NDEAM Campaign
National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is an annual October campaign promoting disability inclusion in business and the workplace.
There’s a lot of power in disability-inclusive hiring.
ODEN’s annual NDEAM campaign
Each year ODEN leads a themed campaign for its members to raise disability-inclusive employment awareness. Annual themes have included Driving the Future of Work with Disability Inclusion, The Disability Inclusion Evolution and The Power of Inclusion.
Our annual NDEAM campaign focuses on the many ways disability-inclusive hiring:
- Changes employees’ lives and helps them succeed in the workplace
- Enables businesses to fill required roles from the talent pool of people who have a disability
- Allows businesses to increase productivity, employee engagement and profitability
- Drives cultural change within a business
- Strengthens brand reputation and customer loyalty for many businesses
- Is a key factor in staying competitive and successful, for businesses across all sectors
- Benefits communities, businesses and the economy
The annual NDEAM campaign is designed to get you thinking…to motivate you to get involved…to drive action on disability inclusion.
For ODEN members, this campaign supports them in their efforts to:
- Educate businesses about community employment services
- Spread the word about the benefits of disability-inclusive hiring
- Raise businesses’ awareness about disability — test your knowledge by taking our quiz (French version)
- Help local businesses with their plans for growth and success
Light It Up! For NDEAM is a national lighting event held the third Thursday of every October. It’s the main event of our annual NDEAM campaign. There’s no other event quite like this one during National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Find out more about Light It Up! For NDEAM and how to get involved in the 2024, fifth-anniversary event.
Participating in NDEAM is easy
We created an NDEAM PR Kit that’s updated and expanded every year. It’s packed with downloadable resources (many in English and French) available for anyone to use. You can use some, or all, of the kit elements to get involved in raising awareness about how and why disability inclusion is essential.
The kit is available in mid-to-late September every year. Watch for the NDEAM 2024 PR Kit in September 2024!
Why NDEAM is important
Astute business leaders understand that diversity includes disability. They understand that when their business goals and disability inclusion are closely aligned, that inclusion can drive future business success.
In all, 85% of businesses surveyed globally for The Valuable Truth Report 2022 are actively working on removing barriers to employment.
Here are some facts and statistics that show why continuously educating and informing people about disability inclusion, is vital:
- The number of Canadians who have a disability is increasing, especially as the population ages.
- Disability is the largest minority group in the world — one that any one of us can join at any time because disability will affect all of us at some point in our lives.
- The disability talent community is under-represented and underemployed in Canada. There are about 645,000 Canadians who have a disability who can — and want to — work. Businesses are missing out on this talent, the contributions to companies they make and the business benefits of disability-inclusive hiring.
- Consumer spending by Canadians who have a disability is expected to rise to 21% from 14% of the total consumer market by 2030.
- In business, creating a disability-inclusive culture starts with the CEO. Yet, according to research by The Valuable 500, only 4% of top executives have disclosed their disability. There is still a fear and stigma that in leadership roles, having a disability isn’t acceptable.
Questions about NDEAM?
For more information about National Disability Employment Awareness Month and our annual NDEAM campaign, contact Dean Askin, Communications Strategist.
Email: daskin@odenetwork.com
Office phone: 1-866-280-6336 ext. 107