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That was certainly part of it , but there ' s the disability lens ; diversity , equity , and inclusion . So [ with ] the DEI standpoint , I could bring my anthropological training into . Then , the disability piece is the centerpiece . It was always something I was interested in . I study businesses for a living , and I ' m fascinated by businesses as an organism ; it ' s living and breathing ; it ' s not just spreadsheets and data points . There are people behind it , and it ' s really about human work . I think businesses , just like any other institution , succumb to human frailty , and how do we navigate that ? That ' s something that ' s always been fascinating [ to me ].
Q : You work with many different people , companies , and groups . What are common things , the future of how business works , and your future goals ?
A : Technology has come forward and the idea that accessibility in itself is not marginalized . It ' s something that has to be embraced . The value proposition of that impacts the human story . When you ' re talking about disability , you ' re talking about human variability . All of us , we ' re all different . So the question is , from a business standpoint , how do we embrace diversity and inclusion ? How do we embrace the inclusive idea , not as an afterthought , but [ as part ] of the business philosophy of business practice ?
So what you ' re finding out now is whether it ' s around diversity and inclusion . Industry investing is the idea that environment and social governance have value ; it is important to the organizational structure , and it is important to how organizations build their companies to be sustainable .
To say we understand our community and the employees we work with , we also [ need to ] understand externally the market we serve . There is absolute change and evolution in diversity , inclusion , and disability . I ' ve always said , disability is the essence of diversity . It runs across race , ethnicity , gender , socioeconomics , and sexual orientation . It is the only other minority group anyone can join at any time . So when you look at disability , it is the centerpiece or should be the centerpiece of any diversity conversation . I am a true believer when it comes to that philosophy .
Q : What are your future goals in terms of your executive coaching ?
A : I still want to continue to do what I ' m doing within the disability and diversity space ; it ' s very important . One of the things I want to focus on , and my Forbes column certainly feeds into that , is the notion of understanding and defining the disability economy and what that ecosystem looks like because it is so broad and vast and is constantly changing and evolving .
Being able to organize the market , shape it , define it , and define the entrepreneurs in it ; to help define the areas of focus that make up this framework . This is public knowledge ; one of the companies that have been phenomenal about this is Microsoft ; they have from the beginning . Satya Nadella , the CEO ' s son Zane , has cerebral palsy , so it ' s this intimate connection for him . Just recently , they launched an adaptive lab . All of these adaptive tools will be coming out of that lab . There is a flurry of young entrepreneurs creating new technologies in the adaptive space . Now , the adaptive area is an umbrella term .