with the resources that help them succeed.
“As a person who has accommodation as a 100% disabled Veteran, I will tell you that it takes a relationship,” she said. “It’s almost like a negotiation that’s based on trust. For you to express what you need, you have to feel safe and like you can make yourself vulnerable in doing so. … It’s about meeting that person’s needs and enabling them to be an important and viable member of the organization.”
According to the 2021 Disability Equality Index, a report that grades companies with regard to their disability inclusion policies and practices, 272 of 319 surveyed businesses scored 80% or higher. Even with these strides, Gardner-Ince said, there is still work to be done.
“The statistics show 96% of the companies have an employee resource group that has a senior executive as its champion,” she said, “but only 10% of these companies actually have a senior executive that identifies as a person with a disability. Some of that has a lot to do with the perception that [having a disability] may hold them back from advancement.”
Gardner-Ince said she knows from experience that the Exchange leads the way when it comes to making disability inclusion core to its business goals. As of Sept. 30, 14.1% of Exchange associates identify as having a disability, and the organization has hired more than 1,800 Wounded Warriors since 2010.
“I think it speaks volumes that your leadership is so dedicated,” she said. “They have given you such amazing executive champions as well as other leaders and managers throughout the organization who are committed to building the culture as far as equity and disability are concerned.”
Chief Logistics Officer Karen Stack, ABLE’s executive champion, thanked Gardner-Ince for helping associates understand how much those with disabilities have to offer organizations such as the Exchange.
“There’s a stigma attached to being disabled,” Stack said. “We’ve got to get over that as a society and accept everyone the way they are. I want to use my platform to show both disabled and non-disabled people what we can do when we work together as a strong network and workforce.
“Together we’re strong, and together we are ABLE. We can do it.”
