Mascia/Aurigemma: Disability:IN DOBE Mentoring Experience

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 welcome to everyone in the United States, in North America, and around the world. Welcome to the show and thank you for being such great listeners. You know, I frequently mention around the world, the countries around the world listening to the show. So let me tell you who listened to the show last week: Germany, Indonesia, China, China, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Canada, Spain, France, Russia, and the Netherlands. How about that? Now, in each country there are a different amount of listeners, and in some, like Russia, there was only one. But any country where there's only one, if you're listening right now, I say you are making the difference. You are making the difference. You keep it up and you get other people listening. And that's the way we change quality of life on a global basis for people with disabilities. And hey, Richard Roberts, special shout out to you, my great friend with the State Department who is on assignment in Brazil. He is awesome. Gang-young in South Korea, another friend of mine, another great person. That I love so much, Venyamin in Kazakhstan and Cheryl Smith right here at the State Department in the United States. So everyone, welcome, welcome. Hey, Yoshiko Dart, most special shout out to you. I'll never forget you, Yoshiko. And I have to thank our sponsor. Oh my goodness, Highmark is such a great company and they've been the sponsor of this show for years. And by the way, This year is, yes, my 20th anniversary. Can you believe it? So thank you, thank you, thank you. How would I do this without all of you listening to the show? Thank you. I mean it. Whether you're live or on demand, thank you so much. So, oh, I'm excited about my show today because I have on my mentor, my mentor that was assigned to me by Disability:IN. And what a great honor it is to say, oh, not some small little company, no, Pfizer, Pfizer. And you know what I say to everyone from Pfizer? I always say this, I say, what an honor to work for or with a company that saved so many lives. I know you all remember the horror of the pandemic with COVID and when Pfizer came out with that vaccine, millions of lives have been saved. So for me to be selected by them and Disability:IN, because I'm Adobe, I'm a disability-owned business enterprise, and Disability:IN partners us with a corporation as a mentor. How lucky am I that I got to meet Colleen Masia, who is— Colleen Masia is my mentor and partner. She's the Global Procurement Group. And Christy is— uh-oh, Christy, am I going to do this right? Arjema? I realize I never pronounced your last name before. I think that's right. Is that right, Colleen?

I would say yes.

Okay, good, good. Well, Colleen and Christy, welcome to the show. It's wonderful to have you as guests today. I am so proud to work with both of you. So, Colleen, oh, Colleen, I was so excited when I met you in person because I knew Colleen before But then through this whole mentoring process, I didn't, didn't get to meet her in person. And when I did, oh, I was so excited. So let me tell you this first. She is an awesome person. She is the real deal. I mean, she gets worried. Oh my God, am I doing enough as your mentor? I'm not kidding you. She always is like that. She's such a wonderful, wonderful person. What a blessing. That she is my mentor. So Colleen, welcome to the show.

Well, thank you for having me. An honor to be here, and congratulations on your 20 years.

Thank you, thank you. So Colleen, whether it's in North, South America, or around the world, you know, I will have a great guest and then they'll say Oh, I wish I knew more about that person. So I now ask my guests to tell their story, like where did you grow up, where are you now, and tell us about your journey that got you to Pfizer. So Colleen, can you share that with us?

I will. Yes, sure. Thank you. Happy to kick off. And yeah, if I was nervous to start with, now I totally am knowing it's all the countries listening. But so I grew up in— I'm a lifer, a New Yorker. I grew up in New York. You know, I was born there and I've gone to school there. I went to college there. I did live in Northern Virginia for about 10 years when I was quite young, but ended back in New York. So, I've got married there. I've raised 2 kids. They're college age. I will— super proud of them. And yeah, I started— I'm also a lifer at Pfizer. I started at Pfizer right out of college, and I've navigated a lot of different places in the organization there. You know, some of the really fun times was being sort of an extended member of our field force. And those were during the years where we had, you know, giant blockbuster brands. So it was really just something to see, you know, be at some of those meetings with the energy and the intelligence and, you know, just enthusiasm for the company during those couple of years. But I found my way to supplier diversity full-time about 5 years ago, and it's really just the place that I was meant to be. I love working in the space. I love the connections I've been able to make. The people who are also in this industry and the function of supplier diversity both inside and out of industry are just, you know, people who just do not— never take their foot off the gas. So, yeah, that's where I am now. And actually being in this role has also allowed me to get to know Christy as well, which has been great.

Yes, that is awesome. And Colleen, as you know, yesterday was September 11th, which is so hard for me to believe that it was so long ago because it seems as if it just happened. But so you're a New Yorker, but where were you when that happened?

Yeah, definitely a really difficult day for so many people. I consider myself lucky, but I'll never forget, obviously, like most people, but I happened to be 9 months pregnant. I had just started my maternity leave and my daughter was, her due date was September 15th. So I was really just at home getting ready and I ended up, I mean, I can remember sitting in one chair in my house all day and just manning the phone. You know, making sure my family and my friends, you know, trying to keep tabs on everybody. And I, I really felt like I was a connector that day. If, you know, my uncle hadn't heard from my cousin, and I could say that I did and they were safe, it was, um, you know, it was one of those things everyone has a story. Um, but then I remember I was like, oh my gosh, what kind of world am I bringing a baby into? Um, and then she decided she felt the same way and waited another 12 days or so. But, you know, it's always a day that, you know, you remember and you connect, and I reach out to people that I know were not as fortunate as me that day.

Well, yeah, how about your company? I mean, I know you have offices in New York. What happened there?

You know, I do know a colleague that had passed away. She happened to be down at the World Trade Center that day, but our office at the time was on the upper, or in Midtown near Grand Central. So, you know, it was, and as I shared, I wasn't in the office that day, but my understanding was that colleagues really came together to help each other, you know, trying to figure out at the time what was going on and how to, you know, reach safety. So I can't expand too much more because, like I said, I wasn't there, but yeah.

Well, it definitely showed us the strength and passion of New Yorkers because that was— I was at my office and my husband called me. I had a TV in the conference room. And he said, "A plane hit the World Trade Center, and I turned it on, and then I saw the second plane." And I said, "Oh my God," you know, and I knew it was a terrorist attack. And we all went home, and I had my staff go home for the next couple days. And my neighborhood went outside together that night, and we all held hands and, you know, said a prayer. I don't— there isn't anyone that will forget that, that moment. But I thought of you, Colleen, and just what great fortitude that New Yorkers have. So good for you. And Christy, welcome Christy. I had the great pleasure of getting to meet Christy. Now let me tell you about Christy. When I say She's on a mission to get people with disabilities hired at Pfizer. Oh, look out. I mean it. She's like— by the time she's done, she will probably have talked to everyone at Pfizer about hiring people with disabilities. She is a true disability advocate and a person with a disability. I'm so lucky to know her. So, Kristi, let's hear about you. Where did you grow up? You know, where are you now? And also, how did you get to Pfizer?

Okay. Hi, Joyce. Thank you for inviting me to be part of this podcast. It's an honor. And also, congratulations to you too as well. So, my story is a little long, so bear with me. So, I was born in Chicago to two Hungarian immigrants who spoke very little English, even when I first started talking. So, Hungarian was my primary language at the time, and until the age of 4 when I started losing my hearing and had trouble understanding my parents. We were living in the suburbs of Chicago at the time, and my older sister, God bless her, was the one who taught me English so that I could that are communicating with the kids in the neighborhood. It also helped that I started attending the school with other hard of hearing kids who did not identify as deaf, but they were hard of hearing, but they didn't learn sign language. I never learned sign language. It was not encouraged at the time, and so rather I was put through extensive speech therapy, building my lip reading skills, school. So by the time I was 9, my hearing loss leveled off, and I was left with no hearing in one ear and 20% in the other. So I've been using a hearing aid to expand my auditory capability, but I've been— my primary means of understanding speech is through lip reading. So we moved to Connecticut where I mainstreamed to the public school system. With all the other hearing kids by the time I was in 4th grade. So that was the start of my lifelong journey to self-advocacy. Now, I've always loved science. I ended up going away to Penn State to major in science with an emphasis in chemistry. But boy, that was a culture shock going from a class of 150 students to 10,000, especially for a student with disability at the time. Imagine no cell phone, computer, no AOL, and the inability to use a phone. I couldn't call my parents when I needed to, so it was difficult. I struggled a lot. But I eventually got some support I needed. I ended up graduating and then going on to get my master's in Penn State's physiology program. I had a keen interest in human performance research because of my athletic background. So this was something that was of interest to me. So I graduated. I got married shortly after that and then stayed home to raise two of my daughters who are now respectively 33 years old and 30 years old. I moved to San Diego area right now. I actually call that home town. Carlsbad, California is my hometown. And once I became ready to work, I struggled to find employment. You heard this story so many times where people— I would go through cold calls to employers while my husband actually listened into the phone and translated for me because there were no computers back then. Or I sent letters in response to classified ads. So, the same story in response was I was overeducated and underemployed, so opportunities for me in my field were limited to academia or government research. So, those opportunities in San Diego were very, very, very slim. So, I started looking at biotech jobs, you know, especially with my love of science and chemistry, but no luck there either. So, after 5 years of— No success. I connected to a chemistry professor at the University of California in San Diego. He was new there and had no budget, but he had a lab and he needed help. And so he allowed me to volunteer my time to develop the skills that I needed in analytical chemistry techniques. And so I provided support to his graduate students. I did this for 2 years. With no pay before I was hired by a company that was later bought out by Pfizer. So that's how I got to Pfizer as an analytic accountant, and I spent 25 years in that role before I switched over to pursue my passion, which is to make sure that no other person with a disability has to go through what I went through. So that's our Hmong people experience for HR, as we call it, advisor, focusing on disability inclusion, expanding opportunities for talent with disabilities and neurodiversity. So I'm home now. I'm where I want to be and where I need to be, and this is where I'll be until I retire.

Well, I'm going to tell you something, Christy. That story is unbelievable. Unbelievable. And I'm glad you told it because I want everyone to hear that story. It makes such a difference hearing from someone that went through this. And no surprise to me because there are people who are hard of hearing who do not even tell people they're hard of hearing. And I, I want to talk about this in more detail when I come back, but right now it's time for break, and I will be right back with Colleen and Christy. Don't go away. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters at voice voiceamerica.com. Streaming live, the leader in internet talk radio, voiceamerica.com.

Are you currently receiving SSDI or SSI and wanting to work? Did you know there is a free Social Security program called Ticket to Work to help you try work without risking your benefits? My Employment Options is an authorized SSA Employment Network. Specializing in work-at-home and local job placement in 47 states. Our clients receive a personal counselor to help find the best job fit and a staff-certified benefits counselor for help with Ticket to Work protections. Ready to try working? Apply for free job placement help at myemploymentoptions.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 through their High Test line of service. For more information, please visit www.bender.com. Joyce Bender consult dot com. 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 to integrate diverse individuals because inclusion benefits us all. To find out more, visit highmark.com. Follow Voice America at facebook.com/voiceamerica for juicy updates from your favorite radio shows and podcasts.

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.

Hey everyone, welcome back to the show. We're talking to Colleen Maschia and Christine Arujema from Pfizer. And Colleen You have told, you know, what you do. Well, how about if you tell a little bit more detail? We know what your area you work in, but what exactly do you do?

Yeah, as I, you know, shared with you, I now work on our supplier diversity program 100% of the time, and I really feel like I found my place at Pfizer. So that role is different to different in different organizations, but what I do is What I do is, you know, part of my job is education. So I do educate internally our stakeholders that have purchasing power, right? Because we want to make sure that the colleagues that are making those decisions to bring in suppliers into our ERP system are making, you know, decisions thinking about how to source most inclusively. So I do education, whether that's speaking to, you know, at team meetings or, you know, I've leveraged our colleague resource group platform. They're a great way to chat with colleagues, you know, from across Pfizer at one setting. And then our sourcing organization is very well versed in the importance of supplier diversity, you know, why we do it. And, you know, they're the ones that bring influence to the sourcing process. With our stakeholders. So I do a lot of education internally. I also do a lot of education externally. So I work with, you know, the different advocacy groups. You know, that's what brought us together, Joyce Bender Disability IN. But I do try to give them, you know, we'll do educational webinars about what it's like to navigate sourcing at Pfizer. So, you know, how do you get into the door? How can you, once you get into the door, you know, what do you do? 'Cause sometimes, You know, Pfizer's processes can be quite overwhelming. But, you know, I try to give a taste of, you know, preparing our potential suppliers on what would be coming up. And then, you know, education. I do a lot of outreach. We're corporate members of a couple of the large advocacy groups, not only Disability:IN!, but WeBank, NMSDC, NDLCC, and we're part of a veteran organization, NVBDC. So as a corporate member, we want to make sure that we have a presence there that suppliers can, you know, connect with us. They can learn about Pfizer. If they're aspiring to work at Pfizer, you know, we try to give them some targeted advice that, you know, perhaps they need to think about different types of resourcing or perhaps expanding their business into certain regions of the US. You know, and once we do make some connections, I work to advocate. And I think, you know, Joyce, that's probably where we are with your firm, right? We've connected, we've introduced you to, you know, some key stakeholders in the organization. We're working between Christy and I, right? We have the same desire to have you work with us. And so that's really around that advocacy. So, you know, as we have a high potential supplier, we want to make sure that we're advocating for them in a way that, you know, potentially could find some success.

Well, and I'll tell you what, it's a great partnership. Colleen has made it a point to not only work with me but introduce me to colleagues, get colleagues on a meeting with me. Contact an external firm that is, you know, unbelievable to review our website and is working right now on employment. I mean, I could go on and on, but I want to say, Colleen, I do appreciate everything you and Kristi are doing. And I just love speaking with you. You know that I like getting you up front up there with me, Colleen, the way we were. I feel the same. So since I'm talking about that, let's talk about that before I go back to Christy. The mentor mentee program. What do you think about that?

Yeah, I think it's a really, uh, great way to bring forward, you know, a targeted, more intimate connection. So, you know, we do have— we opt in to all the mentorship programs at those advocacy groups and more, what, you know, I just shared with you. But, you know, specifically Disability:IN, I think, does a really great job of setting up the mentorships pairing, right, making some really good pairs between potential suppliers and corporations. And really, you know, setting the— I'd like to say, you know, the vibe of the relationship. It's really around, you know, making progress towards goals that our mentees have put together for— it could be, you know, potentially something, you know, personal to that leader, what they want to grow on, or it could be, you know, to grow their firm. So that's what I actually always love getting, you know, goals sent to me because Joyce has referenced me as her mentor, which I am, but it's not me on an island. I bring in, I reach out into my network of advocates that can help progress the goals of our mentees, as Joyce mentioned, both internally at Pfizer and also externally. That's really one of my favorite parts of this job is bringing relevant connections together. And the one you just mentioned was one of them. But that's also, like I said, that's kind of how Kristi and I started connecting as well. And it really allowed us to be thoughtful about what our joint goals were together in the organization. And we always help each other now with connections or what we're hearing or things that have been successful for us. But, you know, the mentorship programs, like I said, and it's not always about getting a piece of business. Obviously, that is an ultimate measure of success, but it really is, you know, coming away from a mentorship program, whether that's a year or two, and being able to say, you know, that we have checked off some of these goals for that mentee. Like I said, whether it was, you know, growing personally or growing the firm, That's really what, that's really what we consider success.

Yeah, you're stuck with me. Here I am again.

We're on the phone.

I want to say that you are doing a great job, as is Kristi. But, you know, I want to mention, I know I'm going to ask you this question. I'll ask you now. What do you think it means to have support from the top?

Colleen? For me? Yeah, it is, it's critical. And, you know, when I talk about supplier diversity internally, and I joke, I'll talk about it to anyone who will listen, but to really have a senior leader, you know, you know, one of our leaders that is a huge advocate of our colleague resource group and also externally. Most specifically disability in, but to have somebody who is also amplifying the message of the importance of, you know, hiring diverse suppliers really goes a long way because it just gives us a platform to talk about it more. But for me, it's really great because it's connecting— it's directly connecting our supplier diversity program with imperatives of the organization. And You know, for us right now, supplier diversity supports, you know, just real quickly, Pfizer's, you know, we have a blueprint for our success internally. And one of the imperatives that we connect our program to is to become the most trusted healthcare partner. So, you know, to be able to say that we work at a company that, you know, is inclusive in our sourcing opportunities is a place that we would like to— we want to be, and hopefully, you know, patients want to, you know, respect our name when they hear about that. And then also, you know, there is a direct economic impact when we source from small and diverse businesses, and that really pulls through to our health equity goals. As we invest in small and diverse businesses, right, we have that ripple effect there's a creation of more jobs and wages, there's more access to healthcare. And, you know, with that, it allows us to be able to reach more patients with our medicines. So I, when I do get a chance to talk internally about supplier diversity, I always try to connect to enterprise goals and to have an executive leader that is, you know, amplifying that message. It really all comes together.

Well, I'm going to tell you about Raydee Johnson, your EVP. He is awesome. I mean, I sent him an email, he gets back faster than you can imagine. I'm always thinking, here's this high-level person, so busy, and he gets right back to me, even on the Disability:IN app. Uh, and he is committed to the employment of people with disabilities. So a special shout out to you, Raydee Johnson. You're really a good man. And with that, it's time to go to break. Time for our news, Advocacy Matters with Perry Jude Radesik. Perry, what news do you have for us today?

Joyce Bender, good afternoon. Uh, well, on August 31st of this year, 2023, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation declaring September as National Preparedness Month. This year's theme is Take Control in 1, 2, 3. What does that mean? The theme is, one, to remind us to assess our needs, two, to plan, and three, to engage our networks to stay safe when disaster strikes. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which we know as FEMA, launched the National Preparedness Month back in 2004 to educate and empower us to respond to all types of emergencies. Boy, Joyce, this year our country has experienced horrific fires, floods, and hurricanes already. It's critically important that we all work together to build a culture of emergency preparedness. So recognizing National Preparedness Month is just one way that we can increase awareness and build our knowledge so that we can all respond to any type of emergency should we need to. To help disabled people in an emergency, I want to bring listeners' attention to an organization called the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, The Partnership is the only disability-led nonprofit organization that promotes the inclusion of disability access before, during, and after disasters and emergencies. The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies operates a hotline. It's available for intake calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hotline staff are experts on many issues affecting disabled people in disasters and emergencies. So if you're ever caught— if any of your listeners are ever caught in a disaster or emergency, this is the number that you need. You've got to call or text 800-626-4959. That's 800-626-4959.

4959.

It's important, and we know advocacy matters, that all of us recognize how important it is to be prepared and to do our part to be prepared at home for an emergency or in our workplace or in our community. To get all of this information, to see the Presidential Proclamation, to learn more about the partnership Disaster— inclusive disaster strategies, FEMA, Ready.gov, Ready Pennsylvania. It's all there at disabilityrightsPA.org. So, if you go to disabilityrightsPA.org right now, you'll get all of the information that we talked about in today's segment, and you find links to all of the organizations and information, Joyce.

And is that under advocacy matters? Or is that on the front page?

Thank you. The home page, about midway down, is Advocacy Matters, and click on Today's Segment.

Okay. Uh, and is that— did you say that's this month or next month?

Oh, it's this month, September.

Well, I'm so glad you talked about this, Perry. I am so glad because it's some of the disasters people with disabilities were shoved into nursing homes and did not have a way. And I mean, this is so great that you provided that information one more time with that number, Perry.

Absolutely, Joyce Bender. So we don't want people in a nursing home and then they can't get out. That's why there's the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies. That number is 800-626-4959.

And I would encourage everyone to go to disabilityrightspa.org. Halfway down the front page is Advocacy Matters. Not only read this, but share this. You may have a time in your life where this saves your life. So make sure you go to that. And Perry, thank you with that great, important news you brought forward.

Thanks, Joyce.

Take care. All right. Hey, Christy, I'm coming back to you now. You know, that story that you told, Christy, was powerful. And I'm sad to say, not surprising. Because when I go to a company and they say, "Oh, we're so glad you're here because we haven't hired people with disabilities before," I tell them, "Oh, yes, you have. Yeah, they're at the company right now. They have epilepsy, MS, bipolar disorder, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or significantly hard of hearing." They're just not telling you. And I can't begin to tell you all, my listeners, how many people I know, hard of hearing, that would not disclose that at work. And all that does is hurt them. Like Christy, many people have just maneuvered their way through to be successful. But think about that. Think about that story, working 2 years for free. I mean, that is Shameful. Shameful. So, Christy, once again, unbelievable story. You're on a mission to get people at Pfizer to hire people with disabilities. But in general, Christy, why do you believe companies should hire people with disabilities?

Hi, Joyce Bender. Sorry about the echo. Thank you for that. There's a great number of reasons why companies should hire people with disabilities. So if you think about it, 20% of working-age individuals who have a disability— only 20% are working, but that number can change at any time because of age-related or medical issues. What's really unique about disabilities is that it is an intersectional characteristic because it touches everyone regardless of a person's identity or socioeconomic status or anything. So it's not just a disability population. It hits everyone. So from a diversity, equity, and inclusion perspective, individuals with disabilities do bring unique perspective, problem-solving abilities to the workplace, for instance, but also to teams. So that can lead to broader and faster innovation, ideas, and solutions. So when you work in a pharma company like Pfizer in R&D, a lot of those things are, you know, would definitely be very useful, right? But it also promotes a more inclusive work culture where every employee employee valued, respected, but more importantly feels like they belong. So when that happens, when you get all of those, it leads to higher morale and thus higher employee retention. So that's where a lot of times you get when people hire people with disabilities, they're very loyal. They— as long as you respect them and value them, then they will stay. And that's exactly what you want. You want to have retention because turnover costs the company money. So because of the much higher unemployment rate of candidates with disabilities, there's a much wider talent pool to actively recruit from to find those highly qualified individuals who might be overlooked by your competitors, for instance. Hiring people with disabilities is not just a matter of social responsibility, but also legal requirement, a legal requirement in many places to provide equal opportunities for people with disabilities. Like, for instance, FIDA is a federal contractor, so we are required to meet a threshold of 7% of our workplace, which 7% of that needs to have self-identified as having a disability. So this is something that is a motivating factor, but also— but it's not the main reason. From a corporate perspective, hiring people with disabilities can provide a lot of tangible benefits to the company's performance and their bottom line. You can embrace diversity and inclusion by hiring and including people with disabilities. Because that can enhance the public image of the company, the employer branding. And in this Pfizer case, it could appeal— it can better appeal to customers, clients, patients, and investors. So there's a number of reasons, but I just kind of highlighted just a few of those.

Yeah, and I would also say I don't understand it, Kristi. I really do not understand why people would not hire people with disabilities, because you have an untapped labor pool of people who want to work. Everyone's saying they can't find the right person, they can't find the right skills, and yet you have this untapped labor pool of people who want to work, will be there, and have many of the skills that you're looking for. So I've been doing this since 1995, and that today, 33 years, the signing of the ADA this year, that 70% of people with disabilities are not counted in the workforce. Absolutely shameful when they have the skills. This is what amazes me. So that's why Pfizer taking a stand is so powerful. Why? Because they're Pfizer, and that is what makes such a difference. So, Colleen, I have a question for you. You work with a lot of diverse suppliers. How, how do you reach out to them? Is it through all those organizations? Just in case someone's listening to this show whether they're veterans or minority or Asian, whatever it is, how do they reach out to a company to get on the diverse suppliers list?

Great question. We do, like I said, you know, we do do a lot of outreach. So we, you know, if you are a member of any of those advocacy groups, groups, you know, you can inquire to get Pfizer contact. We don't currently have a supplier portal, but we do have an email, supplierdiversity@pfizer.com. Anybody can, you know, send along a note or their capabilities. I always do counsel, you know, help, right, help us help you. I know enough about different categories in the organization to be dangerous, but I am not well-versed in all of them. So if you— if Pfizer is one of your aspirations to be working for, you know, potential client, be thoughtful about how you think you can help Pfizer. So just as a quick example, I remember chatting with an advertising agency one time And, you know, we had talked about that and she was going to follow up with me. And, you know, she sent this great email just saying, I was at this Congress and, you know, I really think when I walked around the floor Pfizer was missing an opportunity, basically a messaging opportunity for one of our brands. And, you know, I'm not asking for, you know, free ideas, but it was a real differentiator that I was I was super happy to put her forward to one of our marketing colleagues because it was such a nice teaser, you know, I thought about Pfizer, I thought how my firm can help you and, you know, I definitely connected her. So, you know, that's, you can reach out to me in that way and like I said, we find, you know, diverse talent, small and diverse talent, yes, by going to a lot of these organizations, there's matchmaking events And also, you know, definitely peer-to-peer as well. So if, you know, one of my colleagues and one of my peers at a different company says, you know, Colleen, this is a great company for, you know, lab materials, you should really think about them, they've done great work for us. Those recommendations go a long way as well. But I would just say also, you know, you guys, you know, for diverse suppliers, you know, be persistent. And I know you are, you already own your own businesses, but, you know, So don't give up because it's not only, you know, thinking about where you fit into Pfizer's ecosystem, but also a little bit of timing as well.

Right. And things don't happen overnight. I just want to mention that to everyone. So we want to know what's going on at Bender. Gerald Helmi, what's going on at Bender?

Hi, Joyce, and hi, folks from Pfizer. Thank you so much for everything you're doing to partner with us. Appreciate all the work that you're doing out there for people with disabilities and for Joyce and for our community.

But, uh, you got to— you got to meet these two great superstars at the Disability:IN conference, Gerald.

I did. I've been graced with their presence, especially Christy, I've gotten to meet a number of times at the NTID and other events, you know, so we go back for sure. Well, I wanted to highlight an exciting new opportunity that's coming up. You know, it's been a while since the last one, but we've got our next virtual career fair coming up. So, we host career fairs in partnership with career— ECO Virtual Events, and our next one is coming up in November. So, November 15th, we're hosting a virtual career fair so that people with disabilities can connect online with employers throughout the U.S. looking to hire people with disabilities. We usually have over 1,000 candidates with disabilities attend, and it's free for candidates with disabilities to sign up and get their resumes over to employers. We've already got one sponsor with Wells Fargo sponsoring the event and a ton of other employers signed up already. And candidates are starting to register. So, I wanted to make people aware of this event, a great opportunity for companies to sign up and connect with people with disabilities looking for work and people with disabilities connect with employers. If you go to benderconsult.com, Under the career section, you can learn about the virtual career fair and all the information about it, and from there you can click the link to go register.

So if you're listening and you have a disability, make sure you go and, uh, to that website so you can be in that career fair. No charge to you. But you have no idea the companies that could be on this and federal agencies. So make sure that you go vendorconsult.com and find out more. Thank you, Gerald. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And thank you, Pfizer.

So Colleen, I have a question for you. Colleen, who is your role model? Because while Wow, you're so awesome. You must have a role model. Who is it?

You know, I go with my gut on this one, and I would say my role model is my friend Tracy. She, like many of us, you know, was dealt a tough hand, one of personal struggle. And, you know, to be a friend of hers since we were 13 years old, there were many times I just had a feeling of hopelessness in trying to support her. But, you know, she really did not allow that. And, you know, I always think about it. I really, when I'm having a tough time or trying to really, you know, get to a milestone, I do think of her because her sense of— she had this emotional intelligence and just a strong spirit of self. And those two components, like, would really just accelerate her through, you know, difficult times and I would see her, you know, change the atmosphere in a room. So, you know, she— on top of that, she also just super bright light and selflessness. So she was never, you know, she never really allowed you to focus on her or her struggle. It was really just around, you know, what's next. And she brought many people along with her. So, you know, For me, like, she really is a role model, something that I can hold pretty much in my daily life. And her, you know, her legacy are her 4 children. They are just really doing amazing things. So, thank you for that question.

I love talking about her. Oh, yeah. Wait till she hears this, Colleen. What a wonderful tribute. How about you, Christy? Who is your role model?

So, that was actually a really hard question because I do have a number of different role models. But for the purpose of this podcast, I'm going to focus on my dad. So my dad, you know, he was an immigrant, as I mentioned. They came to this country not knowing any English, not having any money, to try to create a better life for his family. And he was going to school, and he was working multiple jobs. Jobs at the same time when I was young, allowing my mother to stay home and take care of us. But, you know, you could see his work ethic. He had such a strong work ethic in everything that he did, whether it's, you know, doing things in the house or just anything that he did. And so I've always, you know, I subscribe to that. So everything I do, is I always had my dad in the back of my mind, and what would my dad think? And so, I mean, he supported me in everything that I did. He gave me the freedom to just live and just learn. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy for me, but he gave me that chance to just be self-supporting and just just to grow, that opportunity to grow, and I'm really blessed to him for that. So a lot of these things that I do at work is a strong work ethic mentality. I take that same approach, whether it's with trying to find talent with disabilities and bring them into our company, using that and taking that approach to build the Neurodiversity Employment Initiative at Pfizer right now. And I'm just, it's just the thing that I do. And it doesn't matter whether you have the proverbial glass ceiling or what. I don't, it's just that mentality. So my dad has been my role model and you know.

Well, I gotta say something. What a great role model. What a great role model. And that is a tribute to your father. Sadly, we have come to the end of the show, but we end every single show, as you all know, with a quote. I know Kristi's going to love this quote. Blindness separates people from things. Deafness separates people from people, said Helen Keller. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. I look forward to talking to you all next week, and in the words of Mary Brooker, remember, 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.