Judy Heumann with young leaders in the disability movement at the 2022 Harkin International Disability Employment Summit. Photo credit: The Harkin Institute
Disability Inclusion and ESG
In addition to my consulting work, I am a Senior Fellow at The Harkin Institute. In that capacity I have created an initiative focused on integrating disability inclusion considerations into investor engagement strategies and ESG investment frameworks.
My first paper for The Harkin Institute – Solving “Then What?”: Empowering Investors to Achieve Competitive, Integrated Employment for Persons with Disabilities – made the case the ESG investment frameworks used by investors are a powerful tool to foster competitive, integrated employment across the private sector.
The premise of my work is two-fold. First, disability inclusion is a powerful driver of innovation and long-term value creation. Second, that investors are very well positioned to drive disability inclusion at all levels of organizations through their engagement efforts with the companies in which they have an ownership stake.
Disability Inclusion: A Driver of Long-Term Value Creation
Released in conjunction with The 2022 Harkin International Disability Employment Summit, Competitive, Integrated Employment: A Driver of Long-Term Value Creation shows that companies that make a commitment to competitive, integrated employment for persons with disabilities enjoy a competitive advantage and are positioned to capitalize on a $13 trillion global disability market.
The paper is my latest publication in my ongoing work that explores the connection between disability inclusion and long-term value creation for shareholders, stakeholders, and society.
This research paper was a collaboration with Voya Cares, Voya Financial’s program that serves people with disabilities and their caregivers.
The 2022 Harkin International Disability Employment Summit brought together a global network of collaborators across the disability movement. Photo credit: The Harkin Institute.
In this interview I speak about how executives can foster a culture of competitive, integrated employment in their organizations – and how all of will benefit from that.
You can learn more about my work with The Harkin Institute HERE.
Investors can be effective champions for competitive, integrated employment for persons with disabilities across the private sector by equipping themselves with relevant and impactful information and data. Photo Credit: Mark Lennihan/AP
In March 2021 Senator Harkin and I wrote a Bloomberg op-ed arguing NASDAQ's proposal to increase board diversity was flawed as it did not consider the value persons with disabilities brings to boards of directors.
My letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provides a number of concrete recommendations for how the SEC can help investors and policymakers better understand how disability inclusion to drives both shareholder and stakeholder value.
