PR97200

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- Today, the Valuable 500 announce 28 adopters of its leadership up mentoring

programme for people with disabilities from members spanning 4 continents

- Generation Valuable participants will be paired with a mentor at C-Suite

level within their organisation and will explore each of the Valuable 500's

transformation pillars

- Early adopters include Telefonica, AXA and ATOS

Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).

This changed the world as we know it by activating legislation which provided

people with disabilities access to buildings, equitable education and made it

illegal to discriminate against a qualified person for employment.

Whilst it is important to recognise and celebrate the strides we have made

towards disability inclusion – there is much more progress to be made. The way

society views disability needs to evolve, dispelling the myth that disability

is something to pity or fear. By changing this and recognising how disabled

people enrich communities, society will be empowered to ensure disabled people

are included.

'Generation Valuable'

[https://www.thevaluable500.com/press-release/the-valuable-500-launch-generation

-valuable-on-world-economic-forum-stage] will serve as an unique leadership

opportunity for people with disabilities to build the future of the corporate

C-Suite, driving disability inclusion through systematic change and

revolutionising the boardrooms of tomorrow. Building a community of disabled

talent who importantly share their experiences upward to inform the C-suite of

today about how to make businesses more inclusive.

Caroline Casey, Founder, the Valuable 500, commented:

"This initiative proves that there is an array of disabled talent within

businesses, and that they are more than capable of occupying positions of power

and leadership. The Valuable 500 is striving to radically change the awful

results of research conducted by Tortoise Media

[https://www.thevaluable500.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Tortoise-Disability-1

00-Report-Valuable500-accessible.pdf] that found that 'no FTSE company had a

senior leader or above who identified as having a disability.'"

The complete list of early adopters includes:

- Alstom

- ATOS

- AXA Group

- Boston Consulting Group

- Centrica

- Channel 4

- Clifford Chance

- Coles Group

- Deloitte

- Enel

- EY

- Fidelity International

- HSBC

- ISS/AS

- ITV

- L’Oréal

- Macquarie Group

- Mahindra

- Nielsen

- MSD

- Omnicom Group

- Ottobloc

- P&G

- Reach PLC

- Roche

- Springer Nature

- TD Bank Group

- Telefonica

José María Álvarez-Pallete, Chairman & CEO, Telefónica, commented:

"For Telefónica, contributing to providing opportunities for people with

disabilities is not only an ethical imperative, but also a question of talent

and business. In the current context, no company can afford to do without any

valuable professional. Diversity allows us to better understand the real needs

of customers, to connect with society, and to be more innovative and

productive. Together, we need to empower people with disabilities to humanise

technology and break down barriers with digitalisation. Thank you to The

Valuable 500 for promoting such an innovative initiative as 'Generation

Valuable.'"

Find out more about the Valuable 500 here [https://www.thevaluable500.com/].

Source: The Valuable 500