London, March 20th: Sainsbury’s and Omnicom have today demonstrated their commitment to disability inclusion by announcing they have become members of The Valuable 500, a global campaign which strives to place disability at the top of business agendas.

The news was announced today by founder of #valuable and disability activist and social entrepreneur Caroline Casey who took to the stage of Advertising Week Europe alongside former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, to urge global business leaders to recognise the business case for including the world’s 1 billion disabled people.

The event included a screening of DIVERSISH, a satirical look at businesses that call themselves diverse, but overlook, ignore or postpone anything to do with disability. The film calls for business leaders to stop being diversish and commit to action on disability inclusion.

I am honoured to welcome the latest cohort of leading companies, Sainsbury’s and Omnicom, on board as our movement grows. Without leaders stepping up and facing the challenge of this inclusion revolution, the 1 billion disabled people around the world won’t achieve the equality they deserve.

Business is a force for good and we must use it to lead society. By ignoring the disposable income of the disabled people worldwide, we are ignoring $8 trillion a year, this is equivalent to the US, Brazil, Indonesia and Pakistan combined – we cannot ignore this

Caroline Casey, Founder of #valuable

 

Casey launched The Valuable 500 at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Summit in Davos
in January, and is urging global business leaders to become accountable for disability inclusion in their businesses by signing up to the campaign.

The campaign recognises that when businesses take the lead and take action, society will follow leading to real change being made. It is seeking 500 global businesses to place disability on their board agendas.

The news that Sainsbury’s and Omnicom are pledging their support to the campaign, comes just weeks after the first ten members were announced, with the campaign hinting at advanced conversations with many other global companies.

During a session entitled ‘The Business Revolution for Inclusion’, Casey and Polman took to task businesses that claim to be diverse but exclude disability from their definition of diversity – businesses Casey coins diversish.

We’re extremely proud to be pledging our support to The Valuable 500. As part of our vision to be the most inclusive retailer, we are always looking for ways to improve and adapt to meet our customers’ and colleagues’ needs, as evidenced by our ongoing focus on inclusion and diversity at Board level. We want to continue to demonstrate best practice in this area and would encourage other companies to join us by leading from the top and taking action, to create an accessible environment for all.

Tim Fallowfield, Company Secretary , Corporate Services Director and Board Sponsor for Disability Age and Carers for Sainsbury’s

Addressing and improving disability inclusion is a long-term and necessary commitment for any business that hopes to have a truly diverse workforce. At Omnicom, creating a safe and open environment for all employees is a constant priority, and we’re excited to join The Valuable 500 in its efforts to improve business behaviors, break down barriers and create more job opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Janet Riccio, EVP at Omnicom and Dean of Omnicon University

 

Today, over one billion people across the world live with some form of disability – 15% of the global population, or 1 in 7 people – but their value is routinely ignored by business, equivalent to disregarding a potential market the size of US, Brazil, Indonesia and Pakistan combined.

The current global employment rate for disabled people is half that of non-disabled people, a gap that has widened since 2010. According to the World Health Organisation, up to half of businesses in OECD countries choose to pay fines rather than meet quotas on disability.

Along with their friends, families and communities, the one 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 one billion, 80% of disabilities are acquired later life, and our ageing global population means the prevalence of disability is on the rise.

#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, Paul Polman, Janet Riccio and EY Chairman & CEO Mark Weinberger.

Founder of #valuable Caroline Casey launched the Valuable 500 at DAVOS in January, with the support of global business leaders, including former CEO of Unilever Paul Polman, Bloomberg Chairman Peter T Grauer and Procter & Gamble Group President, North America, Caroline Tastad. This was the first time the World Economic Forum has ever included disability on the main stage at DAVOS.

#valuable is a catalyst for an inclusion revolution that exists to position disability equally on the global business leadership agenda. It is spearheaded by award-winning activist, social entrepreneur and Binc founder Caroline Casey, who is registered blind.

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.

Caroline set off on a boundary-pushing, month-long 1,000-kilometre horse adventure through Colombia to the opening ceremony of One Young World to engage next generation leaders with the power to make change.

Caroline took to the One Young World stage once more in 2018, speaking about the Inclusion Revolution.

To apply to be a Valuable 500 business, please use the contact form below.

Media contacts.

For interviews and further information, please contact:

Eloise Keightley, Seven Hills.

Richard Poston, Director of Communications, the Valuable 500.

Notes to Editors.

Applying for Membership of The Valuable 500.

To apply to be a Valuable 500 business, please visit thevaluable500.com. Membership of The Valuable 500 includes:

By becoming a member of The Valuable 500, you agree to:

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 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.

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.