“Ability is in Everyone” – event led by Sodexo India and Unilever

Header Graphics
26 Aug 2019

Sodexo India recently partnered with its client Unilever to host an event entitled Ability is in Everyone – Inclusion & Advancement of Persons with Disabilities at the Workplace.

The event attracted 150 attendees from Sodexo, Unilever, many other companies and NGOs. The speaker programme was jointly managed by Sodexo and Unilever, with Unilever providing the venue and Sodexo supporting through catering and other collaterals.

Highlights included:

  • Opening notes by Sandeep Kohli, Executive Director Hindustan Unilever Ltd. & Vice President Personal Care – South Asia, on why as an organisation HUL has a responsibility towards inclusion of persons with disability.
  • A talk on Community Business Research on Prioritising Disability Inclusion by Kapila Jaykumar, Senior Program Manager, Community Business, who talked about where is the gap right now and how corporations can help bridge it.
  • A “From the Heart” talk by Dev Bajpai, Executive Director Legal & Corporate Affairs HUL, and VP, Legal for South Asia. During this session, Dev talked about how he started his journey as a parent of a child with Autism to running a school for children with autism.
  • Success stories from employees who have a disability, coming from Flipkart, Deloitte and Lafarge.
  • A panel discussion on how organisations are working on becoming assessable for persons with disability, featuring Rohini Anand, Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo and Pradeep Chavda, HR Director, Sodexo, and representatives from other companies.
  • An event wrap-up by Sodexo India country president, Rishi Gour.
  • Various NGOs were present at the event, to share their solutions and best practice

Rohini Anand, Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo, said: “Over 60% of individuals with disabilities around the globe are unemployed. To address the challenge of improving the quality of life of individuals with disabilities, we must engage the entire ecosystem. Events, that bring together companies, communities, NGOs, government agencies and others to help raise awareness and work together to address the challenges, are important. The moving and inspirational stories shared by participants in the Unilever-India event, really provoked the audience to connect with this reality and think more deeply about what each of us can do to change it.”