11:00, 02 February 2021
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
Japan’s biggest private funder for social innovation, The Nippon Foundation, is investing $5 million into efforts to improve disability inclusion in business. The donation is the largest ever investment in disabled business inclusion and will support The Valuable 500, a network of global CEOs advancing equal opportunities for disabled people across the world.
With the funding, The Valuable 500 will launch the second phase of its global campaign focused on building representation for disabled people at work. Including some of the biggest brands in the world, the community will roll out products and services designed to materially improve the world of business for disabled people.
Following the announcement, Mr Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of The Nippon Foundation said: “It is truly a special day as we officially announce our partnership with The Valuable 500. The Nippon Foundation has been in constant pursuit of supporting persons with disabilities around the world since our establishment in 1962, and we have invested more than $1.3 billion in education and social welfare since then.
“Having spent a major part of my life supporting marginalized people left behind the mainstream of society, I am fully convinced that supporting minority disability groups just by reaching out to public institutions such as governments and the United Nations will not bring about effective social change. Unless the majority of society changes, the world will never change.”
With the goal of changing the world for disabled people through business, The Valuable 500 was launched in Davos in January 2019. It remains the only global CEO community dedicated to radically transforming business for the benefit of all those with a disability.
In two years, over 400 CEOs have joined this network. So they are nearly at their goal of 500 partners, with prominent members including Coca Cola, Nestle, Prada, Siemens, Microsoft, Google, Unilever and Virgin. But this means they have yet further to go to empower a larger number of disabled employees.
Founder of The Valuable 500 Caroline Casey commented: “As we approach the second-year anniversary of the creation of The Valuable 500, I am honoured to see so many organisations and global voices step up and take a stand for disability inclusion - however, we are not there yet. Millions of people globally are still being forgotten and left out due to a difference.”
Currently, disabled people make up 15 per cent of the global population. This jumps to 53 per cent when you factor in the families of disabled people. Businesses cannot afford to exclude such a large pool of talent, diverse ideas and customers with an annual spending capacity of $8 trillion.
If you work for a multinational corporation interested in supporting inclusivity for disabled people in business, you can register your interest to join via their website. By joining the Valuable 500 you pledge to include disability on your board’s agenda, make one commitment to immediate action and share information about your commitment with The Valuable 500 and to the public.
