JM one of 500 companies signed up to tackle disability inclusion in business as milestone reached

• Global disability network The Valuable 500 reaches milestone, securing commitments from 500 global CEOs and their companies.
• The Valuable 500 is a movement with the aspiration to create a global group of CEOs committed to inclusion for disabled people, as employees, as customers, and in the wider community.
• JM proud to be approaching its second anniversary of being a member.
   

Today, The Valuable 500 announced a milestone of securing the commitment of 500 CEOs, and their companies, worldwide. JM will hit its second anniversary of being a member this year, and will work with the other member companies to lead the way in tackling disability inclusion in business and driving real change.

The commitment JM has made by joining is clear: the disability agenda is a key part of our ambition to allow everyone at JM to feel valued and included. Robert MacLeod, who made the commitment on behalf of the business said:

“At JM, we have a strong commitment to inclusion for disabled people. We aim to support people with both visible and non-visible disabilities to thrive at work, achieving their career ambitions and reaching their full potential.”

Our DiversAbility employee resource group (ERG), which provides support to employees with visible and non-visible disabilities, put forward the proposal to join The Valuable 500 to effect change for disabled people. Richard Bowen, chair of DiversAbility at JM, said:

“I immediately saw the benefit of leveraging the experience of the 500 companies to speed up our progress rather than doing this alone. We can take the learnings of so many other companies who would be at different points in their D&I journey and implement them within JM whilst sharing our ideas and success stories to benefit other companies.”

Inclusion for disabled people plays an important role in our sustainability ambition. The Valuable 500 will provide support for achieving sustainability goals through a number of planned initiatives, including a reverse mentoring programme for CEOs, listening tools to allow organisations to connect with disabled people, and a census to drive for public disclosure of disability inclusion metrics.

Simone Coultress, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion said:

“We know that to be truly inclusive, all employees must feel that their voice is heard, their differences are embraced, and they are able to be their true and best self at work. Being part of The Valuable 500 gives us a fantastic opportunity to ensure that disability inclusion is a key part of our D&I agenda, and we do all we can to ensure that our colleagues, with visible and invisible disabilities, feel that JM is a place where they belong and can thrive.”