In honor of Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia is working to shine a light on regional leaders who identify as or support individuals with disabilities and their vital contributions to the strength, vitality, and growth of our region. Our very own CEO of KenCCID, Maku Warrakah-Ali, shares her thoughts on this very important month.
What does diversity mean to you and why should it be celebrated and encouraged in the workplace?
When I speak of diversity, I am really talking about inclusion of all our employees regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or disability status. For me, diversity is meaningless unless all employees feel empowered to fully express themselves including in how they speak, dress, wear their hair, or request disability-related accommodations.
When employees can come to work as their authentic selves instead of wasting energy conforming to mysterious unspoken corporate norms, they are happier, more enthusiastic, and much better team players. Their focus is on work instead of on whether they fit in.
As a service provider to individuals with disabilities, our mission at KenCCID is to empower our members to live like any other individual. Our employees provide the highest quality care with compassion and a commitment to respecting the rights and desires of our members. No task is too small, no goal is too large when it comes to serving our members.
We cannot expect employees to meet this objective if we, as leaders, don’t afford them the same respect. Some of our most valuable employees were overlooked in other organizations. Here at KenCCID, they have continued to thrive because they are being heard, recognized, and acknowledged each day.
How has your identity impacted and helped shape you into the leader you are today?
As a Muslim African American woman who wears a hijab and speaks with a mild foreign accent, I certainly remember being underestimated, ignored, or overlooked. I remember feeling invisible, feeling like an outsider, and staying quiet because I did not feel that my contribution mattered or was welcome. This experience spurred my journey to KenCCID and my professional succession to become KenCCID’s longest serving CEO.
Those who overlooked me could not recognize talent or success when it came in an unconventional package. I am careful not to make this same mistake with KenCCID’s employees.
I know each person is capable of so much more than what their resumes show me. My role as a successful leader is to facilitate the success of every employee at KenCCID. This commitment has facilitated the growth of KenCCID, increasing the number of members we serve as we continue to make their self-determination and independence a reality.
How can our region continue to strengthen and support those with disabilities in the workplace and beyond?
I think the first thing we should acknowledge is that there are so many more people with disabilities than those with visible disabilities. According to the CDC, 1 in 4 Americans has a disability. This statistic increases with age. What this means is that is likely a higher rate of disability among our most experienced employees.
We need to recognize that we risk losing the employees we value the most if we are not disability inclusive. Employers run the risk of facing a significant talent deficit if they are not willing to be disability-inclusive.
We also need to recognize that many disability accommodations are not an inconvenience to companies. With advances in technology, these accommodations are often relatively inexpensive.
The cost of implementing disability-inclusive accommodations is a lot less than the impact of losing and replacing an experienced employee. All it takes is a simple change such as modifying an organization’s absentee policy to allow an employee with a disability time to obtain critical healthcare.