Churchill Fellowship Report Launched at Google (3rd December 2024)
Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, also affectionately known as ‘Purple Sock Day’ as a new design of purple socks from Parallel helps raise funds to raise awareness of this day.
This time last year I was a few weeks into some much-needed rest time after the USA leg of my Churchill Fellowship research. One year later, another three countries visited, over 30 interviews and 25,000 words later and the report is now launched, live and out in the world supporting operational and people strategy and policy.
It was an honour to bring together a fantastic group of people from across industries within the disability and inclusion space at my final destination: the Accessibility Discovery Centre at Google Headquarters.
After a tour of Google’s accessibility suite, where a few attendees experienced using Google’s accessible tech, we had a roundtable conversation about the report's themes.
There’s something magical about being in a room with a group of changemakers and policymakers, all passionate about building inclusive work cultures for disabled people, all with a common goal.
My aim of the session was to bring together people who are all working towards the same goal of disability equity in the workplace, but who hadn’t heard of, or spoken to each other before.
Check out their work at the links below!
Beth Kume-Holland – Founder of Patchwork Hub
Dr Fatumina – Female Empowerment activist, period educator, scientist, actress, Success Coach and Motivational Speaker.
Kim Hoque – Professor of Human Resource Management at King's Business School, Co-Founder of the Disability@Work Research Group and Co-Founder of the Disability Employment Charter.
Kelly Gordon – Co-Founder of With Not For.
Emma Gardner – Co-Founder of With Not For.
Atif Choudhury – CEO & Co-Founder of Diversity and Ability & Co-Founder of Zaytoun CIC, Global Neurodiversity Speaker.
Roxanne McCarthy – Head of Creator Engagement, JAAQ.
Sophie Browne – Sales Development Representative, JAAQ.
This was just the start of the conversation, and I am also looking forward to running online events, webinars and roundtables through 2025.
If there is a particular theme or conversation in my research which has sparked your interest, and you’d like to co-create an event with me in the new year please do reach out!
If you haven’t had a chance to read the research yet, you can find the link below. Feedback has been amazing- in particular, I am proud that it has been described as an accessible read, full of actions and straightforward. It’s comprehensive but written in a way that you can read each of the themes as standalone pieces of work.
Download the report: Building inclusive work cultures for disabled employees to drive innovation.
If you would like a physical copy to have as a resource in your office or use as a handout for your ERG group or academic studies, please reply to this email and I can arrange to send a copy to you.
Until next time, take care!
Rachael