CATALYST Issue 4 | Page 74

D Diversity | Catalyst Disability high on the diversity agenda for Alexander Mann Solutions I n January 2019, Alexander Mann Solutions joined the Business Disability Forum (BDF). Our membership supports us in helping existing talent with disabilities, while recruiting new people into the company. We are also partnering with BDF as part of its Global Task Force think tank, in order to influence initiatives that give company disability strategies an international focus. In June, we signed up to the Valuable 500, which aims to gain the support of 500 national and global businesses prepared to make a formal commitment to unlocking the business, social and economic value of people around the world living with disabilities. If we can achieve this, as a group of industries (many of whom are our current clients) we will be the tipping point for change, unlocking the door to 1.3 billion talented people. We also partner with Auticon, an international social enterprise and IT consultancy which exclusively employs adults on the autism spectrum, with relevant skills, as its consultants, matching them with corporate organisations alexandermannsolutions.com 74 that have specific tech needs. This collaboration will support our recruitment of cognitively diverse individuals, enabling us to tap into the skills of people with autism. To date, we have worked with Auticon and supported focused roundtables with our clients, including Crown Commercial Services and Credit Suisse. On 3 December 2019, we celebrated the International Day of People with Disabilities, introduced in 1992 by the United Nations. This promotes the rights and wellbeing of people with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and aims to increase awareness of disability in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. Here at Alexander Mann Solutions, we want all our employees to have the chance to be the best that they can be and to create a culture that is inclusive of diverse talent from around the globe.  It is estimated that around 15% of the global population (1 billion people) have some form of a disability – that’s a lot of talent!