Sept. 25, 2001
GW Sponsors DC’s Business Leaders Network
Takes the Lead in Encouraging Area Businesses to Hire
Persons with Disabilities
By Maureen
Fleming
Last May, when Cynthia Richardson-Crooks, director of GW’s Office
of Equal Employment Activities, heard that the Marriott Metro would
no longer sponsor the District of Columbia Business Leaders Network
(DCBLN), she knew GW would be perfect for the job. Crooks submitted
a proposal to the board, convinced them of the advantages of having
a nonprofit “corporate” sponsor, and was selected.
“My genuine enthusiasm for the disability community and the passion
I have, not to mention the name recognition of GW” helped in being
awarded the sponsorship, Richardson-Crooks says.
The DCBLN is a chapter member of the National Business Leaders Network,
formed in 1994 as a result of the President’s Committee on Employment
of Persons with Disabilities. In the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA), local BLNs across the United States gather employers who
are committed to hiring persons with disabilities.
In the District, the Mayor’s Committee on Employment of Persons
with Disabilities formed the local chapter in 1996. The DCBLN educates
and supports member businesses and also strives to set an example to
non-member businesses in the District.
“I envision this partnership as a catalyst which will begin to
open the doors of employment opportunity for qualified individuals with
disabilities,” says DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams. “I plan
to support this initiative, and I encourage all businesses to include
the skills and abilities of workers with disabilities in their DC workforce.”
As the corporate sponsor of the group, GW will host monthly meetings
(which began Sept. 12), organize speakers, and maintain informative
mailings for local members. GW looks to increase membership and encourages
corporations and nonprofits as well as other area universities to join
the DCBLN.
Increasing membership is the most significant challenge Richardson-Crooks
foresees with the sponsorship. “But I’ve already been politicking,”
she says.
“It is an honor to have been selected as the corporate sponsor
of the DCBLN,” says GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. “As
GW takes the lead, we encourage other DC employers to support the DCBLN’s
efforts to increase the hiring of persons with disabilities.”
According to the national BLC Web site, the design of the program hinges
on the fundamental business principle that “success breeds success.”
When employers discuss the benefits of hiring candidates with disabilities,
than other companies are inspired to do the same.
“While stereotypes are slowly being replaced with attitudes of
inclusion, the disability community remains, largely, an untapped resource,”
Richardson-Crooks says. “Our aim, therefore, is to educate employers
on the benefits they will receive from hiring a person with a disability.”
Thirty-one states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have local
BLN chapters, each with its own corporate sponsor. There is no limit
as to how long GW can serve as sponsor.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
