Bender Consulting Services' Search and Recruitment Plans for 2024

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

Hey everyone, welcome to the show, to everyone in North America and around the world and South America. I'll be coming to Brazil, so, uh, I, so I have to give I want to give a special shout out right now to Richard Roberts. Did you also know he's an author? Yeah, he writes these books on language. He's brilliant. He's my close friend, and he's with the State Department, and he's an advocate for people with disabilities. I love him. He's awesome. So is Gang Young Cho. It's South Korea. Now, I became close friends with them, Every country I've been to— Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Panama. I was with Richard in Japan also. All of them, they are all awesome people. You know what? I travel with the State Department around the world. If someone in the country goes to the embassy and says, "We want someone to come here and talk about the employment of people with disabilities. They frequently call me, and I end up going, and so they are helping change lives at the State Department by doing that. So, special shout-out to you and Yoshiko Dart. Yoshiko, you know I love you so much. Such a great disability rights leader. Lead on, Yoshiko, you are awesome. And I have to thank our sponsor, Highmark. Highmark is just so great, such a great company. And, you know, they've been behind me from the beginning of time all the way. And before I get started today, guess what? I was just at Dollar Bank today with Emily Burkhardt and Dr. Paul Spradley. Emily, you are awesome, Emily. They had me at the bank thanks to, yes, the CEO Jim McQuaid, who will be this year's King of the Mardi Gras at the annual epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA fundraiser, and he, he has started this initiative about Dollar Bank including disability and supplier diversity. They are all awesome. I know, I'm going to tell you what, give me the mother of a child with a disability and look out, and that's Emily. You are awesome, Emily. And with that, because he also met Emily, is my guest today, Gerald Hummie, my manager of talent programs. I'll tell you what we're doing. We're kicking off the year with our vision, our plans, our goals, and what we're seeing happen in the world of employment. At Bender Consulting Services. Gerald, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Joyce. So happy to be here and excited for 2024.

Me too. I am so excited. So Gerald, how about, you know, we have people around the world listening to the show, so maybe we could start with you talking about how you met me, why you decided to join Bender, and then a little bit about your disabilities.

I would love to. So I met Joyce, um, before I was born because my father was the very first person with a disability that Joyce ever placed. So when my mother was carrying me, Joyce was around She was also at my parents' wedding. And then when I was born, I grew up around my family and the Bender family. And growing up, I got to go to all the company picnics. My father's blind and the first blind individual to be a certified Lotus Notes developer, has had a very successful career in information technology. And I grew up with that perspective of having a blind father be the primary bread earner for my family at a time when that was extremely rare. And that was thanks to Joyce Bender and to Highmark, who hired my father through Joyce Bender and gave him that opportunity. And when I was in the 4th grade, I went from a straight-A student to a struggling student when they started enforcing learning cursive. And I was not able to learn cursive, how to read it or how to write it. And through some testing, they figured out that the reason why was that I had something called dysgraphia. And dysgraphia is similar to dyslexia, which I also have. But they didn't know that at the time. Dysgraphia, similarly to dyslexia, impacts, you know, language. But instead of impacting how you read language, it impacts how you write language. And when I write, there are some additional hoops my brain likes to jump through for me to get thoughts from my head onto paper. Or typed out in an email, where instead of just focusing on what I want to say, I have to split my focus between what I want to say and also the physical actions that I have to take to write it out. I always say when I'm handwriting, it's not like I'm writing, it's like I'm drawing every single individual letter. So when you do that, it's really hard to just be expressive. So to accommodate that, now I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking and dictation to get my thoughts out, and it's a great tool to do that. But in school, I didn't have access to that. It took a long time to find the right accommodation process, and I struggled a lot in school with accommodations. But I knew that there was a future for me because of what I experienced at Bender, just by going to the company picnics and seeing professionals with disabilities in IT and in HR and in finance. So I knew that some of the things the school was telling me I couldn't do wasn't true. I went to school, to a performing arts school for music, and played the saxophone and got the opportunity while there to intern at Bender. And I didn't think a lot about it at the time, but I got the chance to just come to the office and file some folders, stuff envelopes, shred documents, things like that. And I was excited because I've always enjoyed being around Bender and being around my people, people with disabilities, and I got to do that through that work. And I even remember, I was telling Joyce Bender about this earlier today, having this thought back then, "Hmm, maybe I want to do this instead of music," and kind of dismissing that thought. I went to college for music at Duquesne University after high school and continued my internship at Bender. At Duquesne, we started the the Bender Lead On Team Club at Duquesne University trying to advocate for other students at Duquesne with disabilities. Shout out to Josie Badger, uh, who was part of that club with me while she was a master's student there. Um, and I kept advocating for people with disabilities even while I was going to school, and I ended up choosing instead of the path of music the path of the civil rights for people with disabilities. Because there was something just still drawing me to that. And because there's something that I've always been unhappy with, and that's injustice. So I chose that path. I saw a full-time opening open up at Bender. I jumped at it, joined the recruitment team, and never looked back.. And now I get the chance to lead that team placing people with disabilities in the jobs all over the U.S. And I'm, I couldn't be prouder, and I'm grateful every day, Joyce, for that opportunity.

And I just want to tell you, everyone, if you don't know Gerald Homme, you are missing out. He is awesome. He is a disability rights leader and an accomplished businessman. He is the manager of our talent programs. If you're looking for a job, this is the man. Jeannie Helmy at benderconsult.com. But if you're sending your resume, Gerald, where should they send it?

Go to benderconsult.com/jobs. You can apply there, send us your resume, look at all the openings we have, or just Get your resume in our system so that we can keep you in mind for any opportunities we get. I always tell our candidates, one of the things that makes us different than other places is that we're old school. We network to get the opportunities we get. We aren't just putting a candidate in our system somewhere and waiting to see what happens. We partner with organizations to help them bring people with disabilities into jobs, and if we get a candidate that we know is valuable to a company, even if they haven't given us an opening for that candidate, if we know the right person that would want that candidate and they're a great candidate, we will market them to that company to help create the conversation that could lead to a position, even if it's not posted on our site right now. So, right. So, you want to build a relationship with us now, whether or not you see an opening on the site that fits your background.

That's right.

So reach out to me or apply online. Uh, and one more time, Gerald, for a job, my email is ghomme@benderconsult.com, and you can go to benderconsult.com/jobs.

And I just want to say You know, I live with epilepsy, as you all know, and I began my career in the early '80s in search and recruitment. And I always tell people, never underestimate the power of a good search consultant. And that is because we know probably before you know where they're going to be hiring, the type of position. We know where there are problems where we wouldn't want to send you. We know. So even if you're not looking right now, you should send a note to Gerald, keep in touch with him, get to know him. So when something does come out, he knows, or our team that reports to him knows to get in touch with you. And to me and to Gerald and Bender Consulting, we will mention other areas we work in, but the heart and soul of this company is and always will be competitive employment. So, uh, Gerald, this year I have a new initiative, the Bender Cuéllar Technology Consortium. Uh, what I'll be doing is we will be marketing to CIOs across the country to collaborate with us to hit our goal of 100 hires. And Gerald, I don't know, have you noticed over the years it seems we've had really good fortune with technology professionals?

We really have. You know, something about IT, they just get it. And I think a lot of accommodations that allow people with disabilities to work are pieces of technology that make things that were built for people without disabilities work for people with disabilities. And when you Talk to an IT executive, it just makes sense. Oh, yeah, of course that piece of software would allow a person who's blind to work with a computer. Technology makes things work. Of course a person in a wheelchair can type with a different type of keyboard than someone else. They understand the logic of it and are quicker to bring people in. And then they see the logic right away of, oh, that person did a great job. And they don't get caught up in the misnomers like other places do. And we find success.

Yeah, and I always have. I've spent my life working with people in IT, and I've found them to be the most accommodating, easiest to work with, And with them, my goal, our goal, is a goal of 100 hires in 2024 of people with disabilities, us hiring them or us finding them employment at a company. And so if you're listening and you're looking, get in touch with us now. Or if you're listening and you just want to build a relationship get in touch with us now. But if you know of anyone with a disability seeking competitive employment— you notice I said competitive because competitive jobs are jobs where you can build a career, where you can continue moving up. You know, I always tell people I work with have worked with the National Security Agency placing engineers, mathematicians. I mean, there are good jobs. There are jobs for everyone. But not everyone has to work in a job that does not pay well or does not move the person up. So with that, we're going to get ready to go to break. If you just joined us, this is Joyce Bender. On VoiceAmerica.com with my guest Gerald Homi, Manager of Talent Acquisition and Technology at Bender Consulting Services. Don't go away, we'll be right back.

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Since 1985, Bender Consulting Services has served as a national leader in advancing employment of people with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, with private sector companies and federal government agencies. Bender assists customers with achieving their diversity and workforce inclusion initiatives by tapping into a talent pool of individuals seeking professional positions, including those in the STEM fields. In addition, Bender services include disability employment consulting, training and technology accessibility through their high-tech line of service. For more information, please visit www.benderconsult.com.

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You're listening to Disability Matters. If you have a question or comment, call in toll-free at 1-866-472-5788. That's 1-866-472-5788. Now, please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the show, um, and thank you Thank you all for listening. We are today with my manager of talent programs and technology, Gerald Haume, talking about one of my favorite things to kick off the year, and that is the employment of people with disabilities at Bender Consulting Services. Gerald, when we went to break, we were talking about how we're going to have the Bender-Cuello Technology Consortium and how we do so much work in IT. What, what are some of the jobs? If people are listening, could you give us an example of some of the types of jobs you look for?

Yeah, right now we're recruiting candidates for site reliability and infrastructure, helping keep the operations of the tech in a business running at all times. We're looking for project managers in tech. We're looking for business analysts. We're looking for cybersecurity professionals. And those are some just examples of the current flavors of roles. Also data scientists, especially those with— who have studied the new AI technologies that we're all adjusting to today. So those are some of the ones we're looking for right now, but we always get jobs in IT and those jobs change. We are also recruiting roles for help desk. We just filled one of those positions right here in Pittsburgh, but we filled many of those roles over the years in technical support. So really all levels of IT we've filled positions in and can always market strong IT candidates. So if you have an IT background and are interested in a job, Bender is a great place for you to be making a connection.

And you know, I'm going to tell you, it is a great place, uh, but make sure not only you, but you tell others that we work from the junior level through the executive level and Joyce Bender. Chris Griffin, so well known. She was an Obama and Bush appointee. Chris works with Bender, and the area she works in is retained search for people with disabilities as the CEO or ED of not-for-profits in the disability-related area. Or just not-for-profits connected in some way. So, tell everyone, if you know a not-for-profit, for example, I'm the chair of the board of the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA. We are so fortunate that we have Peggy Beam Jelly, this fantastic CEO, but there are not-for-profits that work with other disability groups that are looking for one. And if you know of that, get in touch with me, send me an email, joycebender@benderconsult.com, and I will get Chris Griffin right back in touch with that person. Gerald, how about healthcare? You know, like if a registered nurse is listening right now, maybe she hurt her back or just some injury and she no longer can work at the bedside. Do we have opportunities for people like that?

We do. You know, healthcare has been a big industry for us always. We've worked with healthcare organizations, but over the past few years, we've really diversified the types of roles that we can fill in healthcare through our relationships with our partner companies. Right now, if you look on our website, you'll see a lot of operational roles in the business side supporting the business of healthcare, making that happen. We filled roles for nurses that aren't physically demanding roles, roles supporting a team of nurses at the desk and triage and other ways that utilize that training of a nurse for a nurse that maybe can't do the physical aspects of a job. Job anymore. Also, we get roles for people that are interested in healthcare, but maybe don't have a nursing certification. Roles that help sterilize and maintain the equipment that's used by doctors and surgeons, radiologists, medical coding positions, and any type of role you could think of that could support a hospital or a— patient facility in full-time capacity, we see the opportunity to fill those positions as well as roles that from the business side support the success of a healthcare organization from a program and product management perspective.

And when I asked you, uh, do we why I said it in that way. We have positions for nurses with disabilities all the time, all the time. So, you know, if again, if you are that person or you know someone and you want to work in a position now where it's remote and/or not by the bedside, make sure you get in touch with us. Right away because we have positions nonstop. As a matter of fact, we have, as Gerald said, so many positions in healthcare in so many different areas. I, I hope that you will share this with anyone and everyone else that possibly would be interested in Gerald said, all of those areas— radiologists, doctors, everything he said, sterilization, all of those areas. Um, so with that, remember vendorconsult.com/jobs. And I see it's the half hour and time to go to our news break, and we have our great anchor our news person, Perry Jude Radesik, with us. Perry, how are you?

Joyce, I'm doing really well. It's great to hear Gerald, uh, talk about the wonderful openings and availabilities for people with disabilities at your company.

Yes, so many, and we need to help people with disabilities. People with disabilities are never free in this country until They have employment. And I know Perry knows that so well because she too is a national disability rights leader. But today she's going to give us the news. So what news do you have for us, Perry?

Joyce Bender, really exciting news out of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which we call FEMA. They've announced announced reforms to a disaster support program. So it's their effort to improve their disaster response capabilities. So FEMA on Friday announced a series of reforms aimed at strengthening all of their disaster support programs. These reforms are going to revolutionize the way FEMA operates and ensure to disaster survivors more efficient and effective assistance in times of crisis. Uh, these changes really reimagine how FEMA supports people in a disaster, and they're gonna allow quicker access to federal funds. They're gonna expand eligibility for property and home repairs and streamline their application process so people can jumpstart their recovery from disasters. FEMA started getting feedback from stakeholders all the way back in 2021. And in addition to the feedback, we've all seen, including FEMA, this increase in the number of disasters that are happening annually in our country. Everyone who gave FEMA feedback, including the disability community, really wanted a simpler program so that the assistance would allow them to recover faster from a disaster. And Joyce, listen to this. FEMA says a disaster occurs on average about every 10 days in this country. Wow. Times of the year where disasters are happening daily or multiples in a day, but on average about every 10 days, which is about a week and a half. So how will this work for people with disabilities? Well, here are some examples. Currently, FEMA, when you get money from the federal government, you can only restore your home or apartment to the level that it was accessible. So if you really needed more accessibility, you weren't allowed to use the federal funds to increase your accessibility at home. Well, that's going to change now. So FEMA is going to allow survivors to use federal funds to make homes more accessible than they were prior to the disaster. So it's really going beyond restoration, and including enhancements in someone's home for accessibility. I think that's really good news.

So, these things will directly help people with disabilities?

Oh, absolutely. Even though they're written in a broad way around disaster assistance, it will help people with disabilities in this way. Um, FEMA's gonna quickly get survivors $750 so that it can help with getting hygiene products or temporary housing. So that's really great news. FEMA is also going to allow people who are underinsured to get up to $42,500 to cover home repairs that insurance companies will not pay for. And here's the thing. So let's say, um, you need a needed a new roof or you needed a new water heater, you can use these funds to again go beyond restoration to the level your home was in, but you can include enhancements for your home with $42,500. So you can again go beyond restoration to include enhancements for just the— physical space that you're living in, not accessibility, but just the physical space. So Joyce Bender said advocacy matters. We know we face an increasingly unpredictable climate, a growing number of national natural disasters. FEMA's regulations, their new ones, are going to strengthen their ability to respond to disasters and help affected communities like our disability community, help us rebuild and recover. Now, this rule is an interim rule that they announced on Friday. They've provided a public comment period, but while they're still getting comments, these new rules are going to take effect for any disaster that happens on or after March 22nd of this year. So as we say at Advocacy Matters, all of this information about the new FEMA rules and how to submit your public comment You go to disabilityrightsPA.org. That's disabilityrightsPA.org. Scroll down to the middle of the page, click on today's advocacy matters segment for all of this really important information.

Wow. Wow, because you know, Perry, there are people that have lost their lives, people with disabilities,, that did not have access to help during these disasters. So that makes me happy. That's good. Well, advocacy does matter, and I want everyone to go—

website, Perry? It's disabilityrightspa.org to get all of this really important information.

Thank you so much, Perry, and we'll talk to Talk to you soon.

Sounds good, Joyce Bender.

Isn't that great, Gerald, that all of that's coming out? That's so wonderful. That is. Gerald, I— I'm sorry, go ahead.

No, go ahead.

I was going to say, when I was talking today at Dollar Bank for training, I talked about non-apparent disabilities. So, you know, when you talk to someone and they're in a wheelchair, blind or deaf, or have diabetes or MS, they realize, okay, I have a disability. But there are so many non-apparent disabilities, and people don't realize they are disabilities. I think that's why, Gerald, some people don't apply for a job at Bender Consulting Services because they think— I can't believe people say this— I'm not disabled enough, whatever that means. So, can you talk about that for our listeners?

Absolutely, and you're right. In fact, we train our team to help people understand what it means to have a disability. Like I talked about having dyslexia, that's one disability, and dysgraphia, that's one disability I have. I also have PTSD and anxiety disorder. But a lot of people who have anxiety disorder, Wouldn't think that's a disability, but it absolutely is, and it makes you eligible for opportunities through us. So is diabetes, so is cancer, so is a lot of different things, which are all covered under the ADA as well. So, you're right, a lot of people don't understand that the ADA and what it covers for disability is a wide list. That learning disabilities and many other things are all included in that. And from a society perspective, we're afraid to say, "I have a disability," because of the pity thing, right? That we're all fighting against the no pity thing here at Bender. We don't want people to pity us and treat us differently if we volunteer. But especially since the pandemic, I've had so many candidates come to us that are later in their career, that have been successful, and they have a hidden disability. But they're at a company that they don't feel comfortable disclosing that they have a disability, and they want to change. They want to find a company where they feel like they can be themselves and be out and proud as a person with a disability. And we've been able to help veterans and other individuals with disabilities find that journey into project manager roles and senior-level IT roles and IT support roles and, other types of jobs over the past couple years, especially. And I think that's really powerful, not only for those individuals finding that home, but powerful for the companies that are hiring them as well to get those valuable employees that are top performers and will be even stronger in an organization where they are accepted as who they are.

Yes, and you do not and should not be ashamed, just as Gerald has said. There isn't this— someone said to me once, you know, I have depression, so I feel like I'm not disabled enough. I said, what? Here, let me make it clear to you. A mental health issue such as depression Bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder are disabilities, and/or migraines. And they are serious to so many people around the world, let alone just in this country. But don't be ashamed, stand up, be proud, because I'm living with epilepsy. And I am not ashamed. We have a lot of things different about our company. One that I think separates us from other companies is that we are disability-owned. We are a disability-owned business certified by Disability:IN, and if I were looking for a job and I had a disability, I would want to go somewhere where the majority of people that work there had a disability and the owner, the CEO, because that way, you know, they really get it. Well, I really get it. And I am that person living with a disability. And that makes us—

weren't you the first disability-owned business enterprise?

Yes, I am the first. I am the first DOBE, and guess what? There are 600 now. Oh, all certified by Disability:IN. I'm glad you brought that up because I just want to say, if you're starting out in business, maybe you only have you or one employee, whatever it is, you need to get in touch with Disability:IN to get certified. Disability:IN.org. And that is because many corporations today, when they look at supplier diversity, they're including disability because of their ESG, their commitment to doing the right thing in business. So, they want to have a great disability quality index. You've got to remember to keep in touch. You've got to get in touch. Okay, well, Gerald, I think you agree that that makes us different. Like, how many of our employees have disabilities?

Over 90% of our team here at Bender have disabilities, which is just awesome. And when I tell that to candidates, it surprises them because we, we don't just We don't just talk the talk here, right? We do what we expect, but also we attract talent to our team that believes in our mission. And a variety of disabilities too. You know, on our recruit— my recruitment team, I have individuals with mental health disabilities, individuals who are blind, individuals who have physical disabilities and are in wheelchairs. Of course, you've heard about my learning disabilities and mental health disabilities, others with learning disabilities on our team, individuals who identify as autistic. There is a whole group of different types of disabilities keeping the Bender machine running and going full force on our crusade.

Yes, and, and we are the real deal. You know, Gerald, how about the mentoring we do? Do you want to talk about that for a minute?

Yeah, this is another big separator for us. You know, a lot of staffing organizations aren't really involved once somebody is placed into a company. We are. We like to make sure somebody's successful in a role and help mentor them to make sure they have everything they need. This isn't, you know, just like someone looking over your shoulder. This is us really supporting somebody to make sure if they need an accommodation strategy at an organization that it's implemented well. If you're entry-level to the workforce and you've not been in a corporate environment before, that you've got an organization with lots of experience placing people in corporate America to guide you on the best ways to Proceed, you know, things like that to help really accelerate your success. And at the same time, we stay in contact with the organization that has hired the individual, the manager on their team, so that we can answer any questions they have, make sure they are comfortable, and if they need anything to support accommodations process or any of those other pieces that we've discussed. That they have that support from us so that we're a true partner on all sides. And that, I believe, has been one of the main reasons that over our years since— we've almost been in business for 30 years now— we have maintained over a 90% retention rate over that entire time with our employees. I think that has been a big part of it, and many of our employees stay for decades in their roles, many years. We see, we don't want to just see people placed into a job. We want to see them move up and hire more people with disabilities.

Yeah, that's what it is all about. When you can call me and say, hey Joyce, I have an opening, I want to hire someone. That's when I know it's not about getting a job. I don't want you to just get a job. I want you to move up in your career, not be a token. I want you to move up. And with that, we're going to go to break right now. We're talking to Gerald Homi, the manager of talent programs. This is Joyce Bender. Disability Matters at voiceamerica.com. Don't go away, we'll be right back.

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At Highmark, we believe what makes us different makes us better. Our differences broaden our perspectives and foster diverse skills which complement each other, creating a stronger and more vibrant workforce. It's this belief that earned us recognition by the USBLN and the American Association of People with Disabilities as a 2014 Disability Equality Index Best Place to Work. So we'll continue to celebrate diverse individuals because inclusion benefits us all. To find out more, visit highmark.com.

Since 1985, Bender Consulting Services has served as a national leader in advancing employment of people with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, with private sector companies and federal government agencies. Bender assists customers with achieving their diversity and workforce inclusion initiatives by tapping into a talent pool of individuals seeking professional positions, including those in the STEM fields. In addition, Bender services include disability employment consulting, training in technology accessibility, disability through their high-tech line of service. For more information, please visit www.benderconsult.com.

Today, people with disabilities can achieve a better life experience with ABLE NOW, a tax-advantaged savings account specifically designed for people with disabilities. ABLE NOW accounts help eligible individuals save and invest their own money without endangering certain disability benefits. Learn if you or someone you know is eligible for an ABLE Now account at able-now.com. This message is provided by ABLE Now, administered by Virginia529.

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You're listening to Disability Matters. If you have a question or comment, call in toll-free at 1-866-472-5788. That's 1-866-472-5788. Now please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome back to the show and thank you for listening. I have such great listeners, I do. I love you all. Thank you so much. For faithfully following this show for— hold on, everyone. Are you holding on now? 21 years. Can you believe it? 21 years. And I have to point something out. Did you hear that great music, you know, at the break? Guess what? Gerald Homme, my manager of talent programs, he wrote that. He played that. He did that. Gerald Homme. Great sax player. As a matter of fact, as a hobby, he's in a group called Sun Champs. They're on Spotify. Hey, that's not his job. Notice I said hobby. Job is manager of talent programs at Bender Consulting Services. But I just wanted you all to know where that great music came from. You know what, Gerald, I'll tell you something. That bothers me. Every time I say, oh, I have a company where we place people with disabilities, right away they think I'm a not-for-profit. Right away. I mean, I've even had people say, tell other people how to do what you're doing. And I'll say, really? Would you call Coca-Cola and tell them to teach Pepsi what they're doing? I mean, come on, we're a for-profit company. No pity, good benefits. But for some reason, I run into that. As soon as you say that word disability, they think we're like an offshoot of VR. Gerald, you know I'm right when I say that.

I know.

It happens all the time. It happens with candidates, too. This is the, the what people think.

We—

our job at Bender is not to find a job for you. Our job at Bender is to help a company hire the best candidates for their roles. So our customers are the companies that we work with, and our job is to recruit and screen and find the best people for those customers. I always tell our candidates that, you know, only a small number of the candidates that come to us percentage-wise are going to end up with— placed per job role, because you're going to get— for a given job that we post, many people that apply to that job, but only one person will get it. Just like if you apply to a job anywhere else. We are competitive. The difference is when you're coming to Bender, you're only competing with other people with disabilities, and you know for a fact that your disability is not going to discount you. And if we have a great candidate that we believe in, we are going to work hard to do what— to promote that candidate and try to help our customers see the value and why they should hire that person. And our biggest dream is that we have a great job for every great candidate that comes to us. That's why we continue to fight fight and grow this organization and bring— tell companies that they need to hire more people with disabilities from us because they're great. There's so many great candidates in our database and continuing to apply to us every day, but it is competitive, and that's an important thing to understand. Our job is to find the best candidates for each organization. Role and make sure companies bring in the right talent for their role so that they have success. Because if they have success with a person with a disability and that person does a great job, they will hire more of us, and that will grow.

Ah, yes, that is so true. Right on, right on target. So, Gerald, you mentioned before about you think Joyce Bender: One of the reasons people in technology work so well with us is because of accessibility. Now, we have a division at Bender called High Test. Paula Balogh is the CTO, and you're a project manager also at times with her. Could you talk about what is High Test?

Absolutely. And this is an important thing because Technology works great for people with disabilities when it is accessible. But if it's not accessible, for example, if you own— if you're a company listening to this show and you're like, "Oh, I want to work with Bender. I want to hire people with disabilities." But if your website where candidates apply for jobs is not accessible, people with disabilities can't get in the door. They can't submit their resumes for a job. So digital— our HITAS team will help companies make sure their websites, mobile apps, and other technology is inclusive for all people with disabilities. Not only can we make sure it meets the standard in terms of the letter of the law that we always keep up to date with, the WCAG, the World Wide Web Consortium, just updated their guidelines in October. But we also help companies. We just did a great project in— at the end of the year going above and beyond that to become even more usable to create the best experience for people with disabilities for their sites. Because if they're not usable by people with disabilities, you can't participate.

So if you need help with your website or internal applications or apps, you get in touch with us at Bender Consulting Services. We have a contact page— I mean, a contact, uh, at the— is it the bottom of the fir— where is that, Gerald? Where is it located, the Contact Us?

Um, several places. If you go to our products and services page. Actually, if you go to benderconsult.com, look under capabilities, there's a section called HI-TEST. That'll tell you all about what we do, our team, and there's a button that says contact us there. So just go to benderconsult.com and go to capabilities, then HI-TEST.

I remember is the great Jenny Lee Flurry the chief accessibility officer at Microsoft said, if you say, yeah, I think we're accessible, then you're not. So make sure you really know what you're talking about when you say that. Hey, Gerald, before we end the show, if people are listening right now and they want to follow us and follow our opportunities, where should they go?

All of our opportunities can be found at benderconsult.com/jobs, but also you should follow us on LinkedIn. We're posting jobs there regularly, and all of our executive search roles as well that Chris Griffin is working on that you mentioned earlier gets posted there. And all the activity and adventures that Joyce gets up to that you hear about on this show You can see information about that on our LinkedIn as well. So check out our LinkedIn page, follow us there, and connect with me if you want on LinkedIn.

Searching for the CEO right now of an autism organization, and we are looking for someone with autism at the executive level. So if you know of anyone looking for that level position, get in touch with us at that Contact Us page. Hey, Gerald, do you have a message you want to leave with our listeners today?

Yeah, you know, today's Ed Roberts Day today, and as you know, Ed Roberts was a powerful leader in the disability community that was all about independent living, and, um, that's about making a choice to move forward and to be self-reliant. And I want to remind people with disabilities about that, to make that choice. And to do that, you need competitive employment. And that's what we're all about here at Bender, is competitive employment. So if you know somebody with a disability looking for work, send them to us. Help us grow this organization and this growing this crusade and mission. Come to us and hire a person with a disability and give them that opportunity to be independent.

And don't waste time, do it today. And with that, hey, we went— and every show with a quote has to be this today. Work gives us dignity, said Tony Coelho, author of The Americans with Disabilities Act and chairman of the Bender Advisory Board. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters at voiceamerica.com. Next week, get ready, Valerie Jarrett and Tony Coelho. Talk to you then. And in the words of Mary Brooker, Remember, always choose joy.

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.