A Legacy of Diversity

Some of my efforts at work had nothing to do with IT. The company at the time had a number of “diversity groups” – the “standard” ones such as WIB (Women In Business), EDEN (Ethnically Diverse Employee Network) (for African-Americans), HOLA (Hispanic Organization of Latinos and Amigos), and others. I became aware of someone down the hall from me who had fibromyalgia and was very sensitive to light and noise and so had a closed-in office with modified lighting instead of a cubical. But since she didn’t “look” disabled she was getting discriminated against by some others who couldn’t understand why she rated an office with a door when they didn’t have one. As a result I decided to make it my goal before I retired to start another diversity group – we eventually named it ABCD (AnyBody Concerned about Disabilities).

I made an announcement about it, found some like-minded individuals, and we created the group, worked through the process of getting both recognition and funding through our corporate HR department, got an executive sponsor, etc. We were able to bring in an outside speaker on the subject and gave a presentation in the company auditorium to begin to expose others to the topic of both visible (such as blindness) and invisible (such as fibromyalgia) disabilities. We also noted that there were temporary disabilities (such as a broken arm or advanced pregnancy).

The latter were important because in the event of a fire in a multi-story corporate building the elevators are normally blocked from usage (you’re all seen the notices in hotels, etc. about not using the elevator during a fire). We created a cadre of group members who were trained on how to use the elevators during a fire (requires a special key), and ensured that each individual who needed assistance to safely exit the building had a buddy and all were accounted for so none were left behind. We also lobbied for additional handicapped parking places and created a standard procedure for individuals who needed to request one (either permanently or temporarily).

Today the ABCD employee group is one of the eight recognized diversity groups which receive recognition on the corporate website. While I’m proud to have had a part in starting it and knowing that it’s a permanent legacy that I have left behind, I’m also happy to have made a number of new friends whose life has been made better because of my efforts.