The Valuable 500 Gain Further Momentum with 'Generation Valuable' on the Anniversary of ADA

- Today, the Valuable 500 announce 28 adopters of its leadership up mentoring programme for people with disabilities from members spanning 4 continents

- Generation Valuable participants will be paired with a mentor at C-Suite level within their organisation and will explore each of the Valuable 500's transformation pillars

- Early adopters include EY, ITV and Telefonica

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the 32^nd anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). This changed the world as we know it by activating legislation which provided people with disabilities access to buildings, equitable education and made it illegal to discriminate against a qualified person for employment.

It is important to recognise the strides we have made towards disability inclusion ? there is further progress to be made. The way society views disability needs to evolve, dispelling the myth that disability is something to pity or fear. By changing this and recognising how disabled people enrich communities, society will be empowered to ensure disabled people are included.

'Generation Valuable' will serve as an unique leadership opportunity for people with disabilities to build the future of the corporate C-Suite, driving disability inclusion through systematic change and revolutionising the boardrooms of tomorrow. It will identify and build a community of disabled talent who importantly share their experiences upward to inform the C-suite of today about how to make businesses more inclusive.

Caroline Casey, Founder, the Valuable 500, commented:

"This initiative proves that there is an array of disabled talent within businesses, and that they are more than capable of occupying positions of power and leadership. Enabling disabled talent to flourish and reach their full potential by shattering glass ceilings is a game changer. The Valuable 500 is striving to radically change the awful results of research conducted by Tortoise Media that found that 'no FTSE company had a senior leader or above who identified as having a disability.'"

The complete list of early adopters includes:

• Alstom
• ATOS
• AXA Group
• Boston Consulting Group
• Centrica
• Channel 4
• Clifford Chance
• Coles Group
• Deloitte
• Enel
• EY
• Fidelity International
• HSBC
• ISS/AS
• ITV
• L'Oréal
• Macquarie Group
• Mahindra
• Nielsen
• MSD
• Omnicom Group
• Ottobock
• P&G
• Reach PLC
• Roche
• Springer Nature
• TD Bank Group 
• Telefonica

Carolyn McCall, CEO, ITV, commented:

"ITV is excited to be a part of the inaugural Valuable 500 Generation Valuable programme. Employers cannot ignore the striking under representation of d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people in their workforce, and we at ITV are committed to taking steps across multiple fronts to ensure our culture is inclusive, attractive and accessible to the best talent out there. Senior leaders play an important role in culture, so leadership programmes such as this can have powerful ripple effects."

Find out more about The Valuable 500 here.