PurpleSpace

We thank each and every one of you who joined our first ever Global Disability ERG Summit sponsored by Financial Times, Motability Operations Ltd and MSD at Bracken House on 15 October, whether you came in-person or joined us online. As a reminder, the global PurpleSpace community of disability ERG leaders has identified that they want their organizations to prioritize: 1. Improving policy and practice by routinely learning directly from their own employees and customers with disabilities. 2. Investing in a visible and effective workplace adjustment/accommodation service. 3. Normalizing the experience of disability by routinely delivering storytelling campaigns (that includes the experiences of senior executives with disabilities). As we dive into evaluation mode, we will assess the extent of our reach an impact. Some early numbers include: ☑️ Convening nearly 200 disability ERG leaders at Local Hub events in 12 locations (from New York to Nairobi, Hong Kong to Hyderabad, Mexico City to Melbourne). ☑️ Welcoming over 100 disability ERG Leaders, champions and allies at our in-person Summit anchor event with a further 150 joining virtually. ☑️ Sharing messages about the Summit and the impact of disability ERGs with the Financial Times’ 21 million readers (32% being C-Suite leaders). ☑️ 10.7K Summit-related post impressions on LinkedIn over a 7-day period. We are carrying out a thorough evaluation with all key stakeholders and will publish a summary impact report and video by the end of November 2024. 📆 For now, you can register your interest in attending, hosting or sponsoring our Global Disability ERG Summit on 15 October 2026 here https://lnkd.in/eDYKPx_g ID: All in person attendees and speakers squeeze into four lines on the stage after the summit, offering their best smiles for the camera. The tallest of the guests in the back row skim the low ceilings! In the foreground are two of the delegate tables, surrounded by chairs from the day's event.

Our co-Managing Director, Brendan Roach joins the panel of Business Disability Forum's Global Conference next month. Register now to hear from Brendan and PurpleSpace members Renee Anastasi from HSBC and Amber Singsayachack from SLB

#PositivelyPurple 2024 is sponsored by Novartis and Motability Operations Ltd, in association with Tesco. 🌏 The global #PositivelyPurple movement celebrates the contribution of employees with disabilities around the world every 3 December 2024. PurpleSpace has been leading this movement since 2017: our mark of respect to the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) held annually on 3rd December. In 2024 #PositivelyPurple will: ☑️ Publish new guidance and case studies on how disability ERGs can extend their reach and impact to disabled colleagues working in ‘operational’ roles from warehouses to contact centres to ambulances to off-shore oil rigs and beyond. ☑️ Coordinate global action in the run up to 3 December so that organisations, ERG/Network leaders and executive sponsors talk about the role and impact of their disability ERG/Networks in a consistent and powerful way, on organisation websites and in professional profiles. PurpleSpace members can access more information about how to participate in the global #PositivelyPurple movement in our 2024 Member Support Toolkit available here https://lnkd.in/eN_JZUsT

A pleasure to host the PurpleSpace #GlobalDisabilityERGSummit last week at the Financial Times HQ last week. The day was filled with insights, panel discussions covering ‘How disability ERGs are providing a disability lens to strategic priorities and Developing the inner confidence of employees with disabilities’ and more. A huge thank you 🙏🏽 to PurpleSpace and Kate Nash OBE 💜 for trusting us to host this day and biggest thanks to Jacqui Dobson for bringing this partnership to life! #PositivelyPurple 💜#Disability #ERGs #DisabilityERG #Inclusion #Accessibility

This week I had the honour of participating in a panel discussion for PurpleSpace Gloval Disability ERG Summit #GlobalSummit , discussing reasonable workplace adjustments and accommodations with Diane @Rosie Momanyi and Andy Garrett Such a great event with so much enthusiasm and energy in the room. I met some wonderful people and look forward to continuing to grow blue light ERGs. Thank you to Reena Parmar for being such a wonderful person and giving me a fab pep talk! (and for some great photos!) - a genuinely lovely, kind spirit, I hope our paths cross again soon. Belinda May, it was a pleasure to meet you in person and I hope to have the opportunity to meet again soon for a longer conversation. Mohammad Koheeallee and Daniel Wiles, thank you for your company and sharing some of the wonderful things you are doing to support our community. looking forward to seeing the LinkedIn updates of the great work. Well done to Brendan Roach, Sally Owen and Kirstie Wilson and the PurpleSpace team for a fabulous event 💜 And Kate Nash OBE 💜, a pleasure as always and I promise not to cry the next time we meet! 💜

It’s been a crazy week speaking at an event and connecting with so many inspiring people, I just wanted to stop a take a few moments to reflect on an amazing week.   This week I attended the inaugural Accessible Learning Foundation (ALF) event, first listening to a great presentation by Sabrina Menasria about how #organisations can better #support colleagues with #neurodiversity, taking away some interesting stats I can use to support the work we are doing here at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB (CCEP). Also joining a panel discussion with Ben Corbridge and Dan Harris FRSA hosted by Matt Hancock, discussing what organisations can do practically to support their colleagues.

I was then extremely privileged to attend the first ever PurpleSpace Global ERG Summit, I had the honour of listening to some great talks and conversations, around #disability in the workplace, listening to stories from executive leaders with a disability and how they navigated the space. It highlights the importance of the #representation of #senior and #executive leaders with a disability in #businesses. An event that left me feeling energised and inspired to keep pushing forward with some of the great work we are continuing to undertake here at CCEP.

Thank you to Kate Nash OBE 💜 Brendan Roach Sally Owen & Kirstie Wilson for giving me the opportunity to connect with other disability #ERG #leaders, it’s reassuring when talking to others that we are all seemingly facing similar challenges, but by connecting and working together we can ensure those problems are just speed bumps in the road that we’ll no doubt navigate together.

This week really shows me, that everyone in is this space is making a true difference, though we still have a way to go but we are absolutely on the right path. #WeAreCCEP #CCEPGB #DisabilityConfident

Today’s post continues on the theme of community - the disability community. In fact, this is perfect timing because on Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending the first PurpleSpace Global ERG Summit 2024, and also had the honour of speaking on a panel about the next phase of change (a nice easy topic - not!). I’m still processing everything I heard on the day - I will come back to that in a future post. The energy in the room was electric. And the people - oh the people! Welcoming, engaged, empathetic, inspiring and supportive people - each and every single one of them is a hero, working each day towards a better future for disabled people. The organisations represented in the room represented some of the biggest names in business. And their disability ERG leaders are helping those organisations build disability inclusion and confidence inwards and externally. These role models are the future of business - and the future is looking like it will be a beautiful shade of purple. Kate Nash OBE 💜 has created a beautiful community, one that I am so grateful to be part of. One where I feel heard, valued and understood. I had the pleasure of meeting some extraordinary people there: *Christophe Desproges (He, Him, His) (immediately gave me a hug when he heard that I was a bit nervous about speaking on my panel) *Dave Russell (gave me pep talks throughout the day) *Dawn Poulson Whelan MSc, BA (Hons), DipEd, FSET (who was nervous about her speaking slot but absolutely smashed it. And she gave me a beautiful purple pin from the ambulance service after we had a great conversation about nerves) *Phil Whaite (I feel like we are now kindred spirits. He is doing great things on disability at A&O Shearman) *Jacqui Dobson (a powerhouse on all things D&I at the FT) *Belinda May (this lady and I have a soul connection. She is beautiful inside and out, and she embodies compassion and humanity. The room was riveted when she spoke because her presence is so powerful. I’m incredibly fortunate to have her as a mentor and champion) *Jean Co (funny, tells it like it is, and their energy is contagious) And so many others! I also want to echo a point made by Giles Barker BEM, about celebrating our unsung heroes. This is so important. Sharon Grennan, sorry (but not really) for giving you an unexpected shout out as my unsung hero yesterday 🙏🏽. You deserve this for all the meaningful work you do behind the scenes. Thank you to Brendan Roach and Sally Owen for inviting me to be part of this truly brilliant day. I am humbled by your trust and faith in me 🙏🏽 Together, this community of warriors is going to turn the world purple! #Community #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityAtWork Image descriptions in the comments below.

This week, Donna Platt from our AVI team joined the world’s first Global Disability ERG/Network Summit. The summit was launched by PurpleSpace, a professional development hub for disability network leaders. ABM is a Founding Strategic Partner of PurpleSpace, committed to creating inclusive and safe spaces for its team members and for its clients’ staff and customers. One of the initiatives ABM has introduced is a Pan-Disability Team Member Forum, where its network of disabled team members work alongside identified champions across the business. The Summit highlighted that businesses and role models need to drive empowerment to make inclusivity impactful both in the workplace and for customers. At ABM, we are committed to creating safe spaces and groups for our team members to share experiences, which also helps us to gain a greater understanding of the needs of our PRM guests and passengers who have similar disabilities. Well done to everyone involved in hosting such a fantastic event and thank you to all of the speakers. #PRM #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityAtWork #PurpleSpaceSummit

On Tuesday I had the honour to attend the Global Disability ERG Summit in London! Thank you PurpleSpace for this fantastic event! As Co-Chairman of the Microsoft France Disability ERG and as Co-Coms Lead of our Global Disability ERG, I was simply amazed by the quality of the panel discussions, the energy, the passion that everyone distilled throughout the day. As an ERG Leader at Microsoft, I rarely have the occasion to speak with ERG and D&I Leaders from other companies and it was simply mind blowing to feel part of a global community! After checking my notebook this morning, here are few thoughts, shares from the day that inspired me. - 'People with Disabilities should not only participate, but Lead, Innovate and Thrive' - 'Educate rather than judge' - 'Use Leadership privileges to help other leaders change their view about Disability' - 'We also need to look at our ability and not our Disability' - For ERG Leaders, 'Keep the list of asks to a manageable level' - Reverse mentoring for Business Leaders and Employees with Disabilities is essential to bring awareness - 'If you're not inclusive, you are simply excluding others!' - Business Leaders need to focus on How to help us help others - 'The Stories connect us!' - 'Passionate people about disability must come and learn!' - 'Data with a purple a soul': thank you Kate Nash OBE 💜, that is so inspiring and yes when talking about Disability, we also need to share positivity and not only our daily challenges and show our full Humanity! I could carry on for hours but yes that very first ever Global Disability ERG Summit inspired me, reinforced my passion for ERGs and I feel so privilege to have so many new friends around the Globe! Thank you everyone at PurpleSpace for creating that safe space, with so much caring and sharing during the day 🙏. Being ERG leaders can be draining at time. That is voluntary work, on top of our daily jobs and many of us sometimes feel advocacy fatigue, but today Yes I feel stronger, more equipped to continue on my mission as an ERG Leader! Thank you to Karen Smith and Sarah Bender for giving me that opportunity to represent our Microsoft Global Disability ERG at this amazing event. Thank you Lara Próspero for allowing to follow my passion for others and develop my knowledge of communities. As we often talk together, Collective Intelligence is much stronger! Thank you everyone for being on that journey to create an Inclusive World! Can't wait for the 2026 Summit Brendan Roach and Kate Nash OBE 💜! #ERG #Community #Inclusion #GlobalERGDisabilitySummit

I had the privilege of attending the Global Disability ERG Summit hosted by PurpleSpace at the Financial Times offices last Tuesday. It was an inspiring event that reinforced the essential role of inclusivity in driving innovation and growth. 💡 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 & 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. Why? Because innovation often stems from the unique perspectives of those with "special needs" - and the life sciences sector primarily serves people living with disabilities. Some key takeaways: - Inclusivity can be intimidating but it doesn't have to be difficult — it’s about planning, listening, and engaging - It’s not just about creating solutions for a group of people — it’s about realising that they are the solution to create a more rounded ecosystem for all - ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) aren’t just support systems; they’re catalysts for innovation. I particularly enjoyed listening to Sumaira Latif's example of how she got her ERG involved for designing a laundry pods box safe for children, but still accessible to adults with special needs Thank you to PurpleSpace and the Financial Times for hosting such a powerful event where no one, I think, was excluded 😊