Business leaders in Indianapolis recognize that a company’s workforce is enhanced when it is diverse – that is, when its members bring different perspectives and ideas. But ensuring that a workplace is diverse entails more than hiring people of color. It means enriching the workplace with employees with different backgrounds, characteristics, employment histories, qualifications and training whose breadth of experience can inform and illuminate.

The Indianapolis Business Leadership Network is a group of local businesspeople who view people with disabilities as an untapped labor pool at a time when some businesses desperately need skilled workers.

Network members know the potential of these individuals, and they promote hiring people with disabilities in several ways, including job fairs, where employers and job seekers with disabilities can connect, and networking events, through which job seekers or students with disabilities are matched with employers’ representatives for a day of job shadowing that allows them to get a taste for the world of work.