It’s called the Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA) initiative. This new, six-year research initiative — being done with $9 million in federal funding — is taking a new, different approach to disability and employment research. One that has the potential to change the conversation about disability inclusion in business and employment. We talk with…
Podcasts
You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D is the Ontario Disability Employment Network’s podcast, launched in 2020.
Our show season runs from April to November.
Each episode we bring you insightful conversations with expert guests that explore from all the angles, the power of disability inclusion in business…in employment…in education…and in our communities…and why disability is an important part of the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility conversation.
Curious about how we came up with that name? The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) business conversation still too often focuses on gender and ethnicity only. Disability is left out or is an afterthought. We believe that you can’t really have inclusion without including disability in the conversation. Hence, You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D.
The podcast is co-hosted by Amy Widdows, ODEN’s new CEO, and Dean Askin, our Communications Strategist. Amy stepped in as the new co-host starting in 2025, with Season 6.
Jeannette Campbell, ODEN’s previous CEO, co-hosted the podcast for five seasons (Episodes 1 to 30).
You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D is hosted on Podbean, and available wherever you download your favourite podcasts.
Production staff
Executive Producer/Co-Host — Amy Widdows
Executive Producer/Co-Host (Seasons 1 to 5, Episodes 1 to 30) — Jeannette Campbell
Producer — Sue Dafoe
Associate Producer/Co-Host — Dean Askin
Audio Production — Dean Askin
Business leaders can no longer make excuses for not fostering disability inclusion, the leaders of The Valuable 500 declare in this episode. Caroline Casey, founder and creator of The Valuable 500, affirms that they must “be curious and intentional about making change,” and urges leaders to “Go into your people, ask your people in business…
Have you heard the term, Hidden Mobility Disabilities, or HMD, before? There are actually over 500,000 Canadians who live with HMD. It’s an aspect of disability that’s not obvious, and often overlooked. And it’s one that creates some significant obstacles to inclusion and accessibility. In this episode of You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D,…
In this episode, we’re bringing some young voices into the show — Voices of Tomorrow. That’s both the name of a new report that’s the subject of this episode, and it describes our two guests. Sarah Julius is a first-year university student at The University of Windsor, Ontario. Natalia Ayala Giraldo is a Grade 12…
If you’re at any point on a disability-inclusion journey in your business, be sure to catch the new episode that’s out today. What a great conversation with John Robinson, the founder of Our Ability and Jobs Ability U.S. Thanks to John for sharing so many business and personal insights about his journey creating Our Ability…
Virtual reality (VR) is mostly known as the realm of gamers. But now — in Ontario, at least — it’s about to burst on the scene in the disability employment sector. Initially, starting at the end of September 2021 (through to the middle of March 2022), VR technology called VjobReady is going to be used…
In this episode, we explore why people who have a disability are the “secret weapon,” or, “secret sauce,” for businesses — and just what that means. A conversation with two C-Suite business leaders: Paul M. Clark and Derek Burleton of TD. Paul is President of TD Direct Investing and Executive Vice-President of TD Bank Group….
A conversation with Canada’s Federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough; and Zahra Jadavji, Accenture Managing Director and the firm’s Inclusion and Diversity Lead for Canada.