Marcia Oglan: Fostering A Workforce That Showcases Talents of All Employees

At Highmark Health, we believe what makes us unique makes us better. Our differences broaden our perspectives and foster a variety of skills to complement each other, creating a stronger and more vibrant workforce. It's this belief that earned us recognition as the Best Place to Work for the 10th year for individuals with disabilities in a survey by the American Association of People with Disabilities and Disability:IN. We'll continue to celebrate and benefit from the inclusion of all people. To find out more, visit highmarkhealth.org. 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.

Hi everyone and welcome to the show, to everyone in the United States and around the world. Now you know I tell you this all the time, but I will tell you again. We have 73 countries, 73, with listeners around the world. And my good friend Richard Roberts, who I first met when I went with the State Department to South Korea, then when he went on to Okinawa, I went there, as you all know. I live with epilepsy and I focus on the employment of people with disabilities, but I also go to different countries talking about employing people with disabilities. Well, Richard Roberts retired, but Richard, I love you and I'm sending out a greeting to you and really to all of my friends in all of those countries. You know what I always say, Epilepsy is epilepsy no matter where you live in the world. But thank you all for your support. And of course, to everyone in the United States, and I will remind you to tell your friends, you can hear this show on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, almost all the social media platforms. You go there, you'll find Disability Matters with Joyce Bender, and you can share that podcast with your friends. So make sure you check that out. Yoshiko Dart. Yoshiko, I love you. Special shout out to you. You know, everyone, that Yoshiko— if you don't know, Yoshiko is the wife of the late, great Justin Dart, the general behind the ADA, who with Yoshiko went around the United States, I think it's 5 times, working to get the disability community united, uh, to be there to help support getting the ADA signed. What I always say about Justin She's the only one that was able to unify all these groups. You know what I mean? All silos down. That was Justin. Only person that could do that. And if you're still wondering who I'm talking about, go to that famous photograph with President Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act, and you'll see this person. In his wheelchair with his cowboy hat. That's Justin Dart. I don't know if he called it a cowboy or a fedora, but whatever, you'll know him. That's Justin. So yoshiko, keep leading on. And thank you to my great sponsor, Highmark. You've heard me say this a million times, but I'll say it again. Highmark sets the high mark for other companies to follow. They are the best company when it comes to disability employment anywhere, anywhere, anywhere, period. And that is why I am so excited to have Marcia Oglen, the Chief Human Resources Officer at Allegheny Health Network and Senior Vice President Enterprise Human Resources at Highmark Health, and just a fantastic person who I think so highly of. Marcia, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Joyce. I'm excited to be here.

Well, everyone, so you know, once again, you know what I always say, don't I hate it when I go to a conference And someone's up there saying, "Oh yes, I do support people with disabilities." But you all know where the rubber meets the road. Employment. I want you to know, all of you listeners, Marcia Oglen has been one of my biggest supporters. I mean, she really is making this happen. Yes, they hire people, but you heard, Senior Vice President, Chief Human Capital Officer. She is the— a great leader and really supporting. So, all of you everywhere, I want you to know that. So, Marcia, you are one of the many people I have on my show where people say, "Oh, that was so great. I wish I knew more about them." So, I ask everyone Um, let's begin with your story, like where you grew up, how you got to Pittsburgh, and what happened after that.

Great. Well, thank you again, Joyce Bender, for having me on today. I'm really excited to be on the show and for the kind words. So my story started in a very small town in northern Wisconsin where I grew up in a pretty traditional family. I'm the youngest of 3. I have 2 older brothers. Um, so With that comes a lot of resiliency, right? Having grown up with two, um, I went to college in Wisconsin. I spent 20 years then in consulting at a consulting company where I lived both in Wisconsin at the time I worked there as well as in New Jersey for a number of years. And then about 9 years ago, I received a call about an opportunity in Pittsburgh working for a healthcare company. Um, and as I learned more about it, the mission at Highmark Health to create a remarkable health experience, freeing people to be their best, really called to me and I couldn't wait to join. So my husband and my 3 kids, we packed up and we moved to Pittsburgh and we love it.

Oh, well, we love you and I'm so glad that you came here. You know what, Marcia? I didn't even realize that it was 9 years. I don't know why I thought it was much more. Wow. You've accomplished a lot in 9 years. That's very Very impressive. Um, well, how about if you tell our listeners about Highmark and AHN, you know, how large the company is, the number of employees, you know, so they'll know, right?

I would love to. So Highmark Health is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based enterprise. We have over 44,000 employees and we serve millions of Americans across the country. Um, it's also the parent company of Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, and EnGen. Highmark Inc. and subsidiaries provide health insurance to more than 7 million members across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and New York. We also have dental insurance and other related health products through a national network of diversified businesses. Our Allegheny Health Network is an integrated delivery network in Western Pennsylvania, and we have 14 hospitals and more than 2,500 affiliated physicians. So we really take care of our patients across the areas. And then Enjin is our technology business. It's a wholly owned subsidiary with an ecosystem of smart automation and technology that really supports complex operations for health plans as well as their provider partners. So we're a very diverse portfolio of businesses.

And Mick Malik, the CEO, has been on the show many years, uh, and is just such a great supporter of hiring people with disabilities, um, also. Not to mention that when he was on the show, he had a few little jokes.

That does not surprise me. Yeah, Nick is a huge supporter of all employees, of employees with disabilities, and he is just, um, a great person to work with because he— of his humor as well.

Yeah, so a lot of young people that I meet tell me, I'm thinking of going into human resources, Joyce Bender, what do you think? Or is it just recruiting? Is it only, you know, talent acquisition? You know, what is it I'll be doing? So first, why did you move into human resources? And then maybe you could expound a little bit about how big it is. I know I spoke at Highmark, everyone, um, at Larry Kleinman, who is the EVP that I— who Marsha works with. I spoke, uh, and when I walk in, oh my God, I couldn't believe how many people were there. I was so shocked. I guess I'm that old school, I didn't totally get it. That it was so big. But why human resources? And what are the avenues if you get into human resources?

Well, let me start with, you know, as I think about my own career journey, um, and as I mentioned, I started in consulting, um, where I actually started doing systems integrations for clients and software development or coding, right? Really coding. And one of the first jobs I had was actually coding in COBOL, of all things, a mainframe, um, application at Harley-Davidson. And That was quite the learning experience from many facets, but it was great. I then did change management work where I focused on training and getting adoption of some of the changes that the company was driving across the whole employee base. And from there, I moved into human resources where I really spent the balance of my career. And when I think about why human resources or HR, I think about my degree going back to that is in business and psychology. So I think that HR was really a natural blending of what has always been a passion for me, understanding human behavior, helping people to achieve their best, and helping companies to really be able to tap into that to deliver on their business outcomes. So that's kind of the why, you know, why HR and how I made my transition into HR from starting, you know, in more of a consulting point. When I think about HR, and to talk a little bit about HR at Highmark and how you can think about the vastness of HR, Well, over the past several years, I would say our human resources team at Highmark Health has had really significant growth and transformation. We've really been working hard to build up our skills so we can support Highmark's growth and look ahead to what's coming next. We've brought in fantastic people who not only know their stuff, right, when it comes to people and business and finance, but who can also help think about big and solve problems creatively. We have a diverse array of professionals, each bringing substantial experience. When you think about the different areas of HR, it's, it's more than just what you might think about with recruiting talent, you know, acquisition we call it. But it's also about talent development. It's about compensation and benefits. So how do you pay people? What are the benefits and insurance and wellness programs that you give to your employees? It's about employee relations. How do you make sure that when they have concerns concerns with their workplace, we're there to help them through it. We have HR business partners. When you think of those, it's the individuals that really work with our business leaders directly to talk about what their priorities are, to talk about what kind of talent they're going to need in the future. What does their organization need to look at and look like in the future? And how do we really make sure that we've got the skills and everything we need? So we've really been very intentional about rolling out things like better onboarding for new hires. So once we recruit and attract great talent, how do you get them on board and how do you get them integrated into the company? Leadership coaching— how do we make sure we have the best people managers and the best people leaders to help build our individuals? And then programs to help our leaders and all of our people grow. We want to make sure we're a place where everyone feels welcome and everyone feels like they have a chance to grow and to develop here in wherever they want to take their career. And let's face it, the workplace is changing and it's changing fast, especially with all the new technology that's going to be coming. So we're putting a lot of effort as well into getting everyone ready for the future of work and what that's going to look like. So it's a very exciting time to be part of human resources as a function and as a discipline and very exciting to be part of the team here at Highmark.

You know, when you were saying that, and by the way, it was an article I just read. I don't know if it was SHRM or what, but one of the myths about HR, and the first one was we only do recruitment and talent programs because that's what people think, you know, when they think about it, that's what they think. So, you know, I'm glad that you explained all of that. But do you think, Marcia, that it will continue changing the workforce? Do you think you will continue to see changes?

I do. I think that— I do think we'll see changes, but I think it'll be, you know, continue to be for the better. It'll help individuals think about new skills that they can gain. They're going to be able to use technology really to help them do their jobs better, help with some of maybe those different tasks that are more routine, right, that we can have technology help with so that individuals can, can keep growing and building their own career. So I'm excited about where the workplace is going to be. There is, there is not going to be enough jobs for people in the future. So it's not about is there going to be a job, but it's going to be about what is the job and retooling and reskilling and continuing to grow and develop yourself.

Now, when you say not enough jobs, do you think that would be a result of AI or what do you think? Yeah.

I do think some people get concerned with that, Joyce. I think they hear about AI and the natural tendency is, is it gonna take over my job and I'm not gonna have a job? How is it gonna change it? And while I think there's gonna be implications to how we do our work will change, there is still gonna need to be that human aspect. So we hear a lot when you read about AI or where technology's going is human at the helm. Or that human interaction. And we still need that. We still need the person talking with each other, collaborating, and really bringing the insights that AI can provide us, but then really being able to translate a lot of that. And, you know, when you think about customer service, talking to patients or talking to members or talking to each other, that's the human element. And AI will only be able to help us do that better, I believe.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, because they're also— they're not administrative, but they're not highly technical jobs where you have to work with data and prompting and all of that, you know, when you're doing— so sometimes people think, oh my God, AI, you know, I could never do that. But I— there are a lot of support jobs that go with that. Absolutely. Yeah. So I do think that, yeah, we talk a lot about working with AI.

How do you use it as, as a coworker almost, right? How are you going to have AI to really help you do your job better? But I agree with you.

Well, I'm telling you the thing that some companies are worried about. I mean, All of a sudden everyone likes ChatGPT.

That is true.

All of a sudden these great letters and emails and, you know, everything are being sent out because people are using AI to do that for them. And that is great. The only thing is that, you know, you're going to get a job and at some point you're going to have to do this and not necessarily use AI. In other words, writing other types of things. You know, when I— I can tell now when I get a resume, I can tell that it— when it's AI-generated. I mean, I'm sure you will see that also. But on the other hand, for people with disabilities, maybe, you know, mobility issues or, you know, whatever it is. There are great benefits to this, to ChatGPT. And I think the time will come that you'll see that taking off. It's already taking off, but it's, it's a good thing to know. And I met with another great leader at Highmark Richard Clark and ask him, what can I do? What can we do to help our young people with disabilities have some familiarity with AI so that people don't wake up one day and they're left behind? Because I think you agree this is moving fast.

Yes, I would agree. I would agree. And And I think it's just start from my perspective. What I would say is just start using it. Start using ChatGPT even personally. You can ask it for different recipes or you can ask it to do— it'll do a menu and a grocery list. And there's all different things in your home life that you can use it for. Just that familiarity of having it do some of those tasks for you, that will really go a long way. So it's not this unknown and scary thing. We use it— I use it for different things, um, at work as well. My kids use it in school, um, in college and in high school. I just think it becomes part of your everyday life and it saves time. It gives you that starting point, right? When I think about, you know, whether it's I have a communication to write, I might kind of think about, well, I need it to say X, Y, or Z. But then if you put it in something like ChatGPT, it gives you at least a starting point. You still need to tweak it, you still need to make updates with it, but those are kind of easy things I think you can start to do just to get familiar with it.

Well, I, I agree with you. Um, it— what to me is the most amazing is the time it saves. I mean, even compared to Google, you know, when you're looking up something, uh, and a friend of mine was buying— so as Marcia's saying about you can use it for so many things, a friend of mine, uh, in Boston is looking at a house she wants to buy, but she wants to make sure it has everything she needs and get a good cost comparison. Now, she already had the data from them. Okay? She puts all of this, the questions in ChatGPT. Oh my God. It was exact. Except it was in 5 seconds. So if you're listening, listen to Marcia's advice. And by the way, Marcia, I did not know you had that IT background. And that is really, I think, what even makes you a stronger leader. Because you have that business operations experience. You know, I started my career in IT search, and here we go, there was this thing that was gonna go away. Now, this is 30 years ago. In just a few years called COBOL. Yeah, but guess what? It is still out there. As a matter of fact, this company called me and they said, If you can find us a COBOL programmer, we are paying all this money. But you know what? It's so hard to find because most people using it are older. But I mean, it is still— isn't that amazing though? It is that it's still there.

It is, because you're right, years ago it was, it was going to be going away. And with Y2K, the turn, right, to the year 2000, it was the big, you know, COBOL was the key, um, programming language, and, and it was, it was going to go away. And it, you're right, it's still here.

Yeah, here it is. Well, uh, Marcia, you specifically, you went over a lot about what, you know, the types of opportunities, but like you personally, what do you do? What is your role and how large is it?

Yep. So I lead up a part of our HR, our enterprise HR, as well as I am the CHRO for our Allegheny Health Network. So as I mentioned, that is our hospital network of the 14 hospitals. So I have overall responsibility for HR for AHN. And then for Highmark Health, our overall parent company, I have responsibility for a number of areas. One is talent management, so everything around leadership development and talent development, if you think about it. Total rewards, which is our compensation and benefits areas, employee relations, labor relations. So we've got a number of, you know, union and bargaining agreements with the different hospitals. So we, I'm in charge of that area as well. So, and then our HR business partners. So those that are working directly on human capital strategies and working directly with the business leaders. So I have about, you know, almost half of our HR team is, is— I've got responsibility for. My colleague has responsibility for talent acquisition, HR operations, and then HR technology. So kind of between the two of us, we kind of split HR from an enterprise. And then as I mentioned, I also have our Allegheny Health Network overall HR responsibility.

Amazing how large it is. And I do remember when Highmark Way back, Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania. So small back then, and look at you now. Unbelievable. Well, Marcia, like so many people, you are a great leader and a real disability advocate. Two questions. Number one, why do you believe so strongly in the employment of people with disabilities? And number two, What advantages have you seen from a business standpoint?

Yeah, great questions. So for me, championing the employment of people with disability really comes from a deep-seated belief that it's not just about fairness, but it's about building a truly great organization. And this also gets to kind of the advantages and driving those business outcomes. But first, It makes us stronger. So Highmark Health thrives on fresh ideas and new approaches, and people with disabilities really bring those unique perspectives and problem-solving skills that we just can't get anywhere else. And one of the advantages there is they really boost our innovation. They push us to think differently and always be innovating. Second, we understand our members better. You know, we support members and patients And when our workforce reflects all of our members and our communities that we serve, especially those with disabilities, we can provide more thoughtful and effective services. So it's really understanding the needs for everyone that we serve, and that's a real business advantage. And third, it's just simply the right thing to do. Beyond the business benefits that I mentioned, creating that inclusive workplace is just right. We have a responsibility to create opportunities for everyone to be able to come contribute and bring their talents and bring their best selves every day.

And you know, um, what I think is important— several things. One is how much the people we place love Highmark. Two, it is a great, great business investment. I just talked to someone the other day, and he has been in IT Joyce Bender, we placed him at Highmark for 29 years. Great. And that is not only when you hire people with disabilities, it's a great business investment because of the retention. But why the retention? Well, if you're left out, no matter who you are, female, whatever the group, if you're left out and someone gives you an opportunity, You are going to be grateful. That's number— that's one reason. But the other part is Highmark is disability friendly. I mean, Highmark, like, it's no big deal if you have a disability. You don't have to be ashamed. People have said to me, this is the first time I could be open about my disability and not be afraid I'd be fired. So, you know, that Highmark makes such a difference just by the way they treat people. And I'm sure you see that also.

I do. I do. And that— and it really is. They come with great skills, great skills. They bring new ideas. They work so hard. They're part of the team. And it, it there's no difference, right? And they're just part of the team. They're included and they drive the value and everybody sees that. So it makes it very easy, right? And it makes it— we want more individuals with disabilities and individuals across all diversity areas.

Well, I always say that when— if you're listening to the show right now, and you have a job, you should be so thankful. Because every day when a person with a disability has employment is a great day for them. And as I said, I mark so different, you know, Marcia, David Hallberg is the only CEO that has said to me, I don't see enough wheelchairs I don't see enough, um, service dogs. Like, who says that?

Yeah, hi Mark.

Hi Mark says that. Um, well, okay, we're gonna have Jennifer Mathis with us in a moment here to go over the news as soon as She is off mute.

I think I am off mute now.

Well, here we are with Mathis on the mic. Jennifer, I have to tell you something. You know, everyone, when they talk about you, you know what they say? How brilliant you are. Do you know who just told me that yesterday? Ted Kennedy. I was talking to my friend Ted, and he said, Well, Jennifer Mathis, I'll listen to anything she says because she's so brilliant. But you know what else you are? Very humble and very modest. And that is why I love you so much. I tell everyone, this is my Rachel Maddow, Mathis on the Mic with Jennifer. So Jennifer, I'll bet, you know, I never know when you're going to get on. What news you're going to tell us. Why? Every minute of the day, if you're watching the news, new, new, change, change. So of all of those millions of balls up in the air, what are you going to talk about today?

Exactly. Well, I thought that I would talk about a topic that is actually very related to what you were just talking about, employment of people with disabilities. Um, so this is something that actually happened several weeks ago, but, um, because as you say, there is something new and big every day happening, um, we haven't gotten there yet. We haven't gotten a chance to talk about it. So here we are. What I want to talk about is the proposed rule that would eliminate key parts of the existing rule for Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. And for those who don't know what Section 503 is, it is actually a law that dates back to 1973, part of the Rehabilitation Act, which has many pieces involving people with disabilities. And Section 503— people may have heard of Section 504, which, which provides for nondiscrimination against people with disabilities by recipients of federal funds and federal agencies. Section 503 is about federal contractors, entities that have a contract with the federal government. And so Section 503 is very important because that workforce of people who work for federal contractors is very, very big and accounts for somewhere between a fifth and a quarter of the entire national workforce. So that is a lot of people. And what Section 503 requires in the law is that— well, it prohibits discrimination based on disability by federal contractors in their employment, but also it actually requires them to take affirmative action steps to employ people with disabilities. And so, um, beginning in 2013 during the Obama administration, the Labor Department issued a rule that, um, actually gave 503 for the first time some teeth and gave it a specific goal for contractors to try to measure themselves against in their affirmative action efforts. So, um, the Labor Department said, um, we're going to set a 7% goal, um, for contractors to aspire to. It's not a requirement itself, it's an aspirational goal, but this gives contractors something to measure against, a benchmark, when they are determining what they need to do to take affirmative action to increase their employment of people with disabilities. And so it said you have to meet this— well, you're supposed to strive for this aspirational goal in all of your different job groups within your workforce. So management, other job groups, however they may be classified. And that was a very big deal. The other thing that that rule did was it set a requirement that employers, that the contractors invite job applicants and then employees every 5 years to identify as a person with a disability. And the reason for that— it's voluntary, you don't have to if you don't want to— but the reason for it is because that makes it more possible to figure out what success you're having in employing people with disabilities and who is coming in, who is, you know, what was your applicant pool and did you hire, you know, people with disabilities? Were there people with disabilities in your applicant pool? Did you hire a very tiny percentage or a lot, et cetera? And so those things have been really, really key to making progress in affirmative action and employment of people with disabilities in this federal contractor workforce. Now, after 10 years, actually a little more than that, this administration, this Department of Labor, has come in and said, We want to get rid of that 7% goal. We want to have no goal. So just figure it out. You know, you can figure out if you're making progress by just doing something. We're not going to tell you what. And it got rid of— it is proposing getting rid of the requirement to self-identify. I'm sorry, not the requirement to self-identify, the requirement to invite people. To voluntarily self-identify as a person with a disability. So now it makes it— if that happens, it would make it much more difficult to measure your success, your effectiveness, if you don't know who's applying and who is in your workforce who has disabilities. And so all of this, I think, is very concerning. Those, those requirements were, were such a big deal, um, so significant. And, um, frankly, 7% goal was pretty modest. The EEOC has a parallel requirement, uh, uh, in its regulations for Section 501, which is affirmative action for federal agencies, um, for federal employees. Um, and their goal is 12%. And many agencies met that 12%. So 7%, pretty modest. But now it's zero. And so, well, it will be if the— if this proposed rule is enacted. So that proposal was put in the Federal Register July 1st, a month ago. There are 60 days to comment on it. The comments are due by September 2nd. And I think it is very important for people to comment that this was an important thing. They should not, in my view, get rid of those requirements in that rule. Those requirements are critically important. What they say about the 7% goal is that, you know, we are worried that maybe some contractors are going to see it as a quota, even though we have been clear that it's not a quota. I have never heard any contractor suggest that they see it as a quota because the Department of Labor has been incredibly, incredibly clear over and over again that it is not a quota, that it is not itself a requirement that you have to meet, that if you don't meet that goal, that will not by itself be a violation. But that it's an aspirational goal and important to give you some kind of post to measure against. And without that goal, there is nothing to measure yourself against. And so that, I think, is a false concern. And I think people should say that or whatever they want to say. But to me, I think it's a false concern to suggest that, you know, contractors might see it as a quota and not as an aspirational goal. As DOL has always been crystal clear about. And then they say that with respect to the self-identification invitation, that, you know, they think it violates the ADA. The EEOC has made very clear, and it did with the original 503 regulations back in 2013, this is not a violation of the ADA. The ADA has always allowed for voluntary disclosure, uh, voluntary questions about disability as part of an affirmative action program, um, and that is bona fide affirmative action, that is this. There's also— the ADA has always allowed for other laws that are more specific, including Section 503, to, um, to trump when it comes to that requirement. And so I think none of what is said in this proposed rule is actually accurate, and it is going to be, I think, extremely harmful to people with disabilities. It is so important now for people with disabilities to have employment opportunities. It is harder than ever at this point to function without work given things like now there are Medicaid work requirements that look backward too, and you know whether you have been working in past, or there will be Medicaid work requirements starting in 20— I guess it's 2027. So it is important that people comment on this rule. Again, the comments are due on September 2nd. And we can talk more about it in the shows in the next week or two.

But Jennifer, you have had a major impact on getting people fired up that listen to this show. So my main thing I would say, make sure you make it clear it's not a quota. This is why this amazes me. It's aspirational and it's voluntary. Self-disclosure. How the heck could that be seen as a quota? Although I have to go, uh, Jennifer, you have to be on next week. Guess who my guest is? Ready? Yes. Craig Lean. Yes, Craig Lean.

So, and Craig will have something to say about this too.

Yes, he will have something to say. Um, but I've got to go so I can finish up here with Marcia.. But listen to what Jennifer said. Where do they go to do that, Jennifer?

Yeah, there's something called regulations.gov. I think the best way to do it is actually I do it by Googling 503 new proposed rule, and you will find it online, and there will be a, a place early on the rule where it says here's where you submit comments, and you click on a link and do that.

All right. Well, I look forward to next week, Jennifer.

Indeed.

And thank you.

Thank you.

Have a great day.

Thank you too.

Bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. It is all so great to have her because she is so knowledgeable. What is amazing to me that I was saying, Marcia, is it has always been aspirational. Now, I'm not meaning, oh, don't— you don't have to do it, but I'm meaning it has never been, you must do this. Same thing with the self-disclosure. It's voluntary. But now that I've said all this, remember Highmark, which I'm writing a book and Highmark is in the book. Highmark has been doing this how long? 30 years. This is my 30th anniversary, and I'm going to be honest with you, it had nothing to do with any of this because they were doing it before any of this. It was about a business investment and doing the right thing at the same time. Um, so, and tell everyone, tell everyone about Highmark, everyone in the disability community. And Marcia, couple things I wanted to ask you before we go. Larry Klein, how do you feel he has helped the Bender Highmark partnership continue to grow?

Yeah, so Larry is my boss, and Larry, I would say, in addition to the entire Highmark executive leadership team, really supports our organization's partnership with Bender. Consulting and Hiring People with Disabilities. Larry's an advocate for the work that Bender does in leading the way in disability employment and inclusion, and he understands how the partnership creates a stronger and more inclusive workforce for our organization. He also supports our Disability Mentoring Day and the work of the Bender Leadership Academy to increase the long-term competitive employment for youth with disabilities. So he continues to be a supporter, to really look for, you know, identifying opportunities, partnering together, supporting individuals when they're in here, you know, and again, him and the whole leadership team, just the full support from an inclusivity perspective as well.

Yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing that— and he is so wonderful. It's amazing that in 30 years, it starts with Bill Lowry, then it goes to John Bross, then it goes to Ken Maloney, then it goes to Bill Winkenwerder, And now David Holmberg. No other company can say that. No other company. I mean, this is— I love this company, as you can all probably tell. And I will make the endorsement, and I don't do that often, is that although you've heard me say Highmark is absolutely the best disability employment and friendly company, and Marcia is a big part of that. So Marcia, it's obvious that, you know, you're a good person. You have— see, everyone can be talented, but what's different is when you have goodness. So someone had an impact on you. Who is your role model?

Yeah, I would say my role model is my grandmother. My grandmother passed away when I was in high school, but she really had a profound impact on me and I believe in the person that I am today. She was, of course, loving and always had candy on hand, as we know grandmothers tend to. But she was also fair. She was honest. She was sincere. I would say she told it like it was. And at times, you know, she was the one there to give you the hard message or to give you another perspective that you may not have always wanted to hear. But then she'd be there to wipe your tears or to pick you up when you were down or just to give you a hug. And again, that honesty and that support was one that I just— is a role model of mine. I needed it then. And I think everyone needs it. And so she's my role model.

That is wonderful. And I, you know, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles. I don't think you realize that when you're a child, you're watching. You're watching. You're always watching and you're always hearing. And look at that. Look at the impact she had on you, Marcia. That is a great story. And as I said earlier, in the past several years, oh my goodness, you've done so much, but if you look at your career overall or your personal life, what do you consider your greatest accomplishment?

Yeah, well, personally, I'll start there. From a personal perspective, I do think it's being a mother and raising 3 kids because, as you said, it's— they're always watching. It is hard work. And just the, the weight of that, right? And the responsibility of that, but at the joy of it all at the same time. From a professional standpoint, I, you know, there's been a number— Highmark, of course, really is one of my greatest accomplishments, the roles that I've had here and the interactions I've had here. But even on a broader perspective, I think it's being a leader and a colleague that people feel they can come to. Whether it's as a sounding board, whether it's to help them remove barriers with something they may be struggling with, or if it's just someone that they can listen to. I, you know, I really take a lot of pride in that and being that person that people feel that they can, they can come to when they have that trust. And again, it kind of goes back to my role model of my grandmother, and it's being fair, it's being honest, and it's being sincere.

Wow, well, that is really great. Uh, you know, Marcia, I wanted— because of what you just said, when you meet people or you interview people, um, and you're sort of, you know, that whole goodness with your grandmother, what, what, how important is it to you that people volunteer, that they do volunteer work for the community?

I would say when I, when I interview people, the skills and the talent that they bring, the skills and the technical skills, we'll call it, right, are important. But to me, I can teach people that as well. What is really important is what they are like as a person, their integrity, their willingness to help others and collaborate. We are such an organization that doesn't— and nothing gets done by one person. It is a team. Collaboration is one of our core behaviors. Collaboration is key for us. So to your question on the volunteering, whether it's formal volunteering and they're out in their communities or, or maybe it's informal, I can usually sense it through how they answer questions and in the dialogue that we have. Are they going to fit in and are they somebody who, you know, really want to be part of a team? Be part of helping others, be part of moving the company forward, not just about them growing, but about moving the company forward in the right direction. So it's, you know, volunteering of course is important, but again, I, I try and decipher between kind of formal or how, how they might not say, oh, I volunteer at these organizations, but it comes out in what they talk about as well, that they do help others.

And, and that I think so many people say, you know, what you just said, you can teach certain things, but you can't teach good attitude. You can't teach gratitude. Karen Hanlon always says that good attitude is so priceless, but so is gratitude. Gratitude is also so priceless. Uh, well, Marcia, what message do you have for our listeners today?

Yeah, Joyce, I would say, you know, take, really think about your careers and think about your passion and think about, you know, your gratitude, right? And working hard and where, you know, where that might be a best fit for you. Highmark Health is, we are on a mission to reinvent health and we recognize that individuals with disabilities really bring those unique talents, not just the skills, but the talent as a person and perspectives that are really essential to that mission. Each one of our team members plays an important role every day, and our passion, our energy, and our collective vision is really focused on a future where healthcare system works for everyone. We've had hundreds of job openings at AHN working directly with patients or supporting caregivers, just overall being helping hands for our neighbors and friends. Or if you want to help reinvent how healthcare is paid for and delivered, people can also join our Highmark Health collection of companies. So I would say think about your passion, think about where you can really, you know, add value, because each and every one of you can. And we've got a lot of opportunities within Highmark Health and, and Engine, um, A10, all of the different areas I mentioned to really help you grow and be the best that you can be.

Well, thank you. Thank you for being with us as you have been listening to Marcia Oglen, O-G-L-E-N, Chief Human Resources Officer at Allegheny Health Network and Senior Vice President Enterprise HR at Highmark Health. Marcia is someone you need to know. And someone you should follow. Thank you so much, Marcia, for being with us. And we end every show with a quote, and today it is, "A good leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way," said John Maxwell. And in the words of Mary Brooker, when you go out today, remember, Choose joy. Talk to you all next week.

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.