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Southwest Airlines Community

The Power of Inclusion: Embracing an Inclusive and Diverse Work Culture

KarenPrice-Ward
Employee
Employee

Southwest Airlines is proud to support business disability inclusion through our work with organizations like Disability:IN, a nonprofit that partners with companies to help people with disabilities receive equal access to jobs and business opportunities. In 2010, Southwest® became a founding corporate partner of the organization’s Supplier Diversity program, which certifies disability-owned businesses and links them to key industry buyers and decisionmakers.

 

Our partnership with Disability:IN has allowed us to expand our efforts within the disability community and promote the group’s vision of an inclusive global economy where people with disabilities participate fully and meaningfully. In order to help companies diversify and stay competitive, Disability:IN provides each of its 185 corporate partners with access to best-in-class programming. In addition to offering networking opportunities to certified businesses through its Supplier Diversity program, the nonprofit administers disability inclusion consulting through its Inclusion Works program and prepares students and young professionals with disabilities for employment through its NextGen Leaders initiatives.

 

Throughout our partnership, Southwest has supported the nonprofit’s efforts to build a diverse talent pipeline of people with disabilities. Each year, college students and recent graduates participating in the NextGen Leaders program attend the Disability:IN Annual Conference & Expo for networking opportunities and roundtable discussions. As the exclusive travel partner for the NextGen Leaders program, Southwest provided participants with transportation to this year’s conference in Chicago, where we also served as one of the event’s presenting partners. Southwest received a high score on the 2018 Disability Equality Index, a national benchmark tool developed by Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities.

 

This ranking earned us a spot on the DEI’s 2018 list of Best Places to Work. To learn more, visit disabilityin.org.