Happy 30th Anniversary to the ADA!

Today marks 30 years since 3,000 people gathered on the White House Lawn to watch President George H.W. Bush sign the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) into law on July 26, 1990. It's an anniversary worth celebrating since the ADA was a landmark civil rights legislation that literally and figuratively opened doors for America's disability community.

I started working with the disability community about a year and half ago through my current role at Walmart. I feel fortunate to serve as an advocate and liaison for the disability community within Walmart. My job is to help Walmart make the right decisions while taking the needs of people with disabilities into consideration both as our customers and our associates.

Prior to my current role, I hadn’t worked directly with the disability community and I never truly understood the ADA and how it has not only benefited the disability community but made life easier for non-disabled people as well. The honor of getting to know and be a part of the disability community has grown my first-hand understanding of the community’s needs and priorities. I am grateful that in my role at Walmart I have met and learned from many leaders, self-advocates, and activists in the disability community. These are people who continue the fight to make sure to build on the promise of this landmark legislation with new initiatives to innovate and adapt to changing times. 

At Walmart, we're proud to partner with the disability community in being part of this effort. We continue to work hard to be a leader in providing career opportunities for our associates with disabilities and providing support within communities in which we operate. We are constantly working to make Walmart a better place for our customers with disabilities to shop and associates with disabilities to work. However, we are always innovating in recognition that there is more progress to be made, as we realized when the pandemic hit in 2020. Prior to the pandemic we had our online grocery pick up service which we were able to adjust and grow to account for the growing need for all customers including those with disabilities such as adding special shopping hours along with creating partnerships to make the online grocery pick up services accessible to more customers. We look forward to continuing to work with our community partners on additional innovations in this space. 

This past year and half expanded my appreciation of the vast diversity within America's disability community. The diversity of challenges, abilities, and talents reinforces the importance of respect for the individual, a core value that I was brought up with as a young Muslim American woman but also one of our core values at Walmart.

As we celebrate this 30th year of the ADA then, let’s appreciate those before us who worked tirelessly to get this legislation passed, and those who will continue to fight for disability rights for years to come. Thank you to all of you who have played a role in advancing disability rights. Along with Walmart, I look forward to being a part of this continuing effort myself. Within the disability community, there is much work still to be done and I would welcome hearing your individual ideas on how we can collectively continue to help America deliver on the promise of this great legislation.

Happy Anniversary to the ADA!

P.S.- Please enjoy this Tuesday’s with Liz video highlighting some pasts guest and reflecting on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Happy 30th Anniversary, ADA! #ADA30