Building employer capacity for disability inclusion: knowledge to practice

>>Dan Samosh: Welcome to our inaugural IDEA Social Innovation�Lab webinar. Uh, y name is Dan Samosh, I'm with the Employment Relations Studies Department at Queens�University. I'm also part of the IDEA team. Uh, I want to note, that captions should be available for�this webinar, uh, but as we go along if you have any questions or concerns relating to accessibility or otherwise, uh, please let us know either probably through the Q&A function, uh, or possibly by email�or otherwise. Uh, and I just want to note as well that this is our first webinar so we're keen to grow�and get better. Uh, later on I'll talk to you about a feedback mechanism that we have, to make sure that, you know, we are growing in this process. Um, given that this is our first inaugural webinar, I'm�going to give some background on IDEA itself, on the webinar series, on how today's webinar will�operate, and then introduce our two speakers.

So to begin, IDEA is a social innovation laboratory.�IDEA stands for Inclusive Design for Employment Access. Our goal broadly as an organization is to�create stronger and more inclusive labour markets that include persons with disabilities; and a big�part of this is developing evidence-informed tools and resources through co-design with partners to�help advance employer capacity to be inclusive. That's across the employment cycle from�recruitment to hiring, onboarding, retention, mentorship, promotion, and also things like organizational exit.

So this initiative is spearheaded by teams of researchers, community leaders, global�experts, industry leaders, policymakers, and many others. Uh and many of us involved in the IDEA team also identify with disability in one form or another, uh kind of in keeping with the concept of "Nothing About Us Without Us". So this webinar is a part of a speaker series and it serves as an opportunity to learn about current topics, both within IDEA but also well beyond, because there's amazing work going on all across the world and we want to showcase that. A big�part of the series is to be practical. So for the practitioners who are joining us, the policy-makers, the employers, and service providers, our one of our aims here is to share information on solution-focused ideas, strategies, policies, and so on that you can hopefully bring to where you work. Um, our guest speakers will include a broad range of individuals from researchers like today, but also community leaders, experts, people in industry, policy and so on. So if you do have a suggestion about who you might want to um have speak within this webinar series please let us know, probably the easiest way is to email us and that's at info v-a. v r a i e sorry info@vraie-idea.ca.

So we plan to also run these webinars monthly uh beginning in the new year after this one, on the last Friday of each month. If you're interested in taking part, we have a newsletter. You can also email us and we'll make sure that you're aware of when these are, when these are running, and who's taking part; and we're also going to be recording webinars and posting them online on the IDEA website so if you miss one there's an opportunity to still review it and be a part of it in that way.

Turning to the structure of this webinar uh I'll introduce our speakers then we'll get into the presentation followed by a Q&A. Our hope is to have more time for Q&A, so likely the presentations in general will run between 20�to 25 minutes, the webinar itself is 1 hour in total between noon to 1 pm. In general, I'll be talking less too, this is just as the first one talking a little bit more, uh and for Q&A I'll comment on this again later but the way to interact is primarily through the Q&A function on Zoom which is at the bottom of the screen. Uh, there's a box that should pop up that allows you to type in and we will monitor and share that information with the presenters as we go And last again as I mentioned right, we'll have a feedback mechanism at the end of this webinar. Uh you should receive a pop-up for a short survey about your experience in the webinar, accessibility of the webinar, and so on. If you can fill that out that would be great, if you want you can also email us too, there are lots of ways to get in touch.

So turning to our presentation today we have two speakers, Emile Tompa who is the Executive Director of IDEA and Rebecca�Gewurtz who is the Director of IDEA. So Dr. Tompa is a senior�scientist at The Institute for Work & Health as well as an associate professor in the Department�of Economics at McMaster and an assistant professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at UofT. Dr. Gewurtz is an occupational therapist and an associate professor in the School of Rehab Sciences at�McMaster and an adjunct scientist at The Institute for Work & Health. As an aside too, they both�have been very meaningful mentors in my life and career, so it's it's exciting to get to introduce�them uh and, and hear from them today or learn from them today. The title of their talk is Building�Employer Capacity for Disability Inclusion through Knowledge to Practice and, I'll turn it to both of�you now.

>>Rebecca Gewurtz: Thank you so much I'm going to get started Emile and I will build off of each other a little�bit here and there. We're really excited to be here today and share our work with you. Um we uh just going on�to the next slide, um we want to start with a land acknowledgement. So where we are currently meeting�um or where uh IDEA is situated the head, the National Office has for thousands of years been�Huron-Wendat, the Seneca and most recently the Mississaugas of the Credit River. Today�this land is still home to many Indigenous People across Turtle Island and we are grateful to�have the opportunity to conduct our work on this land. Um so this acknowledgement is relevant to�the Toronto area, and we are coming together today virtually so we know that many of you are joining�us from other locations across Turtle Island and perhaps beyond. So we suggest that you take a�moment to think about the communities in your respective locations.

Going to the next slide, just�to give you an overview of what we have planned for today with um some tentative time um allotted.�We are, we've already done this introduction to the webinar series and we're a few minutes ahead of�time. We are going to provide a very brief overview of IDEA acknowledging that many of you who are�joining us today might have already um seen an overview of IDEA or be familiar with it from other�um opportunities over the past six months or so. So we're going to do this really briefly for those of�you who are joining us for the first time, and then�we're going to spend uh more time uh discussing�projects in in our Hub One and Hub Two that both�Emile and I are respectively leading um, and we'll�give you an idea of some of the projects underway, and the deliverables that we're hoping to produce,�and um how you you might be able to engage with us on some of these projects. And then what we�will do is have more time for some Q&A. So we remind you again that the the Q&A uh is open at�the bottom of your screen and that's a great way to post some questions as we go, and we can, you�can ask the questions as we go and we'll have some dedicated time at the end for that. So going�on to the next slide, I'm going to turn things over to Emile.

>>Emile Tompa: Great, great thank you, Rebecca. So in�the next few slides I'm going to give a bit of an overview of IDEA for those of you who are new�to to hearing about us. So IDEA, we describe it as a knowledge to practice social innovation laboratory.�We're funded through an initiative at the Federal level called New Frontiers Research Fund, it's�the transformation stream. It's a funding envelope we've received for six years and what we are�focused on is advancing the skills and capacities of workplace stakeholders in the area of inclusive�employment. Um, sometimes we describe it as "demands side capacity building", really building up the�capacity of employers to be inclusive of the the diversity of talent that's out there.

We are what�we describe as a transdisciplinary partner-driven and solution-focused initiative, and what we do is�we develop evidence-informed products that support inclusive workplaces. And most of our work we�base on existing knowledge bases, um, and including sometimes initiatives that are already in place�in different workplaces which, we try to identify and and and and evaluate and see how we can scale them up. So we really want to start off with the knowledge base that's already available to us�through various sources rather than reinventing the wheel, and I actually will go through our�methodology in a little bit more detail in the subsequent slide.

So um just a bit about our�um kind of philosophy, our values, our mission, um our vision. Um, this is something that is taken from our website https://vraie-idea.ca/index.html. So our mission is to help create stronger and more diverse labour markets that include persons with disabilities through evidence-informed policy and practice. And our�vision is to see every workplace in Canada have the capacity to recruit, hire, onboard, retain mentor,�and promote persons with disabilities across the full range of employment support opportunities;�and because we really value inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility in all of all areas of�society, particularly in the labour market, and we value strong and diverse labour markets where�all persons have equal opportunities in careers, jobs, and work.

In this slide, I have a diagram of�how we're structured. We're structured around hubs, I think Rebecca used that word already, um, there's�um three core hubs and then we have a couple of hubs we describe as cross-cutting hubs and I'll�give a little bit more detail about that. So this is the diagram of these five hubs. I mentioned that�we're multidisciplinary, we're multi-sectoral, we're also partner-driven. Each of these hubs has a�lead that's an academic and a partner lead as well, and these hubs we describe them sometimes as incubator hubs; um are entry points for research and query they're not standalone activities.

We�we really work together and all of the subject matter that we are, we�re we�re starting our foundation work to make sure we are really connected. So we meet quite regularly as an as an initiative to�make sure we�re cross-fertilizing some of the work that we�re doing, that help, really helps informs other�projects that are happening within the initiative. So it's really important that we're connected�together.

Um, the first Hub, which is one that I lead with Don Galant is called Workplace Systems�and Partnerships it's really focused on all of the activities that are happening within�the organization and all the stakeholders in the workplace setting. Hub Two is the Employment Support Systems and it's being led by Rebecca Gewurtz and and Francis Fung from March of Dimes, and it�really thinks, looks at the the the the things around the workplace that are important to be�in place, all those wraparound supports because a lot of times work just isn't feasible unless�all of the other things in a person's life are in place. We really like to focus on the whole�person you know? Work can only work if you have housing security, and income security, and and food�security; and and there's other things you need too like transportation that needs to be available�for people to be able to think about work, as well as other kinds of services that help�support the person who's looking or engaged in work.

Hub three is looking at Transitions to�Work and Career Development that's being led by Dan Samosh, our host of this speaker series,�as well as Arif Jetha and Sinead McCarthy who is from Youth Employment Services or (YES). So�they're really looking at people coming into the labour market from various places, sometimes it's�school to work, but sometimes it's from just not being in the labour market for whatever reason�and then the two cross-cutting hubs;

Hub Four is about Inclusive Environmental Design it's about�getting beyond just the built environment think about inclusive environmental design permeating�all facets of of our human systems right, and and that's being led by um Mahadeo Sukhai from CNIB and Jordana Maisel from Sunni Buffalo. And then our last Hub that's also cross-cutting is called Disruptive�Technologies and the Future of Work. As we all know, technology is changing very rapidly, and it can�be very disruptive, but we want to harness that technology so that it helps advance the issues�that are really important to us as a society; and that hub is being led by a couple of our colleagues�from OCAD University, Jutta Treviranus, and Angelika Seeschaaf-Veres.

So that's the Hub structure that we're operating by. Our next slide, I'm giving you a little bit more detail in this slide about�our methodology, there's a diagram here with five steps. We call it actually our "five-step signature�methodology." It's about how we go from knowledge to practice. Right so at the front end we start�off with a very deliberative process to identify priority areas. A lot of this work at the front end�is being done by our partners and our stakeholders. Us as academics, we bring our toolkit of of�expertise on how to, you know get really solid well-grounded knowledge and evidence bases; but the partners and the people working in this space know what's really urgently needing to be addressed,�where are those gaps, where there, where is their work to be done. So we work with them to help�identify that.

We start off with rapid synthesis, as I mentioned we work from um existing knowledge bases, whether it's a peer-reviewed literature base, or gray literature, or or just field knowledge talking to key informants in the field who are working in this space on a regular basis and have a good handle on what's working well what's not working well, where there's still gaps.

The next�step is then having stakeholder consultations, to get some sense of the experiences that they're�having; and mapping that out to identify where the challenges are. Doing some solution generation�and prototyping through co- design methods, working with our partners, that's step three. Step four�is implementing evaluating um solutions at the local level we want to make sure they're working�to try to identify the variables that make it work well or not work well and why. To tweak it to get it�working just right, and then we think about scaling you know, that's step five.

Scaling those local�innovations with with ongoing evaluation in the field. So we really want to get solutions�out there across the sector, across Canada, across the labor market, um because our ultimate goal�is to have high impact in transformative change in the employment of persons with disabilities. And�throughout this process measurement and evaluation is absolutely critical. So target setting ensures we're reaching our impacts that we're looking to achieve, and measuring, evaluating all�along the way, and this is sometimes an iterative process, you know? We might have to go back to�an earlier step if we find there's still some challenges that we haven't quite figured out.�So but it's not necessarily meant to be linear, but it gives you a good representation of how�we go through from the knowledge development phase right through the practice and uptake and�scaling phases.

In this um slide I have a list of our partners, it's the print is really fine I'm�sorry if it's not very visible from your end. We have quite a number of partners from research, from�the disability community, from labour organizations, industry service providers, and government. This�is the list of folks who joined us when we first put together this grant and received funding. We are�having new partners join us all the time, it's a space that's really growing and people are excited�about making change and we're excited that people are really keen to see change happening, so we�are looking to partner with folks. We, this can only work if we all work together, so I think�partnerships is the way to go to make you know, substantive change. We have to work together for�that. and so we encourage anybody who�s interested in working with us in this space to reach out to�us. Here�s a slide with the logos of our various partners which we�ll have to add to um but um�we�re just really excited to be working all with all these great organizations.

Okay so in the next few slides I'm going to drill down on Hub one projects, of Workplace Systems and Partnerships as�I mentioned I'm co-leading that with my colleague Don Gallant from Ready, Willing, and Able. I have listed here�four projects I'm going to give a bit more detail about the first two. So the first project is best�practices for accessibility, planning and reporting. Many of you may know that's a requirement under�the Accessible Canada Act, and also a requirement under some provincial-level jurisdictions as well.�But we're framing the notion of best practices um for accessibility planning/reporting is something�all organizations should do and not just to meet the minimum requirements of the law and their�obligations, but to do it in a very intentional proactive way. To make sure they are always�thinking about how they can do better because it's really important to think about the notion�that there's always room for improvement and to go well beyond the minimum requirements of the�law.

So that's the way we're framing it, as well as thinking about the needs of different kinds�of organizations. Maybe small organizations need a different set of of of um best practice guides that are more digestible for small operations versus larger operations. So we're really thinking about the needs of of different organizations in different sectors, and different�parts of the economy.

The second um project I want to detail a bit more is the Ontario Federation of�Labours Inclusive Design for Employment Workshop that we're partnering with them to to develop�and deliver. Another project which I'm not going to talk about but I just putting it out here on�the table to let you know what we're doing. We're doing a scan of promising practices in the Industry. Um�again this is drawing on our notion that there's lots of great things happening out there that we�may not know about, so we're speaking to folks in industry to get a sense of what they're doing�maybe at a small scale that they feel is really working well, identify what those practices are, figure out what makes it work well or not work well in a particular context,�and see what we can borrow and generalize to a broader context; and share with you know all folks in this space across Canada if possible.

The last one I have here is about�taking a disability lens in procurement and supply chain. Um, we feel that for organizations to�be inclusive they need to think about all aspects of their organizational activities um not just HR-type practices. So we think about you know, taking that disability lens in all organizational activities�including the supply chain because a supply chain for large organizations in particular, might cut�across a number of organizations who are employing folks as well. And unless everybody follows suit�and and and and looks to be inclusive of that diversity of talent, it's just not going to work. So really we need you to think beyond just the the immediate um boundaries of your workplace�and the the folks that you employ, to think about the supply chain, and how you as an actor�in the system can influence that supply chain.

Okay, so I'm going to drill down as I mentioned�on best practices for accessibility planning and reporting. A key concept in in this domain�is about disability confidence. Some of you may have heard of this term. It's a really important�term to kind of digest and think about how we can measure it well. It describes the confidence that�workplace parties, you know employers, unions, and others in the workplace have in their capacity�to fully include persons with disabilities in the workplace. So that confidence that they have�in being able to do that. A disability-confident workplace really puts policies into practice�to to ensure persons with disabilities are included, that they belong, and they do not have�barriers to employment or promotion within that workplace.

In this slide I have a diagram of of a conceptual kind of map of what this confidence is about. It's from one of our colleagues from from Bloorview, um Sally Lindsay is her name is, she is the lead author of this piece. She's done some�really great work in this space to deconstruct kind of what what that disability confidence idea is�about, and how organizations grow in this space. So she's developed this um four-step kind of maturity�kind of approach to disability confidence where maybe at the front end an organization that's new to this idea is feeling a bit uncomfortable with what exactly does it mean to to address disability�in the workplace. So it may be because they have some kind of stigma or discomfort about lack of�knowledge, um maybe they're uncomfortable around people with disabilities because they don't�know how to communicate with them, you know, they have preconceived ideas about what persons�with disabilities are capable of doing or not capable of doing. They may move on then to to have a�bit more comfort, you know involving disability awareness training to improve workplace culture�and change people's mindset. So they're making headway in that space, they're they're sharing�lived experiences to help break down some of that those stereotypes that we may have in those areas that�we don't really understand well. You know, you can also try to make the business case for retaining�persons with disabilities you know; because they can be innovative, they're really great problem�solvers, they have really strong work ethics. We going to realize there's talent there to be tapped into.

You might then move on to broadening your perspective so you challenge stereotypes and you challenge stigma and stereotypes across the board, you try to minimize bias and really focus on people's abilities and their talents. You really value their talent, um you know, you're not focusing on the nature of their condition; you know we you're starting to realize that disability is a social construction, and we construct the environment, and we can construct it differently, and it's in our power to do that. Lastly, you can think about a disability-confident organization that's that's supportive and inclusive; workplace culture, and then organizations really trying to lead social change. So go beyond their parameters of their workplace and think about how they can be leaders in the field, building employment, employment tools that display support and dis that display and support skills development. So that that's kind of the construct of going from, you know, that starting point, where you're not familiar with this, to really being you know a leader and spearheading it in in your sector among your peers.

Um so so just going on with some key concepts and on a parallel construct that we see in the literature. This is coming from a literature review we did, um is the notion of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility and and some folks in the US in particular, have done some work in the idea of this diversity and maturity in in in that diversity end. So thinking on beyond just disability but all of the diversity that we see in the labor market, people's social locations, people's identities are defined by much more than just their disability status. And and lots of people get marginalized for a variety of reasons. When I think about how do we tap into that talent pool regardless of what their social location.\ is. So it's a a concept like diversity, but it includes the a broader notion of that diversity.

Um they've created a five um stage model where they start off with just being aware of the issue, then you're start to be compliant with legislative obligations, then you're getting more tactical and strategic; you're starting to integrate it in in a fourth step where it's part of how you work, and then then the fifth step is being sustainable that you're continually thinking about how you can tap into the talent of diversity that's out there in the labor market. So so EDIA maturity may vary in different aspects of your organization and it's different areas of activity. So you might think about EDIA maturity in human resources as a starting point, I mentioned procurement, the work we're doing in procurement you can think about EDIA maturity in procurement or communications or technology use, maybe with clients and customers, and community relations as well.

Another construct really important�to moving forward in accessibility planning and reporting is the notion of continual improvement. So this is a process of enhancing the system to achieve ongoing improvements in targeted areas of activity and desired outcomes. I have a diagram here that has four parts to it. It's framed around this concept, that's a concept of continual improvement called Plan Do Check Act (PDCA). It's the foundation of a lot of workplace systems guidance, and we're using this to develop some guidance around accessibility planning and reporting at the front end. You do some planning,�you determine what you will do in a particular cycle, and and and, how you will achieve some�targets that you've set for yourself. Maybe develop a team to to work on achieving those targets. The�"do" part is implementing your plan and checking is that measurement and evaluation, making sure you're making progress achieving your targets and then acting on it you know, to take appropriate action when there are corrections needed to be done as as you're moving forward. You know making sure you're going on the right path expanding, reaching your targets. Once you reach them you'll have another cycle, so so there's always room for improvement.

So that brings us to that that another concept that's really important to organizational processes in this place it's called systems thinking, really�we like to think about a lot of our work being um integrated into the system to create a new normal�in those systems. So system thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by�looking at it in terms of the whole and relationships between different parts of that whole. It�s used it's�used to explore and develop effective actions in complex contexts, enabling systems change, right so�workplace systems and partnerships, we call our hub. Systems thinking is really a holistic way�to investigate factors and interactions that could contribute to possible outcomes. So system thinking�is really comprehensive approach to sorry to introducing organizational change and development�to create a new normal at the systems level, and that's what we're looking to do, is create a new�normal in the labour market within workplaces and the broader labour market in society as a whole.

Now when we combine those those concepts of systems thinking and continual improvement um I�have this diagram here that helps represent sort of that process as it evolves in the continual�improvement within an organization. The diagram at the top as you can see, has policies. So policies�really play a fundamental role in setting clear directions for organizations to follow. You�start off with developing some policies, you document those policies, you articulate them,�and then you have to put them into action. So the next part of that diagram is organizing. So�organizing, organizational structures need to be put in place to deliver on those�policies. Policies are great but you need to take it to that next stage and really put in�those structures for delivery of policies. Next is planning and implementing so that's the next�part of the diagram it requires a planned and a systematic approach to implementing those policies and delivering on them.

Following that is a measurement performance. So emphasis is�given to measurement of performance against the targets that you've set to identify areas that you�need to improve. Really measurement and evaluation is critical. We need to know and have evidence that�we're making progress. The last is about reviewing and learning from those experiment experiences�which is fundamental to that continual improvement process. You reflect on the path you've taken in�this particular cycle once you've achieved your goals, what made it work well, what didn't work so�well, and how you can do better in the next cycle, and then you go through that cycle again setting�some new targets. As I said, there's always room for improvement, even the most advanced organizations�in the space are continually thinking about how can we do better, and the environment changes�a lot as well, so you often have to respond to environmental changes and think about how we adapt to changing technologies you know, making sure those technologies are harnessed in the best way�possible. And so here; I have a five-step framework for action that we've developed, and we'll detail�in our our our best practice guidance.

So at the front end you identify core areas that need to�be addressed you know, obviously at the front end you want to think about compliance requirements�and making sure you're compliant with with the minimum standards of the law. The second step,�you want to include other areas of strategic importance for the organization, so really getting�tactical. So going beyond the minimum requirements of the law. The third step is about creating mixed�teams of workplace actors to address each of the areas, you know, you complete scans and audits to�see where you're at, and where there's gaps, you want to develop that action plan with both short�and longer-term targets. Implement those plans and ensure there's an open reporting to really make�sure we're reaching those targets. The fourth step that is plan for EDIA to land in all areas of�the organizations, in all areas of the activities within that organization, really integrated into�into the way you do business essentially. And then five, you institutionalize that notion of�continual improvement in the planning process across all areas of the organization, that's when�you're really sustainable, when it's woven into how the organization operates on a daily basis and the�the way the organization thinks. They're always taking into consideration disability and and diversity�and and all the EDIA kind of components across all facets of the organization.

Next I'm going to talk�just a little bit and I have a couple slides here before I pass it on to Rebecca, about another project as�I mentioned, the the um inclusive design workshop that we're developing in partnership with the�Ontario Federation of Labour. Um this the objective of this workshop is to develop and deliver a�customized workshop on inclusive design, really focusing on creating more accessible inclusive�workplaces. And we really feel our partners at Ontario Federation of Labour is a great avenue by which�we can get everybody up to speed in in this area. It's going to be a train-the-trainer approach�that we're taking, we'll be developing the the the the foundational tools and resources for these�workshops, and then we're going to pass it on to the Ontario Federation of Labour to take it to their�constituents. The target audience at the front end is labor leaders and activists, but ultimately�we think it would be a really great workshop to have available for employers including senior�management, supervisors, and managers, and human resource specialists as well. This is something�that everybody should be up to speed on. Ideally these would be joint Union management sessions�that are people participating in these workshops so can have a dialogue about how to implement�the the learnings that they get from from their workshop.

In this slide, I just have a couple�of--three, key concepts. Um something we used to talk a lot about was Universal Design, it's�an older terminology where we thought that one-size-fits-all kind of notion but we realize that�maybe one size doesn't fit all. Oftentimes one size only fits one person. We've, the conversation�has moved over to accessibility and accommodation and and inclusion that's really critical to think�about, but ultimately where we want to get to is inclusive design, or inclusivity by design where�um organizations, systems, the labour market, society more broadly is inclusive by design. So that we�don�t need to think about one of retrofitting all the time or or or addressing needs as they�arise putting out buyers as they arise kind of. So that the design of systems at the front end are�inclusive from the get-go and there�ll be minimal tweaking that needed on a case-by-case basis,�and invariably you sometimes have to do that, but we want to minimize that, so that we think about�the diversity of people in the labour market when we create organizations, when we create systems,�when we create and whatever wrap-around supports are available for people engaged in the labour market�or a of working age. And this is my last slide, it's um the modules that we're considering putting into�this workshop, there's a lot of them there's 10 of them listed here, I won't go through them all,�so clearly there'll be some opportunity to pick and choose from this menu. Um, some workshops may�be focusing on certain aspects of of the notion of inclusive design, others will other will look at the different needs depending on where the constituency that's attending the workshop; where�they're at in terms of of their training needs, but we we brought this menu option forward and we'll�be developing clear modules across all these 10 items and then hopefully that'll serve the�needs of of of of our our um partners; the The Federation, they going forward for a few years.�We will do our own measurement and evaluation of this workshop in pilots and and hopefully�we'll try to keep a pulse on how it's advancing through the Train the Trainer um um dissemination�methodology, that we'll be employing to get the get this workshop out into the field.

I think now I'm�gonna pass it on to Rebecca, and take it away.

>>Rebecca: Thank you, Emile, there's so much exciting stuff going on and um you�know it's really exciting to see things progress, and and there'll be so many amazing uh outcomes�and deliverables, but from all the work that�s happening in all the hubs, but specifically Hub�one. Um so I'll I'll give a brief overview of Hub Two. Please keep the questions coming and we will�spend time on the questions and discussion um in just a few minutes.

In Hub Two, our focus is on�employment support systems, and uh some people on the line today might might uh uh be part of the�of employment supports. Um we are working really closely with um the organizations that deliver�employment supports for people with disabilities across Canada. Um specifically Hub 2 is being uh�co-led by Francis Fung from March of Dimes um and myself.

You know everything we're doing within this hub is�is definitely being done in collaboration with um Francis and others in the employment support�systems. um, So what we want to do in this hub is really look at how employment support systems um�currently are working with employers to build their capacity, and if we can evaluate�and um scale up some of the innovations in the field, um and create resources um because there's�so many great innovations happening in this space we want to make sure that it's being used across�the system. Um we are doing some other things and some um some very specific um um examinations�in this space, so I'll give you an overview and then give you some preliminary findings from�some of our scans to date. um

One of the things we want to do is look at best practices in the�use of remote work as an accommodation. That's a project we've been working on for um a while now,�and I'll I'll be able to provide some findings in that on that project, we are also looking at�um through both an um an environmental scan and a scoping review to identify and evaluate um�approaches to employment supports that target the needs of employers and what employers need�to create inclusive workplaces. So um and and we're trying to evaluate some of the wrap-around supports that people need to be successful at work as well as exploring um intersecting issues of disability, gender, and race within employment support services. So I'll um�going to the next slide.

I'll get I�ll drill down a little bit in some of these areas. So�currently we have underway a scoping review and environmental scan of existing literature�as well as existing practices for building employer capacity. So traditionally, employment�support services have really worked... um uh really targeted their services to uh working with uh�disabled job seekers or employees and uh but we know that many employment support services in order�to do their work, have developed some really innovative practices around working more directly�with employers, and we really want to capture um the work that�s happening in in this space.

Um The�the other thing we are doing is um I currently have a graduate student, Eakam Grewal, who's on�this on the line today who will be sharing more about this at the DWC conference next week, but is�looking more specifically at um disabled job candidates from racialized groups and their�experiences with employment support services as well as the the work service providers are doing�um to better support these intersectional issues. Um and then we are working closely with um�service providers in this area to identify and evaluate their existing innovation um and to�showcase effective models um that might work with particular populations. So we want to examine some�of the kind of creative solutions that employment support service providers have developed to skill�up employers um in in specific areas and try to showcase some of that.

So going to the next slide,�um this is just to showcase some of the findings that we've been doing so for the remote work�scan; and um you can see that we undertook a very comprehensive um literature and gray um peer�review and gray literature scan and um identified articles to review. So that those findings will be um shared very, very soon, but just to show you like the amount of work we've been doing. We�have a little um army of um of students have been supporting this work and working closely with a�librarian to do a search and this is remote work specifically for people with disabilities. Um so we�know that this has been a trend in in this space um over time, but especially since the pandemic um�so more to come on that; and that will be reported and shared on our website in the in the coming�months.

Um and going to the next slide, here um I can share some initial findings, um I was debating�which project to report some initial findings from, uh knowing that Eakam's going to be sharing at the�DWC conference. I thought I'd share some initial findings from the remote work project, and what we�found overall in this in this literature is that there's very little um uh literature, grey literature in the Canadian context um that there are very few studies about remote work for�people with disabilities. Much more gray literature within the literature that does exist. There's very�little depth of exploration around intersectional identities and very little that um really teases�out some of the challenges for particular job sectors um around remote work for people with�disabilities. There's a range of terminology and a range of arrangements that um are being�utilized in the workplace, um but generally um remote work is is framed in the literature as�a positive, as a as a helpful accommodation with uh a few exceptions around some of the challenges�the technological challenges or need for adaptive equipment in in the home space.

Um so the next�step for that project going to the next slide is that we're going to be launching some more, um�so that the those findings are reported based on the literature, and in the coming um month or so�we're going to be launching um more outreach to the community through an online survey and key�informant consultations to really understand the impact of remote work on the experiences�of people with disabilities in the workplace and the experiences of workplace stakeholders.

Um�so again, going to the next slide, here um what can you expect from Hub 2? Um we will be um sharing�summaries of existing supports for employers and for employment support service providers, um and�a summary of the existing evidence. We're going to be working closely with service providers um to�develop to co-design recommendations uh for both service providers and policy decision-makers or�funders. um We're going to be showcasing different models of of how to build capacity within�employment supports and guidance documents; which by this we mean plain language summary�with recommendations and we anticipate creating policy briefs on how we can better support�employers to hire and accommodate people with disabilities.

So that is what you can expect from�Hub one and Hub two in the coming um in the coming months and um and and years, um as we work through�this work I mean more more will come in. I I would say the coming months actually just to give you�a sense and this will all be um all of our work will be available through the website. Um we�really do want to stay in touch with people so um in addition to the webinar series um you�can always uh reach out to us on our uh current landing page and future more developed website�that will be launched um quite soon. So um that's what we've prepared to share with you guys today�we welcome some questions and there was already a few questions last time I looked so um I I'll�leave.

>>Emile: Yeah I just want to be mention it because you mentioned the DWC conference, The Disability and�Work in Canada conference still shout out about it happening next week on the 29th and 30th in Ottawa.�Something we've been doing um with with a number of our partners um in the disability community for�a number of years, um if you're not able to get to Ottawa there is a a a streaming option you can�attend virtually or particularly the plenary session will be live streamed um so that you can�access it remotely. So that's the 29th and 30th um next week well Wednesday and Thursday. Yeah program is available already on the website. There's some really exciting sessions so um I hope many people can make it there.

Good, Dan questions yeah we've got some questions.
>>Dan Samosh: So first off though thank�you to our presenters for kicking us off for our first webinar. Uh I want to first off just�acknowledge um we are again going to be posting the webinar online and we'll also share slides. um�I'm noticing from some of the chat, I think perhaps in the future too we can send the slides earlier�if if presenters are okay with that so that people have access; and just thank you to Vicki and an anonymous attendee as well for mentioning this and some standards as well um and we'll we'll�follow up with you on that.

uh Our first question comes from someone uh who wrote "hi sorry maybe I�missed could you explain IDEA work in the area of research thank you".

>>Emile Tompa: Cool guys, I'll I'll start maybe�and then Rebecca you can add to it because there's lots we can say, so so we are um I mentioned a�social innovation laboratory really focusing on knowledge to practice so at the front end that�knowledge is you know the research. I guess that we're doing to gather that knowledge or develop�new knowledge and put it into practice and then even taking it further is helping scale it across�the sector. So we also try to do capacity building on how to do research in this space in the work�disability policy arena and doing applied research searchers, and doing it in the way we do it, that's�partner-driven as well because that's not always the norm in a lot of academic research circles. So�we're trying to um build that capacity for for new researchers new academics coming into the space, to�take the methodology that we use and make it part of the way they do their work. So so we're really�looking to recruit all the time, um new researchers, particular persons with lived experience um�to help us with our work. Um but our research is multi or trans-disciplinary so it comes from�different disciplines, from from all three of the key science areas, social science, health science�and and and um natural science, um so it's a it's actually a tri-council they call it.

So our research�is is quite broad be in terms of the areas that or skill sets that it covers because this policy�is very complex um and requires that knowledge coming from different lenses um to build into�the understanding of the best way forward. Rebecca you might want to add something to that.

>>Rebecca Gewurtz: um�I'm not sure there's too much more to add I mean, this is a research initiative so everything we do�well, like Emile and I are researchers so everything we are doing will come from a research perspective�and building our capacity to do multidisciplinary multi-sectoral research in this area. So um yeah so�I I think um all our products that we everything that we put out will be evidence-based or based�on the best available evidence. Um and uh some of the work that we're doing that's really around�um you know scaling and um uh sharing existing practices is really going to come from an�evaluative perspective, meaning we�ll, we'll do an evaluation as we um as we as we share that�work and and so we, we hope that people understand that the work that we'll be sharing.

We're not just�a vehicle for sharing and information but rather there'll be um an evaluation before that's done.�

>>Emile Tompa: Yeah can I just add a few things, okay so I just want really emphasize we were strong believers in�knowledge to practice or evidence-informed policy decision-making so that there there's a knowledge�base that goes into a better understanding the way forward. And because we're we're academics, um�the people who are have our toolkit of expertise working with our partners, our knowledge we want�to make it available to everybody. So we do peer-review, we will post things on our website it�ll�be all open access. It's really meant to to get the word out of of what we're learning together�with our partners to help advance the you know work in this space, whether it's within Canada and�also beyond. As well so building up that knowledge-base for for the benefit of all of society�is absolutely critical for us and making it available to everyone who who will gain from�from the knowledge that we're developing with our partners is really critical. So so we are�trying to get the word out you know through various means our platforms. A key platform for our�partners will be our website, but certainly peer-review is part of the academic way to get things�out to to our colleagues both nationally and internationally.

>>Dan Samosh: I just want to acknowledge as well, we have a lot of questions and only so much time so probably not going to be able to get�to everything. So if we don't get to your question um please send an email and please also don't�take it personally we just only have so much of a compressed time together. But the next question�for you is from Peter and it reads: "why does the methodology step one not start with defining�problems and how many people are impacted"?

>>Emile Tompa: I can start but each of the hubs has different�areas of entry points for their research. I I think it I would say yes it does, because our first�area of of work with our partners identifying priority areas based on gaps and challenges that�our partners have identified as being really important to address, so it is trying to figure out�where's the best use of our time at the front end that we can work to solve and and get past and and�and understand how to move move the needle forward. Um because there's lots to be done and we can't do�it all. So we have to be particular, not do it all not all at one time. So I think so we need to prioritize, and our�partners really help that five-step methodology at the front end. Working with our partners was�a deliberative process to intentionally identify what are the priority gaps and challenges that�we need to address.

Sometimes that's identified through the the lived experiences of our partners�working in this policy arena. Sometimes it also can be validated with data when we look at statistics�from um you know wherever it's from, the CSD Canadian Survey of Disability, we can see where there's key�gaps what sectors you know, it seem to not be employing a lot of persons with disabilities. What�the lived experiences are of certain subsets of the population that we're targeting to understand�what their challenges are so it it really has to start there with where the needs are, are and and�I think we do work that way.

>>Rebecca Gewurtz:Yeah and in some cases um we're building off of past work. So in in many�cases, problem de definition has has been done in past work so we don't want to repeat that work, we�want to build on it, so it depends as Emile said, in you know, the the space and what what exists and�what where where we're starting from.

>>Dan Samosh: Great and another question here, uh that I think also has�a broader question attached to it. it's around if there is any connection with the Ability Expo?�uh and I think maybe um a question to add to it is, how can potential partners get engaged�with IDEA.

>>Rebecca Gewurtz: You want to start, um well I don't know the specific answer, because I don't think I�have personally connected with the Ability Expo but I don't want to speak for you Emile. Um but what I�can say about the second part of that question around connecting with us is please reach out, you know we we are working, we we want to connect uh broadly and um connect people to the right hub�that is operating. So uh send us an email or reach out through our website when it's more, when it's�up and fully running, um and you know we'd love to connect to people and hear the kinds of�things that you're doing in this space and potentially collaborate um when appropriate. But�I'll turn it to you and.

>>Emile Tompa: Yeah no I'm glad you're doing that shout out, yeah do connect with us. We're easy to find while we don't have our website listed here, um if you Google either of our names:�Rebecca Gewurtz, Emile Tompa or Dan Samosh or any of our other key um um Partners um you'll find us quite�readily so do reach out.

That's really exciting for people want to get join on be part of this process�and and and work with us to make change. We have to as I mentioned work together to make change um�the the Abilities Expo, I've heard of it, we've not directly been involved in it just yet but I'm�glad you're pointing it out. Whenever we hear about these things, we actually have a a list of of these�various um opportunities to to to speak to the audience that we're trying to reach out to to to,�to present what what we're doing in different um venues kind of things. So we definitely will put�that on our list and think about how we can engage with with the folks that attend the Abilities�Expo; and great to see these all of these forums you know happening throughout the year across�the country kind of thing, because we want to be there if we can and and and get connected with�whoever is you know attending those those venues.

>>Dan Samosh: Thank you, I just want to acknowledge too we�have um an attendee who wants to ask a question anonymously. I think right now in the moment, I'm�not quite sure how to do that within the session but we're going to work towards perhaps in the�future a more streamlined way of doing that, and please send any one of us an email uh involved in�the presentation here and we'll make sure that we get to your question. Uh Probably just after the�session.

Um I think possibly our last question just because of the time we have, this question comes from Sue�and reads "Can an employer be disability confident but not meet minimum legislative requirements for accommodation and accessibility"? and then they added a quotation you don't know what you�don't know.

>>Emile Tompa: Okay so good question um yeah um in in I the way I define that construct it is a construct that we need to kind of put some words around and ideas around it kind of thing, I�think of it as as um a point where you feel you're very familiar with the space, and what you need�to do to be a good actor in that space right, so that you're you're confident that you can find�the solutions. Um even if you don't have all of them yourself, no one person or one organization is�going to have all the answers they need to reach out and get supports but they're confident that there are solutions out there.

There's a lot of services out there that will provide guidance�so you know that those that guidance will be available to you and and you're comfortable with�that process of of of finding those solutions sort of things. So it's not that you have all�the answers, but you're comfortable so if you for some reason are are conscious of the need�to be compliant with the legislation but you want to double check, you know there's lots of�there's some great guidance for on about the Accessible Canada Act and accessibility planning�and reporting that's available currently on on the Federal government's websites to give you some�guidance. And and somebody who's disability confident knows that they can find that guidance and�the help that they need to to become compliant. So it's it's not necessarily meant to be a term�that means by necessity you're compliant but certainly it's somebody who's who's working�in that space that's familiar with where to find the solutions um and and and it doesn't you know shy away from it. Does doesn't have preconceived ideas and stigma about the talent pool that's out�there and so knows that they they can find those the way forward readily enough and so I'm I'm�not sure if it's synonymous with disability confidence and and um compliance, but certainly�it takes it's a starting point to get you down to that that path, and hopefully beyond too because�a confident organization doesn't just do the minimum requirements of the law but realizes�the the win-win by being leaders in this space and the talent pool that's out there to tap into.�And and there's I hear about labor shortages all the time. Lots of organizations are struggling�to tap into talent pools to fill positions and and and yet this group of in the labour market�persons with disabilities are are hugely untapped talent. So a disability-confident organization knows�that there's an opportunity there we we act on it and Rebecca did you want to add anything,

>>Rebecca Gewurtz: Um I wasn't I wasn't around, no I think what Emile has said is probably as comprehensive�as um as as I could say. So thank you and for that's.

>>Dan Samosh: Great. Well we're just wrapping up�now we're very close to 1 p.m., so I think now is a good time to thank the presenters�um and as well the team who has helped make sure this is possible, who has coordinated all�of this, um particularly thinking of �Eakam Grewal, Therese Salenieks,
Sabrina Chaudhry, and both Emile and Rebecca for being here today and also helping to coordinate things. I want to note we do have a next webinar it'll be January 26th stay tuned for more information on the idea website uh and also through our um newsletter as well and please do remember after this webinar a survey will pop up if you can fill it out about accessibility or anything else uh we would really really appreciate your feedback. So yeah thank you everyone for sharing some of�your Friday with us and have a nice weekend.