Welcome to business disability international

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Background

Our strength stems from our ability to combine decades of deep-subject experience with an extensive global network and the collective learning of global corporations and disabled opinion formers.

Together, these enable us to deliver strategic and operational solutions that make a measurable difference to business and disabled people.

Our Chief Executive, Susan Scott-Parker OBE, has over 30 years of experience working with business on disability, both internationally as Founder and Chief Executive of business disability international (bdi) and previously as Founder and Chief Executive of the UK based Business Disability Forum (BDF).

As a renowned global expert and thought-leader, with formal roles advising the Essl Foundation, Workfocus Australia, the province of British Columbia, the UN Global Compact and many others organisations, Susan is the authoritative voice on disability as it affects global business.

Navigating country specific legislation is challenging

Key Achievements

Susan has a unique ability to work with global organisations in the private and public sector, and support them to bring ‘disability confidence’ into their operations around the world. With a strong track record of delivery in this field, Susan’s key achievements include:

Leadership Development for business leaders and talented disabled people: To challenge and empower senior business leaders, Susan established The President’s Group, a network of C-suite individuals committed to instigating high level transformation. She also created and led the Coverdale Leadership Development Programme, the world’s first such programme for talented people with disabilities.

Business-disability networking: Inventing and leading the first ‘business disability network,’ launched in the UK in 1991 as the Employers Forum on Disability (now Business Disability Forum).

Legislative change: Forged the unique alliance between UK business and the disability movement which led to the introduction of the UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now the Equality Act).

Corporate Standard Setting: – Pioneered the development of the world’s first Disability Standard to measure and benchmark the disability related performance of an entire business.

Harnessing the collective power of organisations: Founded and co-chaired the Accessible Technology Taskforce to enable senior global technology leaders in the public and private sector to maximise technology as an enabler in a more efficient, accessible and equitable global ICT marketplace. This successful model is now being applied through our Global Procurement Taskforce.

Developing the evidence with Lloyds Banking Group and Microlink: This comprehensive Case Study provides invaluable insights into how complex systems and processes can be successfully reengineered to deliver best practice in a corporate setting.

Our Network

Our work is delivered through an extensive network including senior business leaders, subject-matter experts worldwide, and alliances with public and private organisations.

Our History

business disability international (bdi) was established by three forward-thinking global organisations, Barclays, GSK and Infosys, who understood the immense potential for global business to contribute to societal and economic transformation whilst accelerating the performance of their own organisations.

These organisations worked with bdi to co-create the bdi Charter, a road map of ten ‘Fundamentals of disability confidence’, informed directly by disabled people and grounded in the reality of business. It serves as a starting point and guide for any organisation seeking to improve its performance on disability.

Our official launch at the House of Lords in June 2015 provided a platform to both publicise the bdi Charter and celebrate the steps that Barclays, GSK and Infosys have taken, and continue to take, on their own journey towards ‘disability confidence.’

Since then bdi has continued to evolve, acting as a thought-leader around the world, providing expert advice to global businesses, governments and varied stakeholders, whilst continuing to build our own expert resources to deliver meaningful change.

business disability international is a not-for-profit social enterprise, registered as a company limited by guarantee.