New Opportunities for People with Disabilities Post COVID-19

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 11:00 AM PT, 2:00 PM ET

As the pandemic continues, many organizations are wondering how the workplace, and employment opportunities will change for people with disabilities post COVID-19. During this webinar, our speakers will explore what the ‘new normal’ in the workplace might look like for people with disabilities and why the pandemic has changed the expectations of flexible working. The panel will also discuss some positive opportunities that may arise for people with disabilities, as a result of the change in work during the pandemic.

Learning outcomes:

What flexible working could look like post COVID-19
How can employers continue to support flexible working for people with disabilities post COVID-19
What opportunities may arise for people with disabilities as a result of the change in work during the pandemic

Hosted by

Michel Landry

Michel D. Landry is a Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), and the Duke-Margolis Centre for Health Policy at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina (USA). Before this, Dr. Landry spent seven years as Division Chief of the Duke Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Division where he successfully led an important rebuilding of the program that has now grown into one of the top physical therapy programs in the United States. Prior to receiving his doctoral degree, he held clinical and senior management positions within the private rehabilitation sector in Ontario (Canada), and within international humanitarian aid and development agencies. Dr. Landry is a health policy and health services researcher, where his area of study is the policy implication of the gap between available supply (financial and human resources) and increasing demand for rehabilitation and health services across the continuum of care. He is a Past-President of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and a former Career Scientist at the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). He lectures widely on the policy and political dynamics of rehabilitation, and is a provocative advocate for the moral, ethical and economic necessity to ensure accessible and affordable rehabilitation services across the continuum of high, middle and low-income countries.

Shawn de Raaf

Shawn de Raaf, MA., is a Research Director with the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC). His research at SRDC over the past two decades has covered a wide range of topics related to employment, training, income security and community economic development. From 2012 to 2017, he held the position of Research Coordinator for the BC Centre for Employment Excellence, a division of SRDC. He was responsible for overseeing the Centre’s research program to address the knowledge and development needs of the employment services sector and the employer community in BC on issues related to employment programs and practices. In his current role, Mr. de Raaf is leading the development, management and evaluation of large-scale projects that are examining innovative approaches to improving employment service delivery and enabling job seekers to find good jobs. His project portfolio involves research in a variety of thematic areas, including connecting people with disabilities to employment; supporting employers in achieving their diversity, equity and inclusion objectives; providing essential skills training to displaced workers and career development practitioners; and measuring the impact of social purpose organizations. He holds an MA in Public Administration from Carleton University.

Jamie Miller-Dixon

Jamie is the Principal of MacLeod Silver HR Business Partners based in Vancouver, BC and an Inclusive Workforce Consultant with BC Partners in Workforce Innovation. Now in it’s 7th year, BC WiN is a unique recruitment service that helps BC employers connect to the talent pool of people with disabilities/diverse abilities. Jamie has an extensive Human Resources background of over 30 years, specializing in workforce diversity and inclusion, recruitment, training and HR start up. Her experience spans multiple industries. She has developed and delivered diversity training programs for both public and private sector employers. Recently, she co-authored Untapped Talent B2B Guide on Innovative Recruitment and Retention, a resource for employers on how to easily adapt each stage in the recruitment, onboarding and retention process to be able to hire more people with disabilities in their business.

Co-moderated by

Maureen Haan

Maureen has been the President & CEO of CCRW since 2012. CCRW is the only national organization with the sole vision of equitable and meaningful employment for people with disabilities, in operation for over 40 years. Under Maureen’s leadership, CCRW has seen an increase in direct program service throughout Canada, as well as a more transparent, streamlining of understanding the business case of hiring a person with a disability. Maureen has been very active in the cross-disability sector, currently focusing on employment issues. She has been involved with numerous committees and groups that increase awareness of and access for the disability sector and the Deaf community, including involvement with Civil Society on the UN Convention of Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as the lead for employment for persons with disabilities – specifically Article 27; leadership with the Conference on Work and Disability in Canada; co-development and leadership of the pan-Canadian Strategy on Disability and Work; and as a Board member on the Accessibility Standards Canada. Maureen was appointed to the COVID-19 Disability Advisory Group (CDAG) during the COVID-19 pandemic and remains on the Minister Disability Advisory Group (MDAG). Maureen started her career in the Deaf community and is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). Maureen lives in Thornhill with her two sons and her partner, Mike.

The Work Wellness Institute is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. This program is valid for 1 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit www.shrmcertification.org.