The inclusion illusion

“I don’t need easy. I just need possible.”
Bethany Hamilton, who returned to surfing after losing her arm to a shark at 13

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are hot topics for any organization, but how much do we really understand about the barriers people face?

A 2022 TEDx talk in the town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire (pop. 21,418), came to our attention that we’d like to share with you. Please help us boost its exposure. A 900-seat music hall there was sold out for months as TEDxPortsmouth organizers enthusiastically resumed their in-person event in May after a 2-year COVID hiatus.

The event featured 12 regional speakers culled from more than 200 applicants giving talks on a theme of “hidden in plain sight.” One of them, Todd Hanson, shared an especially remarkable story.

A competitive athlete and architect, Todd went the extra mile in his research to create designs that could meet the needs of people who were physically or emotionally challenged. Then one day, a degenerative neuromuscular disease began to take away his ability to walk and talk.

“All that empathy and understanding I had strived for didn’t prepare me for what people with disabilities face every minute of their lives. Now, living it myself, I fully understood,” he says. “I always hoped to understand what challenges they faced and what their lives must be like. Be careful what you wish for.”

To help combat the many barriers and landmines he encountered at every turn, he and some colleagues created Access Navigators, an award-winning organization that maps accessibility in New England and beyond. It has become a leader in advocacy, mentoring students and volunteers as data collectors, raising awareness, and helping to find new ways to keep people with disabilities connected to their communities.

Until we know someone personally facing these issues, it’s all too easy to overlook their struggles. As your organization works to become more inclusive, and as more companies put a focus on the well-being of their employees, remember the needs of people like Todd and the 61 million adults in the U.S. (and many more younger or around the world) who live with functional disabilities.

If you’d like to know more about helping your people get comfortable with inclusion and learn ways to actually be more inclusive, contact us or ask your Advantage partner about attending one of our 2 complimentary evaluator sessions of The Inclusive Leader scheduled for Sept. 22 or Oct. 20.

One great thing for 08.02.22 – How losing the ability to walk and talk opened an architect’s eyes
Todd Hanson |TEDxPortsmouth