Building Accessibility Confidence 101: Q&A with Mandy Penney of InclusionNL
Have you recently taken stock of the day-to-day operations of your organization or business to determine where you sit on the accessibility scale? Feel you don’t quite measure up? Then you’re not going to want to miss the next offering in our Business Workshops for Artists series.
On May 17 (online via Zoom), we’re hosting a very special session with Mandy Penney, Coordinator of Business Partnership Services with InclusionNL - the corporate program of Empower, The Disability Resource Centre, which provides support, services and information to businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador on accessibility, inclusion, disability confidence, and inclusive employment.
Mandy Penney, Coordinator of Business Partnership Services with InclusionNL.
This free session will leave you with information and insights that you can use to help reduce barriers for those with disabilities and improve your interactions with employees, members, clients and members of the general public - helping build a more accessible and inclusive society in the process. Whether you rate your accessibility confidence as high, or you’ve just started making improvements, we welcome everyone to this session and encourage them to bring their teams.
Mandy recently took some time out to talk accessibility in advance of her session.
Business & Arts NL: Can you tell us a bit about your role with InclusionNL?
Mandy Penney: As the Coordinator of Business Partnership Services, I work with employers and business owners to help them reduce barriers for people with disabilities within their workplaces and businesses.
Business & Arts NL: What are some of the challenges that businesses/organizations face, in your experience, when it comes to building their own accessibility confidence?
Mandy Penney: In my experience, many employers and business owners have difficulty in making the first step to seek help on how to become more accessibility confident and figuring out where to begin. Many employers have a misconception that breaking down barriers is an arduous task. Therefore, they will not make the call. We strive to support businesses and employers in a manner that is not overwhelming.
Business & Arts NL: And what are a couple of ways in which they can address those issues?
Mandy Penney: I would suggest that they reach out to InclusionNL and conduct preliminary research online on how to support people with disabilities within their workplace, business, or organization.
Mandy Penney (far left) of InclusionNL recently gave a presentation on Accessibility Confidence - a topic which she'll be exploring during her online workshop on May 17.
Business & Arts NL: If a business or organization wants to increase their accessibility, but not sure how to start, what would you recommend?
Mandy Penney: All businesses and organizations have HR processes as they all hire employees or onboard volunteers, so we usually suggest employers and organizations start with working to make their HR processes barrier-free.
Business & Arts NL: Finally, who would you recommend attend this workshop?
Mandy Penney: I would suggest that anybody interested in breaking down barriers in their environment participate in this workshop. Whether you are an employer, employee, or volunteer you will learn how to welcome and include people with disabilities within your organization.
Workshop: Building Accessibility Confidence 101
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 17 from 1-2pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Price: Free
Registration: Click here