Joanne Austin

My desire to improve the employment prospects for individuals with a disability stems from caring for my son and daughter in law who were both told they would never secure employment due to disability. With determination and some workplace adjustments, both are now thriving. I would like to see opportunities like the ones they have had for all and the disability employment gap shrink considerably. In my role, I have been fortunate to work on programmes to improve the opportunities for people with disabilities to gain employment with the bank and also introduce initiatives to enable them to thrive. The has included ‘Ability friends’, a global initiative to bring people together with shared lived experience to provide peer support. I have also facilitated opportunities for people to learn and grow, for example, a range of activities such as career workshops for neurodiversity celebration week. I support our carers by ensuring they have access to support including leave provision so that we don’t lose the skills and experience carers bring to the workplace. In 2022 I was part of a working group providing opportunities for individuals furthest from employment to work for the bank. I have actively continued to mentor and advocate for these five individuals who are thriving and who are now considering their next steps in their career. I have supported individuals attending career development programmes targeted at employees with a disability ensuring they have the best possible experience. The feedback has been fantastic and some individuals are moving into new roles and driving their career forward. My desire is for everyone in the bank (c225000 employees) to have access to an Ability chapter enabling them to either gain support for themselves or to learn to enable them to help others building a disability inclusive organisation.