30th Anniversary-Signing of the ADA/25th Anniversary of Bender Consulting Services, Inc.

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

And happy ADA Month to everyone in the United States and around the world. So my first shout out is to Yoshiko Dart Yoshiko, you know we're thinking about you and Justin as we're celebrating the 30th anniversary because I know without you two it would not have happened. And although, you know, we lost Justin here on earth, we have never lost Justin's spirit. So, you know, special shout out to you and to Richard Roberts and Gun Young in Okinawa and South Korea, Seoul, South Korea. These two are not only my friends, they work for the State Department, but they are advocates in those countries for people with disabilities. And look out because we got a special show coming from Okinawa in the not too distant future. So listen, all of you throughout the world, I can't thank you enough. China, you have the most listeners of all the countries. Thank you. And you know, just so you know, we're thinking of all of you, everyone going through this pandemic. You know, we're all in this together, but they forget how tough people with disabilities really are. So we have once again is our lead sponsor for 4 years. Hi-Mark, what a great company you are. Hi-Mark, you live what you talk about when it comes to hiring people with disabilities. This year, one of our lead sponsors was Peoples, formerly known as Peoples Natural Gas, and now we have Wells Fargo and the Employment Options. What would I do without these great sponsors helping me change lives of people living with disabilities. Well, I have to tell you, I'm gonna love this show. No offense to any of my other guests, but these are my favorite guests on today. My favorites, because they work for me at Bender Consulting Services, and they have been with me forever. They are all champions, and actually, I'll tell you who we have on. We have Mary Brocker, the Executive Vice President of Operations. We have Gerald Homi, who's a recruitment specialist, and Jim Homi, who is a manager in Accessibility Technology Services, who works with my other Executive Vice President, that is the boss of all bosses, Paula Balogh. So, Mary Brocker, you are someone very well liked and very well known. I bet there are people right now listening to the show with a big smile on your face because you know what a dynamic person Mary is. And here we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the signing of the ADA and the 25th anniversary of our company, Bender Consulting Services. So Mary, welcome to the show, and why don't you start by telling our listeners around the world what you do at Bender Consulting and how this anniversary has impacted you with this role in your life.

Well, thank you, Joyce. And for the record, you know, we also— Jim, Gerald, and me, three team Bender colleagues— have to admit that you are our favorite boss, and Paula Bello clearly is everyone's boss. I love it. So, you know, we're We're excited at Team Bender. Joyce has been talking with you about the ADA 30 celebration and Bender 25. It's my honor to hang out with Joyce and, again, two of our colleagues, Jim and Gerald, who will be talking about themselves a bit more. So, you know, as to what I do at Bender, you know, really, literally, I work with our great team to deliver on Joyce Bender's vision of improving access and inclusion for those of us living with disabilities. In the specific areas Joyce has this vision is employment, digital accessibility, and e-learning. So for me, I have the wonderful opportunity to have access to giants on our team. Jim and Gerald are two of them. And also have access to many of our customers. So our folks engage customers and we keep the corporate solutions running, sales, customer care, and then also we're very leaning and attentive to customer and employee engagement. And of course, as it relates to how the— what the ADA means to me, how it impacts me in my life, it means everything. You know, I have a wonderful time spending time with so many giants in the disability community, incredible advocates. It's an honor to stand beside them, to walk beside them, and then of course to race beside them. So that's wonderful to be a part of the crusade. And then of course in my role, it's just been tremendous to play over the last 25 years a role in being a part of Joyce Bender building this impactful organization, which has really impacted tens of thousands of people with disabilities as it relates to employment, working in digital accessibility and advancing that cause substantially. And iDisability eLearning product has now over more than 4 million business people who have access to our content. So I'll pass it back to you, Joyce.

Well, thank you. And so everyone knows, Mary, when did you join? How many years ago?

Yeah, so I joined your executive search firm 26 years ago. In about a year and a half after I joined, you founded Bender Consulting Services. And I've got to tell you, it's just a wonderful privilege to to get paid to do for a living the very thing that is my passion in life, which of course is making a difference for all, including those of us with disabilities. I happen to be, many of you know, born on the day the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, July 2nd, 1964. So I began on day one of my life being a crusader and an advocate for justice for all.

And that you are, and I am so— we're so lucky to have you, and actually for the world, because you have traveled with me throughout the world. Hey, Mary, what do you think about the Bender Leadership Academy?

Oh, it's just phenomenal, Joyce. You have, for the last 20 years, done volunteer work, leaning in, helping about 100 students with disabilities each year to learn about leadership initiative, independence, how to write a resume, how to interview for and secure a job. And you founding the Bender Leadership Academy 2 years ago, really focusing a not-for-profit's efforts on resetting the career trajectory for students with disabilities is just amazing. You know, students are gaining certifications in digital accessibility, technology, customer service. We're launching a Salesforce training program, and we'll be having folks who are going through the Leadership Academy, high school students, college students, college students, those returning to work, you know, actually making money in the gig economy and moving from gig to great to follow Jim Collins' parallel from Good to Great.

Yeah, I am too so excited about it. And Gerald, how did you like hearing your composed music?

How do I compose music? Yeah, the music we played at the break, at the beginning, the music you wrote, that all we did that all for at home here at my little home office with some recording technology out here. And yeah, just, well, years of study.

Yeah, well, it is phenomenal. I love that. I love to, especially for you to be on today talking about all of this, you know, because it is a celebration not only of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but this is actually the 25th anniversary of Bender Consulting Services, which is amazing when I think about that. And Gerald, you know, you are such a key part of so many things that we're doing right now at Bender Consulting, and you are a blessing to all of us, and to have you with us But why don't you tell our listeners what you do and how all of this has impacted you?

Yeah, so I get the privilege to work on a team as one of our leaders in the recruitment area, and I get to work with our team to identify candidates with disabilities that fit the great opportunities we have available and help usher those people into their careers and find their way into those roles and, you know, begin making that positive change of contributing to, you know, a corporation that wants to include people with disabilities like our great customers. And it's great to be a part of that. You know, this whole crusade and everything, you know, means a lot to me. You know, I was born also in July like Mary was, so I was born July 1990. On July 13th, on a Friday. On Friday the 13th, I was born, and 13 has always been lucky for me because exactly 13 days after I was born, the ADA was signed into law on July 26th.

And yeah, that's amazing.

I've worked— and now I've worked at Bender for 13 years. 13 years ago, I started here on my internship And now, you know, we're celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ADA and looking back on all that's happened since then, but also the clear path we see forward to continue to advancement and continue this crusade because, you know, although we've seen a lot of great changes over that time, we've got still a lot to do and a lot more in employment that needs done. People still need to work.. And it's great to be a part of contributing to that as a person with a disability myself, you know, and as somebody who has family, friends, significant others with disabilities. So.

Well, Gerald, you are one of many people in this country that live with a learning disability, and many of those high school students in the Bender Leadership Academy have some type of learning disability such as dyslexia, and yet, you know, the bar is often lowered. And I always tell everyone, when you have a learning disability, you're just learning differently. It does not have anything to do with how smart you are. It is learning differently. But this has been an issue that many people with disabilities have had to deal with, and it's just Awesome when we place people. That is the heart and soul of Bender, is competitive employment. And when we find employment for people in IT, finance, accounting, any of these areas, and we do work nationally, we work in any of these areas and someone gets a job, every time they get a job, it still is so exciting to me. Even after, as we're going through right now, the 25th year. So, Jim Homi, I've known you for a really long time, and I have— Yes, I have a special question for you because it's a little bit different. Um, what is your role at Bender, and what would life have been like for you without the ADA? Joyce Bender. How about sharing that with our listeners?

I lead our technology, digital technology accessibility team at Bender. We evaluate websites, mobile applications, and documents for the rules for accessibility in the United States. And really, if it wasn't for the ADA, I would not be working. Right, a couple of years before the ADA, speech synthesis was in its infancy, and I believe firmly that the ADA moved speech synthesis forward and Braille technology forward for all people who are blind as I am, and I'm very grateful for that.

Yes, the way you have described to me, Jim, what it was like for people who are blind prior to this, I would say it would have been terrible across the board for people who are blind, preventing them from being able to work in a competitive area versus, as you recall, people making brooms. I know you remember that, Jim, because I wanted to get a shirt with a broom with that, you know, lying through it. I always will remember when people told me, "Hey, blind people, they're employed, they're making brooms." Wow, we have come a long way from that time, thank goodness. Mary, you know, right now I think you would agree that you hear constantly on the news about mental health disabilities, and how tough it is right now during this COVID academic— academic disaster, I should say, that we're going through. And do you think that over the next 5 years, which of course would be the 35th anniversary of the ADA, do you think we will see a difference? And what do you believe the private and public sector needs to see happen for people to start self-identifying? Because as you know, there are many people with disabilities working for companies right now. It's just they aren't telling anyone because like you and I, because I'm living with epilepsy, they have non-apparent disability. So what do you think about that? What do you think it's going to take to see this stigma brought down?

Yeah, thanks, Joyce Bender. I'll get back to your question in one moment, but I have an obligation as a card-coding member of both the Gerald Homey and Jim Homey fan club just to share a couple of things with you, and they'll be talking more about it as we proceed through the show. So Gerald has advanced the best-in-class workforce development program called Careers to Be, where hundreds of early career folks with disabilities have aligned with competitive employment. Competitive employment, 100% success. And Jim, I'm so excited, I love working with him. His brand, as he is delivering excellence, is he has this convergence of a great business mind, a passion for advocacy, and just incredible technical savvy in the digital accessibility space. So just had to shout out to my friend. So let's get back to the stigma. Associated with mental health disabilities. And over the next 5 years, when we celebrate ADA 35, will we see a difference? And, you know, what the public and private sector needs to do to see people with disabilities self-identify. So this one's personal to me, as I'm a person living with a mental health disability. I live with depression for decades. I also, when I was in college pursuing computer science and economics, in economics degrees, when I was a sophomore, I had a very rare retinal virus, and I was blind for 3 months. Since then, my eyesight has returned, and I don't know what it's like to live for the long term, as my colleagues and friends who are living with blindness know firsthand, but I do know what it's like to live with blindness for for several months. So let's get back to the mental health conversation. So we're gonna see a substantial difference in reducing stigma that will result in our brothers and sisters in the workplace taking the action to self-identify as a person with disabilities. So there was so much stigma in the past, many people who are living with disabilities did not disclose. So we all know that everything changed 20 weeks ago with COVID-19. And, you know, as it relates to mental health disabilities, there are 3 types of us, 3 groups of us in the workplace. Number 1, those like me who are living with mental health disabilities who are a part of the community, and they talk about it. And we've developed an arsenal of coping strategies, and we advocate when we need support or an accommodation. The second group of people in the business who are living with mental health disabilities are those who have had them but have never talked about it at work. But now they're talking more about it in reference to requesting accommodations. Why is that? We've had a rapid change in folks working from home, folks working different hours, and this has caused folks who are living with mental health disabilities to talk to their employers about that. And then we have many, many people who we welcome into the category of those of us living with mental health disabilities because they have situational mental health disabilities caused by COVID-19. You know, we've got a lot of folks who are dealing with fear, trepidation, rapidly changing rules, lack of consistency with leadership, and of course uncertainty. So those are some of my thoughts, Joyce.

Yeah, and I also think, Mary, that with a lot of young people coming into the workforce, that they are going to be not as ashamed of having mental health issue. I think they are going to be great leaders, great disability rights leaders, But I think they're going to say, hey, this is what— this is part of who I am and I'm not ashamed. And, you know, companies, when you think, oh, I don't know if I want to hire people with mental health disabilities, you know, you already have. Okay, they're working for you right now, right? They have depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, whatever it is. It's just they aren't telling you. But some of the people that you are viewing as your top producers are people with a mental health disability. It's just you don't know it.

So that's right.

I mean, depression, it's like 1 in 4 people. I mean, it's, it's pervasive. It's so many people that are top performers. So I just want you to sort of have a reality check on that. And in Mary's Brockers' words, Mary, what do you call companies that get it?

Oh, I call companies who get— they get it, I call them the awake companies. And of course, companies include people who represent them and who spend time delivering success for their brand. And awake companies always include awake people.

I just love that. I— that's why I had to let you say it. I just love that when you call companies that. But right now Hey, it's time for our news break that we have every week on the half hour with our anchor person, CEO of Disability Rights of Pennsylvania, Perry Jude Radesik. What news do you have for us today?

Hey Joyce, uh, thank you.

Is it appropriate for your other guests to do the drum roll because the Perry Jude Radesik is joining the event today.

Yes, that's fine. That was a good drum roll.

Mary is terrific. I really second all the things she said about mental health in the workplace and so appreciate what she does and what you do, Joyce, and what Bender Consulting does for people with disabilities. So thank you.

You're welcome.

Uh, so it's face mask and COVID-19, and really, uh, it's as, as we've had orders from our Department of Health, uh, and, uh, people needing to have a safe distance going back out into the public and wanting to get out into the community for people with disabilities, uh, the centers for Centers for Disease Control has called on us to wear face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And so our local officials and governors have issued orders for us to wear masks, uh, but it may be difficult, uh, to comply with those orders, uh, for every person with a disability. So Disability Rights Pennsylvania just released a new resource on face and the rights of persons with disabilities. The resource is titled "No Mask, No Service: What Are My Rights to Enter a Business During COVID-19 Pandemic if I Cannot Wear a Mask Due to My Disability?" So if you go to our website at disabilityrightsPA.org right now, our Advocacy Matters segment is up. So go to the homepage, look for Advocacy Matters, and you can click on the latest segment. And we have a link to our latest resource on face masks and COVID-19. You will want to look at this resource. So this applies to Pennsylvania, let me just say that, although there are some, certainly some contact— context related to the ADA. So the resource looks at Pennsylvania Department of Health requirements, why there are requirements to wear masks, what masks comply with the Department of Health order, any exceptions to the Department of Health order, and the nondiscrimination laws that apply to places of accommodations. And of course this means the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and we also look at the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. So there's also a link to all the Department of Health orders in Pennsylvania on our advocacy matters page as well because you can't just look at the federal laws without looking at your state laws and orders as well. So you want to look at that. So we know advocacy matters. Civil rights laws are not suspended during COVID-19. That's important to remember. Civil rights laws are not suspended. It's important to educate yourselves about COVID-19, your local Department of Health orders that are in place now, and federal and and state laws that protect people with disabilities against discrimination. So for listeners outside of Pennsylvania, I want to caution you, if you go and read our resource, that this is based on Pennsylvania Department of Health orders along with federal and state civil rights laws. But the publication is for general information purposes. Don't consider this legal advice. So if you have a question about disability-related legal issues regarding face mask requirements for you, call our office at 800-692-7443. Now, if you have a question about face mask requirements in your state, you can find your local protection and advocacy agency at ndrn.org. We have that link on our Advocacy Matters page as as well. So all of this is at disabilityrightsPA.org. Find the link to advocacy matter statement there. Learn more about face masks and COVID-19. Find your own protection and advocacy agency in your state. But if you live in Pennsylvania, we have this resource for you now if you go to disabilityrightsPA.org.

Oh, thank you so much, um, Perry Jude. And I would encourage everyone, here's your resource when you have questions about this: disabilityrightspa.org. Make sure you follow up. And by the way, you can also make a donation, a small donation. Everything counts. Uh, Perry Jude, thank you so much as usual. It's always a pleasure to have you, and we will be talking to you next week.

Absolutely.

Take care. Okay. Um, all right. Well, actually, this news break was Mary's idea. She came up with this idea several years ago, and I'm so happy because we've had Perry Judon for, I think, 2 years now, and she keeps us up to date on healthcare disparity or Medicaid or other laws or issues that are civil rights related like today, and she is brilliant and brings information for all of you listening to the show. Uh, Jim, you and I have quite a history together, and since this is our 25th anniversary, I would be remiss if I did not ask you to tell the Jim Joyce story, how we met, and then what happened after that.

Joyce, you are going to be sorry you opened up that can of worms. Uh, Joyce and I met back in 1988 when I was going to a programming school for people with disabilities, and, um, This was, of course, before the signing of the ADA, and I was just there because I wanted to get a job. I had no idea what disability rights was all about. I was just there because I wanted to go from being a professional musician to a computer programming field, and this— they said this person was going to come in and visit us at the school And, uh, for those of you who don't know, if you are blind, you probably will use earphones if you have a computer. So I was doing my programming assignment and I felt this heavy hand on my shoulder, and I jumped out of my seat, tipped over my chair, knocked over my earphones, and they said, "This is Joyce Bender. She's coming here to help us." get a job. And I said to myself, well, that's the end of that story. She's not going to want to talk to me after this. And so I was so embarrassed that the only thing I could say was, well, it's nice to see what a headhunter looks like. And I thought, now I have two feet in my mouth, so I just better sit down here and wait for the next opportunity. Uh, a few weeks after that one of the instructors walked up to me and said, 'Remember that lady that was here a few weeks ago that said she was going to help people get jobs? She likes you.' And I was completely speechless. Uh, fast forwarding a little bit, when Joyce Bender was getting me my interview to get the my first job. I found out that she also has another disability other than epilepsy and hearing loss, which is a directional disability, because she couldn't find her way to her office and I had to help her get there.

And he said to me—

that's how we met.

And you know what he said? He said, never trust a sighted person for directions. And actually, this is one of the reasons I love Jim. He has a great sense of humor. He's really a good person. We are both obsessed with the Pirates, Pittsburgh Pirates. And, you know, Jim, how long have you done accessibility work now at Bender?

I've been at Bender for, let's see, more than 24 years. I'm actually employee number 5 at Bender.

And you haven't— I'm sorry, go ahead.

Scary thoughts. Uh, the first day of my first job was Halloween, and, uh, I'm holding back. Okay, I'm not sure what to say after that, but anyway, um Ever since then, nothing. It's just been a blessing ever since.

Well, you have been working though. Mary, how long have you been doing— the group that Jim is in that does digital accessibility for customers to make their website accessible, kiosk, the internal applications at the company. Mary, how long have you been— we've been doing that now?

So it's been 2 decades. Jim has delivered— Jim has delivered solutions with our customers, and then he has built— he's been one of the key players in building our HITEST group, our digital accessibility team.

And this is the team that Paula Balogh is the queen in this area and has done so much with, with Jim. They work so well together. As I said, Paul is the other executive vice president in the company. But Mary, we've done work for law firms, for really retail, all types of companies.

Absolutely. Insurance, technology companies, you know, it's just a brilliant opportunity. And as I mentioned earlier, Jim is the technical giant, and he, you know, the space that HighTest works in is auditing and ensuring websites, mobile apps, kiosks, and documents are accessible for people with disabilities.

Yes, and so as we celebrate our 25th anniversary, that is our one line of business that Mary referred to earlier when she was talking. Wow, it's just so amazing how far we have come. And someday, someday people are not going to just say, "Oh, do we need to be accessible?" You know, as Eve Hill said when she was with the Department of Justice, if you're trying to hire people with disabilities but you are not accessible, guess what? You're never going to get to hire people with disabilities. And I love when Jenny Lay-Flurry from Microsoft, Chief Accessibility Officer, always says, "If you're wondering if you're accessible, you're not." So, you know, and isn't that true? Isn't that so true? Well, Mary, you know, we had a dream about starting what came to be known as Bender Consulting Services. And you, do you remember when I first met with Highmark and how it has continued. What are your thoughts about all this 25 years?

I definitely remember that day, and it's just incredible again to have an opportunity to walk beside you, Joyce, and stand beside you and run beside you and everyone else on Team Bender to build this. A couple of quick things. Paula Balog is listening in, and she just chimed in on the chat that she couldn't do the high-tech digital accessibility work without Jim. So, Jim, you are a giant to all of us. I learned something new about Gerald and Jim. We've got Gerald Friday the 13th and Jim Halloween. Never knew that before. And, you know, this Perri Jude is just incredible. It struck me as I was listening to her Advocacy Matters episode within your radio show today, it struck me, I had been reading a book that Joyce has given to me, and it is We Are Called to Be a Movement, written by the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II. Joyce knows him firsthand and has been working with him and several other folks, including his daughter Shirell, who is a Harvard epidemiologist on, you know, a lot of these, you know, Black Lives Matter, Black Disabled Lives Matter. And within this this message that he gave at church several years ago, he said, "There's a power when those who've known rejection come together." And that's advocacy. So those of us, all movements have been created by those who have known rejection coming together. So let's get back to Highmark. Oh, that is amazing. I remember you met with Mr. Lowery. He was the then CEO of Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania, which is now Highmark today. And, you know, you shared your dream and your passion in such a clear and compelling way. And he was accompanied that day by Keith Katmeyer, who was the chief operating officer. But you shared your dream, your passion in this clear and compelling way that Bill Lowry made one decision in one day, and that decision was to stand behind Joyce Bender when she said, you know, I need an anchor company as a shopping mall needs an anchor tenant in order to get this business started. And Mr. Lowery committed this one decision in one day to bringing on 6 people, women with disabilities, for our— from our company and keeping them all on contract for 3 years. And that one decision in one day has changed the lives of tens of thousands of people with disabilities. And as a matter of fact, Highmark's business resource group for people with disabilities led by Jenny Homi, talk about a young leader and giant in this space. She's got a tremendous amount of digital accessibility and project management expertise. The Highmark, as they celebrate ADA30, they have this challenge to others to lean in in employment of people with disabilities, and it's this One Decision Challenge. In addition, Highmark's current CEO, Mr. Holmberg, he has committed to celebrating ADA 30, working with Bender. He's committed to hiring 30 people with disabilities this year. It's called the Highmark 30/30, and again, he's challenging other CEOs to take up that charge.

Mary. Excuse me, I also wanted to say the odds of anyone doing that today, I hate to say it, I can just see me walking in. Hi, would you, would you mind bringing on contract 6 employees and keeping them on contract for 3 years? And I mean, for 6 years. No, I got it right the first time. 6 people for 3 years. This would almost be impossible today. And yeah, Highmark could never thank you enough. David Holmberg and Cindy Hundorfean and Deb Rice Johnson and Karen Hanlon, all awesome, all great leaders. Gary Dick, Mick Malek. I mean, there are so many people, you know, that stand behind us at Highmark. They are just— I always say Highmark sets the high mark benchmark for other companies to follow. And I never talk about this, but I just want to explain to you, at Bender Consulting Services, we are a for-profit company for two reasons. Number one, no pity. Pity is like racism, it just leads to unemployment. And number two is we wanted to have a rich benefits program, which we do. Still 25 years later through Highmark. Um, and we now place people on contract. This is what we've always done, but we also place people directly. And what I just wanted to mention just for a few minutes is that Chris Griffin, who is the superstar in the disability community, EEOC Commissioner, OPM Assistant Director, worked for one of those groups that Perri-Jude talked about in Boston. The— well, is that called the Mental Law— what is that called, Mary, where she worked?

Chris? It's called the Disability Law Center of Massachusetts. It's a part of what Perri-Jude was talking about when she mentioned the protection and advocacy groups with the National Disability Rights Network, NDRN, for those who are listening from other states.

And she is a fierce advocate, so respected. She was the chair of AAPD, and she's just known by the whole disability community. And what an honor it is that she's now working with Bender Consulting, and she is handling, uh, retained search in legal, uh, CEOs of disability organizations and I am handling the human resources executive search. So Chris was responsible for Maria Town, the CEO of AAPD, which, you know, what a great find, and Marcy Roth, the CEO of WID, the World Institute on Disability, another great find, and is working on several other searches. But, you know, from when I met Kris, I never thought in this journey she would be working with us. And I think you would agree, Mary, that she is a superstar.

She is a superstar. She's a great friend, a mentor to me. And talk about advocacy. She just leans in to every injustice. She's just inspirational.

She is, that she is. Well, you know, we don't have as long of a time as I thought we would, but I should have known that this would go quickly because, um, of having three dynamos on with me. And again, we are celebrating at Bender Consulting Services the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, you know, through our social media through events with our customers, and of course, again, where the rubber meets the road— employment. Employment for people with disabilities. Um, and so I thought we could take a moment before we end the show today, starting with you, Gerald, if you might share with us what you hope to see in the future with the ADA. In the next 5 to 10 years? What do you hope you'll see?

I just want to see disability included more and just, you know, a part of everything. You know, right now, you know, we have to fight to make sure that when things are happening, that disability gets included. And I want that to be, you know, the default is that disability gets included. And, you That includes accessibility, that includes hiring, all those things. And you know what, we're going to be fighting for it. You think, you know, Bender's done a lot now. We'll see you in another 25 years. Wait till you see what we— how the landscape has changed at our 50th anniversary.

Oh, what a day that will be. How about you, Jim? What do you hope to see?

I echo Gerald's sentiment, and I think what it— how it will happen will be we'll go from having special programs in companies that make a big deal out of hiring just a few people with disabilities to just business as usual, just like we have other groups in this country. And I'm very hopeful that that will happen, and I hope I get to see a lot of it happen.

Yes, me too. Okay, how about you, Mary? What do you think?

Yeah, Joyce, if you don't mind, I'd love to kick it back to Gerald before I share, you know, what my hope is. And Gerald, would you mind sharing what your hope would be as it relates to the impact of the Careers to Be program since you are the product manager and innovator in that space?

Well, you know, the Careers to Be program is there to help people with disabilities enter the workforce because right now that's one of the biggest problems is we can't get into the workforce at the beginning. So this is to get people experience because apparently people with disabilities have to prove themselves more than other people that we are capable. So we get experience and then people will hire us because we've proven that we're capable of working. So I want it to be normal that people with disabilities get those entry-level opportunities and get to progress. I want so many people to go in and do a great job like they have done in the Careers to Be program that, you know, it just becomes normal to include programs like this to develop talent and get people with disabilities injected in the workforce throughout the U.S.

So, yeah, thank you so much, Gerald.

And Kim? Mary, only because we only have a couple minutes left on the show, I want to make sure— Next 30 for me? No, we have 2 minutes left on the show. I want to hear from you what you think.

Perfect. So, you know, as to the next 30 years, you know, we've celebrated ADA 30 now, and we've had many successes So what comes next? This next 30 years, now this is where I see real hope. So we as a disability community will build on the borders of success that we've experienced over the last 30 years since President Bush signed the ADA into law. And, you know, we have the best opportunity to make forward progress in multiple areas, but I just wanted to pick out 3 of them, 3 areas that are impactful and that are important to our community. So the first one is employment. As Joyce Bender says, where the rubber meets the road is people with disabilities gaining access to freedom through competitive employment. So as it relates to employment, we're seeing increasing interest in this area as a result of bright lights like the Disability Equality Index, which is a benchmarking survey that was brought to market by the American Association of People with Disabilities and Disability and Also, over the last 20 weeks since the coronavirus pandemic, we have seen large employers sending their teams to work from home. And that's the proof of effectiveness of this new work strategy that's going to allow people with disabilities living in rural areas to have access to make contributions in the workplace. Very quickly, the second area is digital accessibility. The leaders in this space are academic institutions and state governments, and they're demanding that content is accessible. Websites, mobile apps, documents, and kiosks. They need to allow people with disabilities to consume content and interact with these technology components. And finally, the third area is just a blast. This is visionary technologies. Just a few years ago, there was nothing like or called a smart home. Wayfinding did not exist. And these are new enabling technologies for people with disabilities, but like the elevator, like the curb cuts, like captioning that have been used by all people over many, many, many decades, these are going to impact all of us.

So thank you, Joyce Bender.

Oh, thank you. Thank you, three. And we will continue celebrating. We end every show with a quote, and since we're talking about employment, that has to be, "Work gives us dignity," said Tony Tony Cuello. Work gives us dignity. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. Happy ADA Month! And speaking of Tony, he'll be with us next Tuesday. Don't miss that show.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters, right here on the Voice America variety channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.