I had the privilege to forget!

A few years ago, I worked on putting together the agenda of a Corporate Diversity & Inclusion conference on behalf of a well known business think tank. I worked hard at the agenda, confirming speakers and sought to cover relevant topics in thought provoking ways. I had almost finished when my phone rang from a number I did not recognize. I took the call and ended up in a conversation that lasted for almost one and a half hours and that has made me think ever since. The person on the other end got my phone number from the think tank so that she could ask me two simple questions: How are you focusing on people with disabilities in the agenda? How are you ensuring that the conference is accessible?

These questions stopped me in my tracks. In an instant she had exposed a blind spot and a bias. I am not sure if she could tell, but while I thanked her for reaching out and I engaged with these questions, I was deeply embarrassed. I had not incorporated the topic in the agenda, nor had I asked the organization I was working for about accessibility of their conferences ... and this was a conference dedicated to Diversity & Inclusion! While that is embarrassing enough, it was not the real source of what I felt.

Decades ago, after completing High School in Germany, I spent 24 months in a social service position instead of military service. I opted to assist a severely paralyzed man whose physical control was limited to his right hand and his neck. Caring for him and him needing to rely on me completely so that he could live a semi-independent and self-determined life was one of the most challenging and profound experiences for me. He had amazed me with his energy, resilience, humor and determination to not let his disability get in the way.

Every day, he went to work. He was a receptionist and equipped with a simple accommodation that allowed him to use his head to press the buttons of the telephone and computer keyboard, he was integral to and beloved by the department where he worked. In his spare time, he organized trips and travel for People with Disabilities and advocated for the inclusion and accommodations to enable mobility and participation in all aspects of social life. He had inspired me and I had the privilege to learn from him ... but, as I realized through two simple questions, I also had the privilege to forget.

The person who placed the phone call and reminded me of this privilege was Jessica Mayer. I am deeply grateful to her for the same energy, resilience, humor, determination to not let her disability get in the way, and advocacy that I encountered in Wolfgang Surlemont decades ago. Without her proactive outreach, the conference would not have included a focus on People with Disabilities ... and I would not have challenged the think tank to make accessibility the norm, not the exception, or discount its importance. Unfortunately, they did not respond positively to having their institutional blind spot pointed out. I cannot blame them. Their discounting of the issue and my forgetting are not that far apart after all. But both are reminders of how difficult D&I culture change is, even for people that are deeply engage in it.

Jessica ended up organizing a panel discussion at the conference that was a smashing success, received the highest ratings and an unprecedented standing ovation. Since then, I have had the pleasure to learn from Jessica and work with her as she has become a part of our group of consultants, advocates, and subject matter experts at ThomasLeland. And, we have since collaborated on a digital learning series to educate and highlight the challenges of People with Disabilities and inspire organizations to engage them proactively.

Also, you can meet her and many of the same panelists in an online panel she is hosting in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that has set a standard for the rights of People with Disabilities globally. Click here to register and find out more.

Thank you Jessica!!