1 00:00:00,110 --> 00:00:02,030 Hello and welcome to Access Chat. 2 00:00:02,170 --> 00:00:06,230 I'm delighted that we're joined today by Stefan Labis of Valuable 500. 3 00:00:06,620 --> 00:00:11,110 He's not the first labis to have joined us on Access Chat, but, um, 4 00:00:11,830 --> 00:00:15,430 absolutely delighted to have you and your fantastic staff, um, 5 00:00:15,820 --> 00:00:20,470 here today representing. Um, so really, um, 6 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:24,150 we've been talking off air for, for quite some time. And, and, 7 00:00:24,410 --> 00:00:29,270 and obviously as, um, organization that's involved with Valuable 500, 8 00:00:29,270 --> 00:00:33,910 both with Access Check, all of us supporting, but also, um, 9 00:00:34,050 --> 00:00:36,790 in my day job as with us being a member. Um, 10 00:00:38,410 --> 00:00:40,900 it's absolutely crucial, you know, that, 11 00:00:40,930 --> 00:00:45,180 that we bring you back and talk about what's going on now because Valuable's 12 00:00:45,290 --> 00:00:48,820 been up and running for a few years, but there's been a, you know, 13 00:00:49,060 --> 00:00:53,020 a number of changes and a number of announcements and, and I think that, uh, 14 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:58,020 you know, it's, it's time for, um, well, well past time for an update. And it's, 15 00:00:58,130 --> 00:01:02,260 it's really nice, um, to bring you on to talk about that. So, um, 16 00:01:03,730 --> 00:01:06,230 one of the things that you've been doing is, and, 17 00:01:06,250 --> 00:01:08,590 and I've had the pleasure of engaging in is, is a, 18 00:01:08,850 --> 00:01:13,190 an initiative called Generation Valuable. So let's, let's start there. 19 00:01:13,770 --> 00:01:16,270 Um, can you, you know, tell us a little bit, 20 00:01:16,300 --> 00:01:19,750 firstly about your current role within the organization, 21 00:01:19,770 --> 00:01:24,440 and then maybe go on to what Generation Valuable is? 22 00:01:24,830 --> 00:01:29,360 Sure, yeah. Um, so, uh, yeah, so my name's Stefan LeBla. 23 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,960 I'm the director of Partnerships at the Valuable 500. Uh, 24 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:36,560 I kind of wear two hats at the organization. One is, uh, 25 00:01:36,700 --> 00:01:40,960 really providing, um, guidance, um, 26 00:01:41,230 --> 00:01:46,080 thought partnership and, uh, general support to our, uh, 27 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,440 to our partner companies. And on the other side, um, 28 00:01:49,540 --> 00:01:54,120 I'm also a key liaison between our organization, our companies, 29 00:01:54,380 --> 00:01:56,960 and experts in the disability community and, you know, 30 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,080 disability advocates as well. Uh, 31 00:01:59,260 --> 00:02:03,480 the idea is to kind of use my role as a bridge builder between both our 32 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,600 companies and the disability community. Um, and it's been a really wonderful, 33 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,400 exciting, uh, sometimes challenging, uh, learning journey in that. Um, but, um, 34 00:02:13,020 --> 00:02:17,840 and so Generation Valuable is one of our flagship programs. 35 00:02:17,910 --> 00:02:20,360 It's part of our work that we're doing in inclusive Leadership, 36 00:02:21,060 --> 00:02:25,920 and it was really born out of the idea that, um, aspiring disabled leaders, 37 00:02:26,500 --> 00:02:31,120 um, hit what, you know, many of us know in, in different ways, 38 00:02:31,380 --> 00:02:35,560 uh, as the glass ceiling, uh, where at a certain point in their career, 39 00:02:35,900 --> 00:02:39,760 as they progress through the ranks, eventually they get to a place where, um, 40 00:02:40,180 --> 00:02:43,240 you know, oftentimes they, they, they can't progress or they won't progress, 41 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:48,080 or they're not allowed to. And in many, um, you see it, I mean, 42 00:02:48,180 --> 00:02:49,720 the stats speak for themselves. 43 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,600 There is a very small percentage of individuals who identify as having a 44 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,880 disability who attain the C level, um, of, of the companies that, 45 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,600 that we work with. And, and generally the, the Fortune five and the FLS E one. 46 00:03:02,100 --> 00:03:06,800 So, you know, with that understanding, we want to create, um, a, 47 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,600 a program that did two things. One that helped, uh, 48 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,240 aspiring disabled leaders, um, uh, 49 00:03:15,390 --> 00:03:19,640 achieve or kind of accelerate in their kind of leadership, um, 50 00:03:20,290 --> 00:03:20,770 their, 51 00:03:20,770 --> 00:03:25,360 their leadership aspirations through a learning journey and through a kind of a 52 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,000 mentorship program with a, with an existing leader. 53 00:03:28,580 --> 00:03:32,920 And the second piece is to educate existing leaders on, um, what, 54 00:03:32,940 --> 00:03:37,760 how folks with lived experience with disability kind of go 55 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,840 through their, you know, work in their organizations, 56 00:03:41,050 --> 00:03:43,200 understand what the, you know, 57 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:45,800 opportunities and channels are to graduate through, you know, 58 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,160 to leadership levels and some of the barriers that exist there. Um, 59 00:03:49,190 --> 00:03:52,120 it's important both for the C-suite of today and the C-suite of tomorrow to 60 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:56,720 understand what the barriers are and be able to work together to solve those 61 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:58,840 barriers. So that's what the Generation Valuable program is. 62 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,920 It's a reverse mentoring program. Um, uh, 63 00:04:02,180 --> 00:04:06,560 and the kind of the backbone of this program is, uh, 64 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,080 the creative leadership course that was designed by the Helen Hamlin Center, um, 65 00:04:10,110 --> 00:04:12,560 that is basically designed for, 66 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:17,040 to help leaders understand how to lead their teams, 67 00:04:17,150 --> 00:04:21,640 lead their organizations in a way that incorporates empathy. Uh, 68 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,680 that of course incorporates creativity and clarity in vision. Um, 69 00:04:26,060 --> 00:04:30,840 and with that, we also had a number of guest speakers, Neil being one, uh, 70 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:35,160 who spoke on, uh, strategy. Um, but we've had a number of really exciting, uh, 71 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,600 speakers both from the corporate sector and from the disability sector who came 72 00:04:39,620 --> 00:04:44,480 in to, uh, provide additional context, additional color, um, to the, 73 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,960 uh, disability inclusive leadership conversation. So really exciting program. 74 00:04:48,010 --> 00:04:51,600 We're kind of, we're in the latter phases of it. Um, 75 00:04:51,740 --> 00:04:55,200 it wraps up technically in December. Um, at the conclusion of that program, 76 00:04:55,570 --> 00:05:00,400 every mentee will, will deliver what we call a blueprint for action, 77 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,480 which is basically taking everything that they've learned, 78 00:05:03,780 --> 00:05:06,960 all the conversations that they've had, not just with their mentor, 79 00:05:07,220 --> 00:05:11,760 but any introductions that that mentor has given to other folks in the C-suite, 80 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,200 other leaders in their organization, amalgamated, kind of like, you know, 81 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:16,800 summarized all those conversations, 82 00:05:16,900 --> 00:05:19,800 all this content and produced a blueprint for action. 83 00:05:19,820 --> 00:05:21,240 How are we gonna take these learnings forward? 84 00:05:21,300 --> 00:05:25,960 How are we going to change things, right? Um, and that is an exercise that is, 85 00:05:26,300 --> 00:05:28,000 you know, really driven by the mentee, 86 00:05:28,020 --> 00:05:31,440 but really overseen and kind of championed by the mentor. So, 87 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,280 really exciting stuff. Um, and, uh, generally we're, 88 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:36,960 we're very pleased by how it's gone so far. 89 00:05:38,110 --> 00:05:42,000 Yeah, I, I, I can attest that it's, it's, uh, 90 00:05:42,150 --> 00:05:45,280 enabled some powerful conversations within our own organization. 91 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,680 And what we're trying to now do is where, where our, our, our global CEOs, 92 00:05:49,860 --> 00:05:53,320 the mentor, um, it's, 93 00:05:53,420 --> 00:05:57,290 we are trying to replicate that for more than one employee. 94 00:05:57,550 --> 00:06:00,610 So we're taking other members of our senior management and getting them to 95 00:06:00,610 --> 00:06:05,250 mentor, um, our, our, uh, employees with disabilities as well, 96 00:06:05,350 --> 00:06:08,290 so that we can, we can build upon that, um, 97 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,690 because I think it's been pretty powerful. Um, 98 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:16,370 it's enabled some tough conversations to be had, and as a result of that, 99 00:06:16,370 --> 00:06:19,130 actions are flowing from it. So I think it's a, it is a, 100 00:06:19,130 --> 00:06:20,370 it is a really interesting initiative. 101 00:06:20,430 --> 00:06:24,530 And when you say I added some color to the, um, 102 00:06:25,430 --> 00:06:26,930 to the, uh, presentations, 103 00:06:27,050 --> 00:06:30,890 I hope you weren't just talking about Mike Bright orange trousers. So, um, 104 00:06:32,970 --> 00:06:35,770 I didn't wanna mention it, I didn't wanna mention it, Neil, but here we are, 105 00:06:36,070 --> 00:06:36,903 you know, 106 00:06:37,110 --> 00:06:40,450 And I just wanna come in real quick and ask a real quick question. And, 107 00:06:40,470 --> 00:06:45,090 and even though I know the answer, I do wanna just you, you to say it on camera. 108 00:06:45,630 --> 00:06:49,130 Um, I assume, yes, that this is a global program, 109 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:51,930 that one thing that y'all considered is, uh, 110 00:06:51,930 --> 00:06:54,930 looking at the mentees and everything from different cultures. 111 00:06:55,130 --> 00:06:58,370 I know how y'all look at this, so I'm sure this gonna be a big old Yes. 112 00:06:58,430 --> 00:07:02,370 But I was just wondering if you could just, just val, 113 00:07:02,810 --> 00:07:03,690 validate that that is true, 114 00:07:03,690 --> 00:07:06,730 that y'all really looked at it from different diversities and 115 00:07:06,750 --> 00:07:11,250 intersectionalities and culturally and globally, just, I know y'all's work, 116 00:07:11,390 --> 00:07:12,250 so I'm sure you did, 117 00:07:12,270 --> 00:07:15,090 but I was just wondering if you would address that here too. Thank you. 118 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,530 Yeah, absolutely. And, and, and Deborah, you know, 119 00:07:17,530 --> 00:07:21,410 you touched on a point that is also, that is both kind of a, a, a pride point, 120 00:07:21,430 --> 00:07:25,010 but also in developing a new program, a pain point, because, you know, 121 00:07:25,010 --> 00:07:27,170 from a linguistic diversity perspective, for example, 122 00:07:27,170 --> 00:07:32,050 having to consistently translate every piece of content, uh, 123 00:07:32,050 --> 00:07:35,010 that goes out is really challenging. And it's really costly as we know. 124 00:07:35,030 --> 00:07:37,770 And it's, so it's that that presented a challenge. 125 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,330 It's also not just linguistic translation, it is cultural translation, right? 126 00:07:41,390 --> 00:07:46,290 So the way the parlance and the cultural understanding of disability in 127 00:07:46,290 --> 00:07:50,570 the US is not the same as it is in Japan or in the United Arab Emirates or in, 128 00:07:50,570 --> 00:07:53,170 you know, India. So it's, yeah. And we have, or in the 129 00:07:53,170 --> 00:07:53,550 Uk 130 00:07:53,550 --> 00:07:57,890 Or in the uk or in, and so we, we have mentees in all of those markets. 131 00:07:58,190 --> 00:08:02,330 So we've, we've had to really think about how we address these, you know, 132 00:08:02,330 --> 00:08:06,330 these kind of, these, um, these issues that we're, that we're talking about, 133 00:08:06,330 --> 00:08:10,290 these topics that we're espousing. Um, but, you know, 134 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:12,810 generally another thing that we've, you know, 135 00:08:12,810 --> 00:08:17,690 really focused on is providing one-on-one support to mentees that if 136 00:08:17,710 --> 00:08:20,890 for any reason they were encountering, uh, 137 00:08:21,090 --> 00:08:24,210 barriers and understanding or barriers and accessing the content or what have 138 00:08:24,210 --> 00:08:27,410 you, we've done our best to support them in, in, 139 00:08:27,510 --> 00:08:31,770 in getting to that content and making sure that it's, you know, accessible. Um, 140 00:08:32,070 --> 00:08:36,010 now have we been, do we have a perfect track record? You know, no. And, 141 00:08:36,030 --> 00:08:39,690 and that's, but that's part of creating a program is understanding what we can, 142 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,490 what we can do to improve it. Um, and that, uh, 143 00:08:43,910 --> 00:08:47,530 so it's been a great, it's been really enriching, uh, for our, 144 00:08:47,670 --> 00:08:49,010 our understanding in that way as well. 145 00:08:50,620 --> 00:08:51,453 And I would just say, 146 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:54,800 I don't know what perfect looks like in this intense changing world. So, um, 147 00:08:55,100 --> 00:08:57,840 and I, I'm turning it back over to Neil. Well, okay. 148 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:02,080 Neil's pointing to himself with his orange trousers, so, okay. 149 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,560 I know Antonio has a question, but back to Neil. 150 00:09:05,300 --> 00:09:07,000 No, no, no. I'm just, I'm just, I, 151 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:11,200 I was being facetious and obnoxious over to you, Anthony, 152 00:09:12,860 --> 00:09:15,600 Can we ask your wife if she thinks your purpose, 153 00:09:16,980 --> 00:09:17,760 You know, the, 154 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:19,840 Okay, Antonio, I'm sorry, I'm going back on mute. Okay. 155 00:09:22,420 --> 00:09:26,320 If you look, if you look at the, at the example, for example of, 156 00:09:26,340 --> 00:09:27,360 of cybersecurity, 157 00:09:28,100 --> 00:09:32,440 you would say it's impossible to guarantee that something is 100% secure. 158 00:09:32,780 --> 00:09:36,440 Nobody, nobody can guarantee to, uh, 159 00:09:36,510 --> 00:09:38,040 that everything that they do, 160 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,920 everything that develop is going to be 100% secure in the same way that 161 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,120 you can't say what we do is 100% accessible. 162 00:09:46,430 --> 00:09:51,280 It's not possible by any means. What I would like to ask you then is, you know, 163 00:09:51,980 --> 00:09:56,920 how does valuable 500 measure the success of its 164 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:01,360 member companies in, in terms of disability inclusion in a, 165 00:10:01,610 --> 00:10:05,080 let's say, in a pragmatic and realistic way? Hmm. 166 00:10:06,390 --> 00:10:10,200 That, you know, that, that's, that's a really good question. So, as you know, 167 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,920 having a, a community as, as large as the valuable 500, 168 00:10:13,940 --> 00:10:16,520 as diverse as the valuable 500, um, 169 00:10:16,540 --> 00:10:20,800 you're going to have people who enter the community at very different points in 170 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,800 their disability confidence journey, right? And in their, you know, 171 00:10:23,930 --> 00:10:26,280 confidence and competence, right? Um, 172 00:10:26,660 --> 00:10:31,600 and so that from day one has been kind of an interesting challenge 173 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:35,560 because how do we hold people to account in an equitable way? 174 00:10:36,460 --> 00:10:41,320 Um, and, uh, you know, all while celebrating successes, 175 00:10:41,340 --> 00:10:44,720 but guiding people to do better. So what we've done is, 176 00:10:45,180 --> 00:10:49,860 and we looked at candidly, over the past couple of years, we have looked at, um, 177 00:10:50,490 --> 00:10:54,340 incorporating things like maturity models or, or, um, 178 00:10:54,780 --> 00:10:58,980 benchmarking tools that would help us better understand how our companies are 179 00:10:58,980 --> 00:11:03,500 doing. Um, but that, of course, would rely on the fact that, 180 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:05,980 you know, we would be getting clean data, 181 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:07,780 we would be getting data that's relevant. 182 00:11:07,780 --> 00:11:09,740 We would be getting data that's transparent. We would, 183 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,060 we would be getting data that actually tells the full story. 184 00:11:12,270 --> 00:11:15,020 There are benchmarking tools out there that do a really good job at that. 185 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,100 And they were first, first to market, right? Like B D F has an amazing, 186 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,060 you know, uh, disability smart assessment. Of course, 187 00:11:21,060 --> 00:11:23,940 the I L O has their self-assessment tool. There are things like the, and, 188 00:11:23,940 --> 00:11:27,940 and Microsoft has a m so there's, and, and, and atos has the, their, 189 00:11:27,940 --> 00:11:30,540 their accessibility benchmarking, uh, tool as well. 190 00:11:30,540 --> 00:11:34,180 So there's a ton of different stuff out there. And so we're like, okay, well, 191 00:11:35,110 --> 00:11:37,730 why would we recreate that piece instead? 192 00:11:38,550 --> 00:11:42,890 Why don't we create a data gathering exercise that rather than measure, 193 00:11:43,670 --> 00:11:44,503 you know, um, 194 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:49,570 measure kind of holistically how folks are doing from a benchmarking 195 00:11:49,570 --> 00:11:50,070 perspective, 196 00:11:50,070 --> 00:11:53,520 how do we create a data gathering exercise that will drive people to action? 197 00:11:54,140 --> 00:11:58,440 And so that's why we started with our inclusive reporting, um, uh, 198 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,880 exercise is understanding that companies use all the 199 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,280 assessment tools that I've mentioned, all the benchmarking tools I've, 200 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:07,113 I've mentioned already, 201 00:12:07,540 --> 00:12:12,080 but how do we take that data and bring it to a place that will 202 00:12:12,650 --> 00:12:15,080 drive companies to perform better? 203 00:12:15,180 --> 00:12:19,120 And we understand that E S G reporting at the moment is one of one such tool, 204 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,880 right? Taking data on how companies are doing in different d e i metrics, 205 00:12:23,020 --> 00:12:26,680 or perhaps in their, you know, environmental sustainability, um, uh, uh, 206 00:12:26,910 --> 00:12:31,720 records and putting them in places where large investment first firms 207 00:12:31,780 --> 00:12:34,920 can see it, where consumers can see it. Those are the types of things that, 208 00:12:34,980 --> 00:12:38,920 you know, really drew us to our inclusive reporting, um, uh, 209 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,920 inclusive reporting exercise. And through that, we came up with five basic KPIs, 210 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:46,760 because we realized, again, that most of our companies, you know, 211 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,880 I would say 70 to 80% of our companies are, you know, 212 00:12:51,470 --> 00:12:55,120 kind of slower moving than, you know, 213 00:12:55,220 --> 00:12:58,160 the 15 to 20% that are, you know, real champions, 214 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:02,640 real accelerators in this space, right? We all this activity, like any, like, 215 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,440 you know, organizational transformation activity exists on a bell curve, right? 216 00:13:05,460 --> 00:13:10,200 So you have to understand that the majority of those folks are just simply gonna 217 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:14,880 be slower moving. So we created five basic KPIs, one on, um, 218 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,520 employee base, you know, disability represent representation in, 219 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:23,440 in the employee base, one on digital accessibility, uh, goal setting training, 220 00:13:23,940 --> 00:13:28,480 uh, and then lastly, ERGs. So really looking at, you know, culture and how, um, 221 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,640 employees are driving dis disability culture and working with the London 222 00:13:33,690 --> 00:13:38,600 Stock Exchange and Allianz, we basically have created a, you know, 223 00:13:38,780 --> 00:13:42,640 um, a body of work where we are talking to stock indices. 224 00:13:42,740 --> 00:13:47,400 We are speaking with large investment firms to understand how they make their 225 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,800 decisions, where they put this data one, and then how they make their, 226 00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:55,200 how investors make their decisions on, um, uh, to invest in, uh, 227 00:13:55,260 --> 00:13:59,480 in disability inclusive companies, or no. Um, so we are, you know, 228 00:13:59,730 --> 00:14:01,880 we're essentially taking Antonio, 229 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,320 it's a very long way of saying that we've taken, you know, 230 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:09,240 the data gathering exercise and the accountability exercise and brought it 231 00:14:09,500 --> 00:14:14,400 to the E S G place where we're now trying to drive action by putting a, 232 00:14:14,460 --> 00:14:17,920 you know, essentially a price tag on, on disability inclusion. 233 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,420 So, so I think that's really interesting because one of the, 234 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:25,780 the sort of questions the, 235 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,820 the accessibility industry always struggles with 236 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,860 is actually what's the R o i? Mm-hmm. And, 237 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:38,500 and either you get these people that are inflating it massively, you know, 238 00:14:38,530 --> 00:14:43,220 it's oh, oh, it's worth $8 trillion. And, you know, and that's, 239 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,060 you know, with your mom, your pop your dog, your dog food, you know, uh, 240 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:52,760 the fact that he might have paid for Jeff Bezos's Rocket. I, I, you know, 241 00:14:52,980 --> 00:14:57,100 so, and, and then on the other hand, you, you've got the people going, well, 242 00:14:57,140 --> 00:15:00,700 I don't know anyone that's disabled. We don't have any disabled customers. 243 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,580 So what, you know, what R o I? So I think that that, um, 244 00:15:06,050 --> 00:15:10,960 being able to start getting some solid methodology 245 00:15:11,340 --> 00:15:16,080 behind how we calculate, um, the benefits and the, 246 00:15:16,420 --> 00:15:21,280 the real spending power and of disability inclusion and how that 247 00:15:21,380 --> 00:15:25,760 can then impact on the e s G metrics is, is important. 248 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,320 I think that also making sure that it aligns with things like the EU 249 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:31,233 taxonomy, 250 00:15:31,490 --> 00:15:36,080 which is a huge reporting piece of work and actually starts to hold 251 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:41,120 companies accountable, um, is going to drive some of this forward. So, 252 00:15:41,300 --> 00:15:44,280 so I think that, you know, it's really good that you, you've, 253 00:15:44,540 --> 00:15:48,240 you've got the sort of five headline topics 254 00:15:49,550 --> 00:15:54,400 that, that, that enable those people that are later in the bell curve to, 255 00:15:54,500 --> 00:15:56,320 to be able to go, oh, well, you know, 256 00:15:56,570 --> 00:16:01,160 we've got to at least have an E R G and we've got to maybe, um, 257 00:16:01,230 --> 00:16:03,600 look at the access version of our systems. And I think that, 258 00:16:03,900 --> 00:16:05,600 but I think that what the, 259 00:16:06,020 --> 00:16:10,000 the ones at the other end of the bell curve need to be doing is looking at how 260 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,960 do you actually sort of aggregate that and drill down into that so that you get 261 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:15,720 some granularity about, um, 262 00:16:19,710 --> 00:16:24,360 Some granularity about the, the sort of what you're doing. And, um, 263 00:16:25,380 --> 00:16:28,240 and, and I think that that's what's really interests me is I, I, 264 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,400 I want to be driven by data. 265 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,680 I want to be able to track how we're doing as an organization 266 00:16:35,580 --> 00:16:40,160 and it to become less about storytelling and more about measurement. 267 00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:43,240 And, but that has to be done in a way that is consistent. 268 00:16:43,460 --> 00:16:47,200 And I think that's where working with the ratings agencies and working with 269 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,280 these investment houses is super important, 270 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,880 because if we all go and tell our own stories and develop our own metrics, 271 00:16:55,460 --> 00:16:57,470 then you're not comparing apples with apples. 272 00:16:58,070 --> 00:17:02,360 Correct. Exactly. Right. Um, and, you know, 273 00:17:02,850 --> 00:17:07,440 again, and, and finally, you know, in terms of the data gathering piece, 274 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,520 the reason why we moved away from, from that, you know, benchmarking exercise, 275 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,360 and I'll say it again, is, you know, there's, 276 00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:15,240 there's so many wonderful resources out there on, you know, 277 00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:17,680 a a national or regional or or local level that, 278 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:19,240 that support companies in doing that. 279 00:17:20,100 --> 00:17:23,320 And we're simply not in the business of trying to recreate the wheel or 280 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:25,200 duplicate efforts in, in that area. 281 00:17:25,340 --> 00:17:30,080 We recognize that there is a huge gap in standardizing data that, you know, 282 00:17:30,140 --> 00:17:34,800 inform investor decisions. And we went, we just went for that instead. 283 00:17:35,590 --> 00:17:36,423 Yeah. 284 00:17:38,700 --> 00:17:40,760 Um, Stefan, I, I, um, 285 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,000 I appreciate everything that valuable 500 has done, and of course, 286 00:17:45,100 --> 00:17:49,360 we all did it together. Um, I, you know, I know I was very involved. 287 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,880 I know there's a lot of the community that has been involved in helping bring 288 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:54,040 valuable 500 together. 289 00:17:54,460 --> 00:17:58,840 It also was quite a cheeky thing for us all to try to do that we thought we 290 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:03,040 could bring together 500 corporations and then really, you know, 291 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,840 make sure that they are fully including us. 292 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:09,160 It's a very monstrous to undertaking. I just wanna say that. 293 00:18:09,620 --> 00:18:13,200 But how do you, 'cause I do not know this answer, 294 00:18:13,580 --> 00:18:16,960 but I appreciate everything you're doing with the corporations like atos, 295 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:21,520 appreciate it, appreciate it, appreciate corporations making these efforts. But, 296 00:18:21,820 --> 00:18:26,430 and I also appreciate are all saying, you know, 297 00:18:26,510 --> 00:18:29,070 making sure you're getting it right and the porting right, the measurements. 298 00:18:29,070 --> 00:18:32,390 Right. Um, and I appreciate also, Stefan, 299 00:18:32,390 --> 00:18:36,570 what you said that why go out and reinvent the wheel when actually got some good 300 00:18:36,570 --> 00:18:40,010 stuff out here. Why don't we, you know, we don't need valuable 500, 301 00:18:40,010 --> 00:18:41,130 doesn't need to recreate it, 302 00:18:41,590 --> 00:18:46,370 but what I am curious about is I appreciate all that I'm hearing. 303 00:18:46,550 --> 00:18:49,450 Uh, I really do, but I don't know all this stuff. 304 00:18:49,470 --> 00:18:52,530 So I'm glad that we can have you on access chat so I can learn about it. 305 00:18:52,990 --> 00:18:56,570 And I know that part of what you're trying to figure out is how do you 306 00:18:56,930 --> 00:18:59,930 communicate with the community and corporate, uh, uh, I mean, 307 00:18:59,930 --> 00:19:02,970 because there's so many stakeholders in these issues. 308 00:19:03,670 --> 00:19:05,290 And so what I wonder, 309 00:19:05,510 --> 00:19:07,970 as you're talking about these amazing programs you're doing, 310 00:19:07,970 --> 00:19:12,930 which I'm thrilled to hear about, but how, how can you, 311 00:19:13,310 --> 00:19:18,210 how can the valuable 500 let us know what you're doing without accidentally 312 00:19:18,250 --> 00:19:21,250 compromising what you're doing? And when I say us, 313 00:19:21,630 --> 00:19:23,330 I'm not just talking about corporations, 314 00:19:23,830 --> 00:19:25,850 I'm talking actually about the community. 315 00:19:26,270 --> 00:19:29,490 And so I think I, 316 00:19:29,650 --> 00:19:31,890 I just always wanna keep reminding the audience, 317 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:36,690 this is a huge undertaking with so many moving parts. And as we're doing it, 318 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:41,610 there's also so many ways to mess this up and get in trouble and, and get in. 319 00:19:42,150 --> 00:19:45,450 So how we've, and so let me say it like this instead. 320 00:19:45,450 --> 00:19:48,850 Maybe it's a better way to explain it. So here in the United States, 321 00:19:49,030 --> 00:19:53,370 one thing we have done to make sure corporations included us was we sued them 322 00:19:53,370 --> 00:19:56,490 and we embarrassed them, and we attacked 'em. And, um, 323 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:58,930 that didn't really always work out well, 324 00:19:59,090 --> 00:20:03,970 even though we had some benefits from it as a, as a community, but not it's, 325 00:20:04,150 --> 00:20:07,570 it really became an us and them thing. So I, 326 00:20:08,550 --> 00:20:12,130 how in the world can the valuable 500 let us, 327 00:20:12,930 --> 00:20:16,650 I consider myself not in involved with any corporation. 328 00:20:17,110 --> 00:20:19,370 I'm not a corporation. I've worked for corporations, 329 00:20:19,710 --> 00:20:22,530 but I support the community of people with disabilities, 330 00:20:22,710 --> 00:20:24,250 but we're gigantic and diverse, 331 00:20:24,550 --> 00:20:27,770 and a lot of people that are part of our community don't even know they're part 332 00:20:27,770 --> 00:20:28,603 of it themselves. 333 00:20:29,030 --> 00:20:32,530 So how in the world do you make sure that you help the corporations move 334 00:20:32,530 --> 00:20:36,490 forward, but you make sure that us the community knows what's going on? I, 335 00:20:36,650 --> 00:20:39,090 I just wanna be fair, I think it's an impossible task, 336 00:20:39,550 --> 00:20:44,280 but I'm just curious if you're trying to get your hands around that it's, 337 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:45,240 it's so hard to do. 338 00:20:46,110 --> 00:20:49,830 Yeah, yeah. Um, I mean, really good question. Um, I think that, um, 339 00:20:50,530 --> 00:20:52,030 and really good points made, right? Like, 340 00:20:52,070 --> 00:20:56,950 I think for a global organization that works in the disability 341 00:20:56,950 --> 00:21:00,350 space, uh, it's always gonna be a, a, a big challenge, uh, to, 342 00:21:00,690 --> 00:21:04,030 to communicate effectively, to make sure that everybody feels seen and, 343 00:21:04,030 --> 00:21:08,030 and heard. Um, uh, and so it, 344 00:21:08,130 --> 00:21:11,710 that's number one, that that's no excuse, right? Like, at the end of the day, 345 00:21:11,770 --> 00:21:15,310 we chose this path, and so we need to be able to do to, 346 00:21:15,310 --> 00:21:19,270 to do that and figure that out. Um, and that's, that's just, you know, 347 00:21:19,270 --> 00:21:22,190 in the spirit of accountability and transparency, that's just what it is, right? 348 00:21:22,290 --> 00:21:26,790 So I think, um, but over the past, you know, year or so, 349 00:21:27,170 --> 00:21:28,550 we actually, um, 350 00:21:29,370 --> 00:21:34,350 we really focused on better understanding two things. One, what our company, 351 00:21:34,740 --> 00:21:38,390 what our companies wanted from us in terms of programming, guidance, support, 352 00:21:38,850 --> 00:21:42,190 um, that they may not be getting elsewhere, right? Because again, 353 00:21:42,190 --> 00:21:45,710 there are so many organizations, Deb, your organization included, right? 354 00:21:45,980 --> 00:21:50,750 That offer amazing, amazing programs, amazing services, amazing, you know, 355 00:21:50,750 --> 00:21:54,990 products to, um, to our company. So like, how, how do we do things differently? 356 00:21:55,130 --> 00:21:58,470 Or how do we do things in a complimentary way that accentuate everything that 357 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,830 folks are doing, all the while, you know, maintaining our U s p, 358 00:22:02,070 --> 00:22:03,190 maintaining our identity in that, right? 359 00:22:03,410 --> 00:22:06,630 So that was the first piece that we tried to, you know, discover. 360 00:22:06,730 --> 00:22:08,710 And then the second piece was, you know, again, 361 00:22:08,710 --> 00:22:12,590 understanding how we can get the dis disability community better involved in 362 00:22:12,590 --> 00:22:14,830 what we're doing at the end of the day. Like, you know, 363 00:22:15,750 --> 00:22:20,150 previously when we were kind of during the campaign phase, we, you know, 364 00:22:20,170 --> 00:22:22,750 we leaned on folks like you, Deb, but you know, 365 00:22:22,850 --> 00:22:25,470 others around the world to support us in getting, you know, 366 00:22:25,470 --> 00:22:29,190 getting our companies to sign up, right? And we did that. And then after, 367 00:22:29,870 --> 00:22:33,270 I think after we achieved that, that milestone, 368 00:22:33,270 --> 00:22:35,510 that 500th company on May 18th, 2021, 369 00:22:37,430 --> 00:22:40,990 I think we paused and we're like, okay, what do we do now? You know, like, 370 00:22:41,590 --> 00:22:42,790 candidly, candidly, 371 00:22:42,990 --> 00:22:47,390 'cause it's so big. Yeah. First of all, can we stop and say, oh my goodness, 372 00:22:47,700 --> 00:22:50,270 look what we all did. Yeah. Look what we all did. 373 00:22:50,290 --> 00:22:54,230 Can we celebrate just for a blank? Just for a blank? Can we celebrate? Okay, 374 00:22:54,610 --> 00:22:58,790 now y'all have to execute, but we have to help. We have to help. 375 00:22:59,250 --> 00:23:03,230 So, and, and, and, and so we, you know, basically really since then, 376 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:07,870 we've been kind of evolving, iterating, and thinking on, okay, what is, what is, 377 00:23:08,050 --> 00:23:09,230 how do we create a, 378 00:23:09,670 --> 00:23:13,110 a service offering to our companies that also involves the disability community 379 00:23:13,260 --> 00:23:16,670 that makes everybody, you know, that creates relationships of shared value. 380 00:23:16,670 --> 00:23:20,070 That's literally my job description. So I, I've, I've been working at this, 381 00:23:20,220 --> 00:23:21,053 I've been working at this. 382 00:23:21,580 --> 00:23:23,950 It's a hard job. You got a hard job. 383 00:23:24,010 --> 00:23:25,150 It, it, it is not easy, but 384 00:23:25,150 --> 00:23:28,430 If anybody can do it, I just really would, I would say you could do it. 385 00:23:28,810 --> 00:23:33,550 But once again, I, I said this all fair. As Obama said, yes, 386 00:23:33,830 --> 00:23:37,510 I can. Yes we can, right? We have to help you. 387 00:23:38,250 --> 00:23:42,150 And, and so we, you know, obviously we have, um, uh, 388 00:23:43,250 --> 00:23:47,280 we had kind of a strategic reshuffle at the beginning of this year where we had, 389 00:23:47,500 --> 00:23:52,400 you know, up until then really focused on six key areas, um, to, to, 390 00:23:52,740 --> 00:23:57,000 to support and challenge our companies in which are, you know, inclusive, uh, 391 00:23:57,010 --> 00:24:01,640 leadership, uh, customer, corporate culture, uh, 392 00:24:01,670 --> 00:24:05,200 reporting, uh, research and representation. We narrowed our, 393 00:24:05,340 --> 00:24:07,480 our scope down based on, um, 394 00:24:07,890 --> 00:24:10,440 based on asking our companies what they needed, 395 00:24:10,500 --> 00:24:13,520 and also looking at what the disability community was already doing in these 396 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:13,780 spaces, 397 00:24:13,780 --> 00:24:16,840 and realizing that we didn't need to step into spaces where we are late to 398 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:20,880 market. So we narrowed our focus down to three core areas, 399 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,880 which we believe still have opportunity for us to engage in, 400 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,640 which are inclusive representation, this inclusive reporting piece, and lastly, 401 00:24:28,790 --> 00:24:31,320 this inclusive leadership piece, which inclu includes the, 402 00:24:31,330 --> 00:24:33,560 which has that generation valuable component, 403 00:24:34,020 --> 00:24:36,120 but we also want to work on other ways, 404 00:24:36,210 --> 00:24:39,320 other impactful ways that we can engage with our corporate leaders. 405 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,200 I think it's incredibly important to keep the ball in front of corporate 406 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,960 leaders. You see what's happening in the us Deb, right? Like, you know, you see, 407 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,440 you, you saw, you saw the Supreme Court, you know, uh, uh, with, 408 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,000 with the affirmative action decision you've seen now that folks like, um, 409 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,240 mm-hmm. Not to call it, but different investor, uh, uh, 410 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:02,000 investor groups are pulling back from, you know, using E S G, uh, metrics as, 411 00:25:02,020 --> 00:25:04,560 as a, as a kind of, uh, uh, 412 00:25:04,660 --> 00:25:06,840 as a key indicator for where they want to put their money. 413 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,760 You're starting to see a divestiture in de and I practice in the us. 414 00:25:11,100 --> 00:25:15,000 So it's more important now than ever to keep the ball in front of our corporate 415 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,560 leaders for them to understand disability is not just a de and I thing. 416 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,800 It's not just an affirmative action thing. Um, it's a, 417 00:25:22,230 --> 00:25:25,760 it's a business imperative. It's something that all businesses need to focus on, 418 00:25:25,820 --> 00:25:28,600 not just for their potential customers, but also to, you know, 419 00:25:28,660 --> 00:25:33,480 retain top tier talent who, you know, identify or not, right? Right. 420 00:25:33,900 --> 00:25:37,640 Um, so that, so that, that's a big key, uh, big key piece. 421 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:42,000 So these three strategic kind of, you know, pillars that we've developed are, 422 00:25:42,940 --> 00:25:43,773 um, 423 00:25:44,060 --> 00:25:48,640 we have done so in coincidence with the disability community and with the 424 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,800 disability community's involvement in mind off, off air, 425 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:56,280 I was talking about all the different plans we have around, um, involving, uh, 426 00:25:56,530 --> 00:25:59,760 disability perspectives and expertise in the work that we're doing in inclusive, 427 00:26:00,220 --> 00:26:05,040 um, and authentic representation. For example. Um, we can, we will be, 428 00:26:05,140 --> 00:26:09,720 um, engaging in further activity around the inclusive reporting KPIs, uh, 429 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,840 developing working groups, developing, uh, 430 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:16,520 different areas for the disa disabled experts in those spaces to be able to lend 431 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,600 their voices, lend their expertise, and, you know, and, and, uh, 432 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,160 and talk with our, our companies about how to improve practice. 433 00:26:22,460 --> 00:26:27,200 So these are all things that we have forecasted for. Um, and, you know, 434 00:26:27,210 --> 00:26:31,160 again, happy for anybody on, uh, listening to this chat. Um, 435 00:26:31,180 --> 00:26:34,880 if y'all want to learn more, um, I'm happy to, happy to, uh, 436 00:26:35,010 --> 00:26:38,440 happy to chat either on LinkedIn or, or whatever. Um, I'm, 437 00:26:38,540 --> 00:26:41,760 I'm completely open in that regard. Um, Stefan 438 00:26:41,980 --> 00:26:45,880 Be before, yeah, I, I, I'll, I'll turn the, the mic over to Antonio, 439 00:26:46,100 --> 00:26:50,600 but is there some way that people can sign up for a newsletter, 440 00:26:50,820 --> 00:26:55,200 or is there some way that we can sign up to get information so that we 441 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,760 understand what's happening so we don't have to just come to you and ask you 442 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:03,880 questions? Or is that something that is being developed in the future? 443 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,520 I mean, it, how, how can you, I mean, 444 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,640 how can the valuable 500 just let us know what's going on, basically, 445 00:27:11,860 --> 00:27:16,000 so that we understand progress being made? We can be, you know, 446 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,200 things take a long time so we can be patient. 447 00:27:18,220 --> 00:27:21,440 But I'm just wondering because for example, I'll say this, 448 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:26,960 I know so many people that businesses that have gone out and reached 449 00:27:26,980 --> 00:27:31,560 out to every single c e o that's on the valuable 500 and said, Hey, 450 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,440 you need to work with us. I personally don't think that's the way forward, 451 00:27:34,860 --> 00:27:39,280 but I mean, how can you let the community know what you are working on? 452 00:27:39,380 --> 00:27:43,080 Is there a newsletter or are, are you planning something? 453 00:27:44,030 --> 00:27:44,680 Yeah. But 454 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:48,280 At the same time, there's danger in telling this too much till it's ready. So, 455 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,360 I mean, I just wanna be fair to you on that as well. So, um, 456 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,720 A as, as far as like our, you know, uh, marketing channels, 457 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,920 I think we're still trying to conceive a way to, um, 458 00:27:59,580 --> 00:28:02,160 to better communicate directly with the disability community. 459 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,200 Obviously we have our social channels through which we, you know, broadcast, 460 00:28:05,620 --> 00:28:08,640 you know, everything that we, or as, as much as we can of, 461 00:28:08,660 --> 00:28:10,920 of things that we have going on ranging from our, you know, 462 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,040 the research that we're doing, uh, down to what our companies are doing, right? 463 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,200 What companies are, are coming into the valuable 500, um, 464 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:19,480 reporting some success stories, you know, uh, talk, 465 00:28:19,550 --> 00:28:23,400 like releasing our trend reports and our quartering newsletters that way, but, 466 00:28:23,820 --> 00:28:27,200 or our monthly newsletters that way. But I think that, you know, um, 467 00:28:27,620 --> 00:28:31,040 you're right, we do need a, we are working on a, 468 00:28:32,740 --> 00:28:37,440 uh, a communication channel, um, that will hopefully, 469 00:28:37,900 --> 00:28:38,733 you know, um, 470 00:28:39,380 --> 00:28:41,320 Be more, it's a hard job though. I just wonder. 471 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,480 It'll be more, yeah, it'll be more of a conversation with, with, uh, 472 00:28:44,710 --> 00:28:46,840 with the disability community, keep people informed. 473 00:28:46,900 --> 00:28:49,360 And it may not be necessarily like a, like a, 474 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:50,800 a different channel than we're using, 475 00:28:50,900 --> 00:28:53,120 but maybe it's just just different way that we, you know, 476 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,840 conceive our communications that's gonna be, um, a little bit more, um, 477 00:28:57,220 --> 00:29:01,040 how do I say, uh, intentional around that piece. Um, yeah. 478 00:29:01,540 --> 00:29:04,280 And I just wanna tell the audience that this is really, 479 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,600 really hard thing that they're trying to do, and we need to be patient. I, 480 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,400 I just wanna be fair, um, and Antonio, I know, I'm sorry. I was, 481 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:13,880 I was being you take the mic now. 482 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:20,240 No, uh, even, uh, some of the topics that you're talking, 483 00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:24,040 uh, about bus about business and reaching the community. 484 00:29:24,700 --> 00:29:29,680 So something that that concerns me, particularly in, in this space is, you know, 485 00:29:30,430 --> 00:29:34,800 many of large companies are based in, 486 00:29:34,830 --> 00:29:39,000 even if you have remote work, are based in cities mm-hmm. 487 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,680 Metropolitan areas, um, 488 00:29:42,700 --> 00:29:45,520 and the large number of business that are, 489 00:29:45,590 --> 00:29:49,320 that are out there are small business. So sometimes the, 490 00:29:49,340 --> 00:29:53,560 the small business are the ones that are more connected with the community of 491 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:58,240 people with disabilities where people can aspire to find a job near their home, 492 00:29:59,020 --> 00:30:03,720 not necessarily going to a big city. You know, so how, how do you, uh, 493 00:30:04,070 --> 00:30:08,840 address, uh, the no smaller, medium-sized companies, 494 00:30:09,500 --> 00:30:14,140 uh, they're not part of, of the initial goal of, of, 495 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:19,620 but how can we find ways to provide them the resources in order for them not to 496 00:30:19,620 --> 00:30:24,500 feel lost? Because they can easily be targeted by entities promising 497 00:30:24,970 --> 00:30:27,060 that they can do this, that they can do that, 498 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,460 and they might not be taking the most informed decisions. 499 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:34,860 So how can we make sure that we keep this, uh, uh, uh, 500 00:30:34,860 --> 00:30:37,780 organizations part of it, and as, 501 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:42,620 as well informant about what are the possibilities, uh, that they can do? 502 00:30:43,980 --> 00:30:47,600 So that's a really good question. I think when, you know, and, 503 00:30:47,620 --> 00:30:52,000 and I joined the valuable 500 after, you know, after the campaign was well, 504 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:56,720 on its way. Um, but I can tell you that the way kind of our, 505 00:30:57,500 --> 00:31:01,920 our thinking on why we chose to focus exclusively on, you know, 506 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:04,480 the largest businesses is they are kind of the north star. 507 00:31:04,700 --> 00:31:07,200 If you look at all the SMEs that you're talking about, 508 00:31:07,510 --> 00:31:10,000 they're trying to emulate, I mean, the, the, you know, 509 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,800 what good looks like is Apple. What good looks like is, you know, atos, 510 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,200 what good looks like is, is Microsoft. So they're striving to be that. 511 00:31:18,100 --> 00:31:22,840 So if we get those guys the biggest guys to act, um, 512 00:31:22,900 --> 00:31:24,920 and to do things, um, 513 00:31:24,980 --> 00:31:29,240 and to perform actions to perform better in disability inclusion, that will, 514 00:31:29,420 --> 00:31:29,950 you know, 515 00:31:29,950 --> 00:31:34,520 that will naturally kind of filter through to the SMEs who are trying to 516 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:38,000 emulate that behavior. That's at least, you know, one of our, you know, 517 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:41,280 kind of one of our thoughts on this. The other piece is, I mean, you know, 518 00:31:42,060 --> 00:31:46,480 to your point, there are so many SMEs right there. I mean, if, 519 00:31:46,500 --> 00:31:49,480 if we look at, and I don't have the figures in front of me, right? But like, 520 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,240 I don't know how many more SMEs there are in the world than, you know, 521 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,280 companies that qualify to be part of the valuable 500, which, you know, 522 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:01,400 we have very basic metrics for, for that. But, um, you know, 523 00:32:01,820 --> 00:32:06,760 so I think that we kind of took the chunk that we could manage 524 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,840 a manageable chunk, and it's already pretty big. Um, but then, you know, 525 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:12,800 there are so many, again, like what I was mentioning earlier, 526 00:32:12,810 --> 00:32:17,040 there are so many resources in markets where SMEs exist. Um, 527 00:32:17,380 --> 00:32:20,400 the I l o, you know, G B D N is one, you know, 528 00:32:20,460 --> 00:32:23,120 but specifically there are, you know, 529 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:27,040 regional and national entities that operate like the valuable 500, 530 00:32:27,060 --> 00:32:30,440 and that they, you know, they operate with a network of partner companies, 531 00:32:30,740 --> 00:32:35,400 but fundamentally, you know, they are most versed and most kind of, uh, 532 00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:38,600 and they specialize, you know, in regional and national dialogues. 533 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,680 B D F is a shining example of that. Um, the, the, um, 534 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,880 a and D in Australia is another one, uh, enable India access, Israel, 535 00:32:46,980 --> 00:32:50,800 all of these people, you know, have, you know, do excellent, 536 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,840 excellent work in their geographies and some even globally, right? Like Access, 537 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,680 Israel is doing amazing things in the area of, uh, 538 00:32:56,860 --> 00:33:00,040 of emergency preparedness and, and disaster preparedness, right? 539 00:33:00,420 --> 00:33:05,000 But they do amazing work locally to support businesses of all 540 00:33:05,130 --> 00:33:05,860 sizes. 541 00:33:05,860 --> 00:33:09,840 And I think it's important for any SMEs out there who are listening to look in, 542 00:33:10,350 --> 00:33:12,600 look in your, you know, the equivalent of the Yellow Pages, 543 00:33:12,740 --> 00:33:15,640 the equivalent of like a national, national catalog of, 544 00:33:16,220 --> 00:33:19,000 of folks who can help you in this, because the resources are out there. 545 00:33:19,100 --> 00:33:23,040 We know because we we're connected with them, right? Um, and we refer our, 546 00:33:23,180 --> 00:33:27,400 our companies constantly who have pain points in specific geographies. Hey, oh, 547 00:33:27,460 --> 00:33:29,760 do you have, you know, do you have an issue in hiring people in Brazil? 548 00:33:29,780 --> 00:33:33,640 Go speak to Teleo and Korea, or go speak Toku and who works with them, right? 549 00:33:33,820 --> 00:33:38,320 If you have an issue in digital accessibility in the us, speak to level access, 550 00:33:38,340 --> 00:33:41,720 you know, speak to speak to, you know, atos who are now operating in the market. 551 00:33:41,940 --> 00:33:42,240 You know, 552 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,240 if you want to speak to somebody about branding and inclusive branding, 553 00:33:45,290 --> 00:33:48,640 speak to Deb Ru, speak to RU Global about that stuff. That's, those are, 554 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:50,040 those are specialists in that area. 555 00:33:50,180 --> 00:33:54,080 And it doesn't matter how big your organization is, the learning is the same, 556 00:33:54,490 --> 00:33:58,480 right? Um, so anyway, that's, that's my, 557 00:33:58,580 --> 00:33:59,760 that's my philosophy on that. 558 00:34:00,750 --> 00:34:04,800 Well said. Well said. It it, and it's just, there's so many moving parts, 559 00:34:04,900 --> 00:34:08,960 and so people have to be patient and we have to help the valuable 500 be, 560 00:34:09,340 --> 00:34:11,320 we have to help, we have to help them. 561 00:34:11,940 --> 00:34:15,520 So that's one reason why we wanted to do this today on access chat. So Stefan, 562 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:17,080 thank you. Back to you, Neil. 563 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:23,000 Absolutely. And I think that the, you know, we, we need to have that, um, 564 00:34:23,910 --> 00:34:27,960 mentality of plenty and the fact that, 565 00:34:28,190 --> 00:34:29,760 that the, like, 566 00:34:29,770 --> 00:34:34,080 let's move away from the famine mentality where everyone's fighting for a piece 567 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:37,320 of cake and work together to grow the cake. You know, that's, 568 00:34:37,780 --> 00:34:42,480 that's what I think bringing people together like this can really do. So, 569 00:34:42,660 --> 00:34:46,280 um, on that note, I want to thank you, Stefan, 570 00:34:46,340 --> 00:34:50,640 for joining us and allowing us to, you know, gently mock your, 571 00:34:50,830 --> 00:34:53,440 your magnificent mustache. Yeah. 572 00:34:53,500 --> 00:34:55,280 Um, I'm sure you, and maybe Neil, 573 00:34:55,610 --> 00:34:58,280 maybe he cou will agree to come back on regularly. 574 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:02,880 Maybe we could talk to Jhan to come in back on like every couple of months or 575 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:03,800 something, give us an update. 576 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:06,400 I would love that. I would love that. 577 00:35:07,020 --> 00:35:09,520 And maybe next time Neil will be up to the level of, 578 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,160 have a similar mustache like he had. 579 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:16,400 I mean, I think I'm, that's right. I'm going for the cad. Look, you know, 580 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:18,480 I think, I think if, 581 00:35:18,660 --> 00:35:23,520 if Neil grew a mustache and John Kemp were on here with me, I think, 582 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,960 I think the internet might shut down for the day. I think that would be, 583 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:28,360 that would be it. That would be it. 584 00:35:28,860 --> 00:35:29,693 Oh, well, let's, let's 585 00:35:29,860 --> 00:35:30,693 Too much, 586 00:35:31,250 --> 00:35:32,760 Let's do that. Okay. Uh, 587 00:35:32,820 --> 00:35:37,360 so let's thank Amazon and my clearex for keeping us on air and 588 00:35:37,390 --> 00:35:39,440 caption. So, uh, thank you Stefan. 589 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,680 Look forward to you joining us further discussion to continue on Twitter. 590 00:35:42,820 --> 00:35:43,240 Thanks 591 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:44,240 Guys. Lovely to chat.