The Vision of the Hawaii Business Leadership Network is to recognize and promote best practices in hiring, retaining, and marketing to people with disabilities.
Hawaii’s first business-to-business organization created by business leaders to share best practices in hiring of people with disabilities.
Good business practices include finding talent for our organizations. When we focus on a person’s abilities, we find excellent qualified individuals in Hawaii’s untapped pool of individuals with disabilities.
Learn from the Hawaii Business Leadership Network: A network of business leaders promoting the employment power of people with disabilities.
The Hawaii Business Leadership Network (HIBLN) was created by a group of business leaders from companies across the State of Hawaii and is part of the National BLN network with chapters across the U.S. Currently, there are 51 BLN chapters in 37 States. The HIBLN is 100% a business-driven organization. The HIBLN is a business-driven approach based on two beliefs:
1.Businesses large and small have the abilities and capabilities of successfully employing individuals with disabilities.
2.Business leaders respond to their peers.
The US Business Leadership Network (USBLN) is the national organization that supports the development and expansion of its BLN chapters across the country, serving as their collective voice. It is the only national disability organization led by business for business. The USBLN recognizes and promotes best practices in hiring, retaining, and marketing to people with disabilities. There are 51 Business Leadership Network chapters in 32 states, including the District of Columbia, representing more than 5,000 employers across the US. The BLN uses a “business to business” approach to educate, promoting the business imperative of including people with disabilities in the workforce.
BLN Chapters are business organizations headed by a Lead Business who exemplifies these practices and shares experiences with other members-employers-within the state or region. These activities include career fairs, disability mentoring and internship programs, and training programs including disability business etiquette, accommodation, and other disability issues deemed significant to employers. Businesses join BLN chapters to learn how to expand their diversity recruiting efforts to include individuals with disabilities- not as a social model but as a business case to recruit talent and better serve their customers. BLN successes serve the workplace, the marketplace, the community and the economy. The USBLN Vision is that every employer recognizes and benefits from the best practice of including people with disabilities in their workforce and marketplace.
Untapped Labor Pool in Hawaii
With the Hawaii unemployment rate hovering around 3% (Bureau of Labor Statistics data for March 2008), and often the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, employers are struggling to find qualified candidates. Many employers have found that individuals with disabilities are an untapped source of qualified individuals.
In the United States, of individuals between the ages of 16—64, 73% of individuals without a disability are employed as compared to 17% in the same age group of individuals with disabilities. Here in Hawaii, our statistics are very similar, with 74% of individual without disabilities in the 16—64 year old population being employed and 18% of individual with disabilities being employed (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004 American Community Survey).
This means opportunity for employers. This mean that there is a relatively large pool of potentially qualified individuals able and willing to work.
How do you find these potential candidates? Join the Business Leadership Network and learn how other companies are hiring individuals with disabilities.
Goals
The USBLN has established several strategic five year goals:
•Build the USBLN into a stable, self-sustaining organization -
The USBLN was created by the chapters to serve the chapters. As such it is imperative that the USBLN grow and develop its own funding sources, educational resources and products and services for its employer members and its chapters. Having a strong national business organization will continue to promote employers across the US to proactively include people with disabilities in the workforce and to serve customers with disabilities in the marketplace. The USBLN business plan, capital campaign and election of additional directors to the board will ensure that chapters have the support and direction to continue to serve the business community.
•Become THE resource for employers -
A major objective of the BLN is to foster dialog among employers regarding the issues, sharing successes and overcoming barriers to include people with disabilities in the workforce and marketplace. The USBLN website expansion will allow the exchange of best practices. The employer toolkit and other employer focused products and holding national business events, including the annual national conference, will further this exchange.
•Expand and strengthen chapters -
To serve employers across the US, the USBLN must assist in the development of chapters in every state and provide the tools and mechanisms to engage employers. Chapters require ongoing leadership from a national perspective as they serve the business needs within their own geographies. Increase employment of people with disabilities In a recent Associated Press Article, about 56% of adults with disabilities are working. This percentage is in stark contrast the national unemployment level of non-disabled workers which hovers around 5%, or 95% working. The USBLN believes that by achieving the mission of educating business of the business case for including people with disabilities and replacing employers concerns with realities that the employment numbers will increase.
Contact Us
Tel: *1 808 956 9142
*1 808 956 7878
Email: chinlee_hawaii.edu
