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More global brands pledge support of the Valuable 500 campaign calling for 500 of the most influential business leaders and their brands to ignite systemic change by unlocking the business, social and economic value of the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities around the world.
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ATOS, Boeing, Citibanamex, EY, Firmenich SA, ManpowerGroup, Merlin Entertainments, Sanofi, West Ham United, Xceed and Zurich named as latest organisations to join The Valuable 500.
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This brings the total number of global businesses who have pledged to become accountable to disability inclusion to 25.
London, 16th May: Today, ATOS, Boeing, Citibanamex, EY, Firmenich SA, ManpowerGroup, Merlin Entertainments, Sanofi, West Ham United, Xceed and Zurich join The Valuable 500 movement by committing to put disability on their leadership agendas.
Since the launch at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, momentum has continued to build as businesses recognise the strong business case for inclusion of the 1.3 billion people living with a disability. The number of businesses signed up to become accountable has doubled to 25 businesses – totalling over 2 million employees, with conversation ongoing with a further 120 global brands and more announcements set to happen shortly.
Today, over one billion people across the world live with some form of disability – 15% of the global population. The current global employment rate for disabled people is half that of non-disabled people, a gap that has widened since 2010.
The Valuable 500 represents the first truly global campaign of disability inclusion with businesses from UK, US, Spain, Australia, Ireland, Mexico, France and Switzerland signing up. The Valuable 500 recognises that when businesses take the lead and take action, society will follow leading to real change being made.
The Valuable 500 launched at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Summit in Davos in January. Other global brands that have already signed up include Virgin Media, BraunAbility, Cinepolis, Unilever, Barclays, Accenture, Microsoft, Fujitsu, APM, Omnicom Group, Cerealto Siro, Bloomberg, Sainsburys and Danske Bank.
Along with their friends, families and communities, the 1.3 billion disabled people worldwide also hold a disposable annual income of $8 trillion a year, equating to an opportunity that business cannot afford to ignore. Of those 1.3 billion, 80% of disabilities are acquired in later life, and our ageing global population means the prevalence of disability is on the rise.
Within the last week alone the founder of #valuable and The Valuable 500 Caroline
Casey has spoken at an exclusive Omnicom hosted event in New York, the Marketing Society and an event hosted by the Countess of Wessex at St James Palace. Caroline announced the news of the latest companies to sign up at the annual Bloomberg Equality Summit in London.
Being inclusive of customers with disabilities has economic value. In the UK alone, the spending power of people with disabilities and their families has been estimated at £249 billion. For the UK leisure and hospitality sector, the total inclusive tourism market is worth over £12 billion with families having a member with a disability proven to stay longer and spend more.
The Valuable 500 is a catalyst for an inclusion revolution that exists to position disability equally on the global business leadership agenda. The Valuable 500 was established in 2018 following EY research which demonstrates that disability is only discussed by about 4% of global businesses, with an aim to unlock the value of people living with disabilities across the world.
Spearheaded by award-winning activist, social entrepreneur and Binc founder Caroline Casey, who is registered blind, #valuable, the organisation behind the launch of The Valuable 500, is supported by a number of high profile businesses and business leaders, including strategic partners Omnicom and Virgin Media, and leaders including Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group, Paul Polman, former CEO Unilever, Janet Riccio, EVP, Omnicom Group, Peter Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg L.P., and Mark Weinberger, CEO, EY.
In 2017, Caroline launched #valuable at One Young World, the global summit for young leaders, providing a platform to activate a new generation of future leaders who care passionately about disability inclusion and aren’t afraid to be vocal about it.
To apply to be a Valuable 500 business, please use the contact form below.
Media contacts.
Eloise Keightley, Seven Hills.
- Email: [email protected]
Richard Poston, Director of Communications, the Valuable 500.
- Email: [email protected]
Notes to Editors.
Applying for Membership of The Valuable 500.
To apply to be a Valuable 500 business, please use the contact form below.
Membership of The Valuable 500 includes:
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Unlimited access to our executive disability performance resource hub.
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Membership to a community of like-minded business peer leaders, committed to raising their game on disability.
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The platform and opportunity to raise your profile as an early adopter helping to shape this vital emerging economic and societal agenda.
By becoming a member of The Valuable 500, you agree to:
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COMMIT: Table disability on your board agenda from 2019
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ACT: Make ONE firm commitment to action in 2019
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AMPLIFY: Share your commitment to The Valuable 500 internally and externally
About #valuable.
Launched by Binc, #valuable is a campaign working to ensure businesses globally recognise the value of the one billion people around the world living with a disability. We believe that building a global society that recognises the value of the 1.3 billion people living with a disability starts with business. We’re on a mission to make sure businesses across the world recognise the value of the one billion people living with a disability.
Binc was founded by social entrepreneur and activist Caroline Casey in 2015, with a mission to ignite a historic global movement for a new age of business inclusion. Binc is capitalising on Caroline Casey’s 18-year track record of success engaging over 450 organisations and working with 500,000 business leaders. Binc fundamentally believes that inclusive business creates inclusive societies and is initiating a new approach to business that genuinely includes the 1 billion people living in the world with a disability. Binc is the founding team behind valuable, an ambitious global campaign to put inclusivity on top of the business agenda around the world in 2019. Binc is using a tried and tested formula that has worked in the past for gender, race and LGBT to leverage the exponential rise of The Diversity and Inclusion Agenda.
Our definition of disability:
#valuable uses the definition provided by the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with disabilities, which defines a person living with a disability as ‘those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.’
Disability and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The need to advance disability inclusion around the globe is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Disability or ‘persons with disabilities’ are specifically referenced 11 times in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a further six references to ‘persons in vulnerable situations’. Principally with reference to: promoting inclusive economic growth that allows disabled people to fully access the job market and guaranteeing equal and accessible education through the creation of inclusive environments.