The Weber Shandwick Collective Joins Disability Pride Month Discussion with The Female Quotient
This year marks 33 years since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), landmark legislation that prohibits disability-related discrimination in employment, transportation, communication, and public establishments. In celebration of Disability Pride Month, observed in July in the U.S. to align with the passing of the ADA, The Female Quotient held a half-day conversation on July 27 featuring leaders in the industry and beyond. The Weber Shandwick Collective was represented on three panels throughout the event by members of equitABLE, our Business Resource Group centered around people with disabilities and chronic illnesses:
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- The Intersectional Truth: Can You See Me Beyond My Disability? featured Danielle Cornejo Calhoun, Vice President, Partnerships + Pipeline Program Planning, DEI from Weber Shandwick. Panelists touched on the layered journey of coming into their disability as part of their identity, how they have challenged perceptions in a world that often does not understand disabilities and how business managers can help to better support them and understand more about their life experiences.
- The Unlimited Leader: Advancing Women with Disabilities to Leadership featured Alia Mohsen, Senior Vice President, Boston Digital Health Lead from Weber Shandwick and Senna Pottackal, Associate, Client Experience, DEI and Corporate Communications from Current Global. The session focused on the importance of enabling women with disabilities to advance in their professions into leadership roles given they are vastly unrepresented across sectors. It also focused on the misconceptions women may face in the workplace and how others can help support them throughout their career growth.
- The Unforeseen Care Journey: Behind the Women Raising Kids with Disabilities featured Lara Ziobro, VP, Global Digital & Social Marketing from Weber Shandwick. Panelists discussed how raising children with disabilities deepens the struggle for women in their path to leadership – how it has changed their perspective on what work-life balance means, what policies and benefits they look for in an employer and lessons they have learned over the years.
Tune in below to watch the replay from the event.
For other resources on the topic, our equitABLE team shared a list of recommendations:
Watch:
- Stella Young TedTalk “I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much.”
- Maysoon Zayid’s TedTalk, “I Got 99 Problems… Palsy is Just One”
Read:
- Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
- The Pretty One by Keah Brown
- The More We See Ourselves, The Less We Feel Like Outsiders – byline from Danielle Calhoun: marking the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
- True Biz by Sara Novic
Learn:
Listen:
- Ardra Shephard’s podcast about living with Multiple Sclerosis
- Alice Wong’s Disability Visibility podcast
- Down to the Struts podcast about disability, design, and intersectionality
Follow: