Episode 394: How Accommodations Benefit Everyone in the Organization With Emma Maclean & Marie Trudelle

We estimate that about 20% of adults living in the US have a disability. And if we’re looking at a national average disclosure rate of only 3 to 5%, that’s really troubling, that individuals do not feel comfortable bringing in disclosing that to work. But there are actionable things that organizations can do to change that. – Emma MacLean Episode 394: How Accommodations Benefit Everyone in the Organization With Emma Maclean & Marie Trudelle Welcome to the Workology Podcast, a podcast for the disruptive workplace leader. Join host Jessica Miller-Merrill, founder of Workology.com as she sits down and gets to the bottom of trends, tools, and case studies for the business leader, HR, and recruiting professional who is tired of the status quo. Now here’s Jessica with this episode of Workology. Jessica Miller-Merrell: [00:00:47.44] This episode of the Workology Podcast is part of a podcast series powered by the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship, or PIA. PIA is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, or ODEP. In November of 2020, ODEP launched PIA to ensure all apprenticeship programs are inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities. PIA collaborates with employers and apprenticeship programs to help meet employer talent needs and enable people with disabilities to benefit from apprenticeships that increase their opportunities for lifelong access to high-growth, high-demand jobs. Before I introduce our guest, I want to hear from you. Text the word podcast to (512) 548-3005. Ask me questions, leave comments, and make suggestions for future guests. This is my community text number and I want to hear from you. Today I’m joined by Emma MacLean, Accessible Apprenticeship Program Manager, and Marie Trudelle, Accessibility Specialist and Inclusive Designer at Apprenti. Emma is an educator and disability advocate. Her path to accessible work has included being a paraprofessional at a children’s school for disabilities, being a steering committee member of the Cultural Access Collaborative, formerly Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium, and being a teaching artist with a theater group in Chicago called Able –  Artists Breaking Limits and Expectations, where she works with actors with developmental and intellectual disabilities. She is currently the Accessible Apprenticeship Program Manager at Apprenti, where she works with apprenticeships, training providers, employers and community partners to ensure accessibility and inclusion. Marie is an Accessibility Specialist and Inclusive Designer. She started her career as an educator at the California School for the Blind and shifted her focus on the intersection of technology and disability empowerment in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Lebanon and Turkey. Marie’s experience teaching design thinking to educators and corporate leaders help her identify and creatively approach barriers to access. At Apprenti, she works alongside Emma to build, sustain and expand accessible apprenticeship programs. Emma and Marie, welcome to the Workology Podcast.  Emma MacLean: [00:03:00.48] Thanks for having us. Jessica Miller-Merrell: [00:03:02.70] I really wish they could have listened to the pre-show because we covered lots of things before we actually started recording the podcast interview, but I’m really excited to talk about today’s topic, So let’s jump in and discuss a little bit about your backgrounds. What led you to your current roles at Apprenti? Emma MacLean: [00:03:21.07] Excellent. As you mentioned in your intro, I’ve worked in accessibility in a variety of environments, and as a disabled person myself,