Thread by @bopinion

The Nasdaq stock exchange is poised to push businesses to a new level of inclusion with its proposal to require all listed companies to have at least two diverse board members.

Notably absent are persons with disabilities trib.al/UMLYWuX

This omission leaves out a segment of individuals who represent:

💰More than $8 trillion in purchasing power
💼A largely untapped workforce of millions of qualified 🇺🇸Americans eager to find competitive, integrated employment trib.al/UMLYWuX

📈 Research shows that companies that embrace disability employment and inclusion outperform their peers with 28% higher revenues and are twice as likely to have higher total shareholder returns than those in their peer group trib.al/UMLYWuX

It's impossible for a company to consider its board of directors truly diverse if people with disabilities are not acknowledged as able to provide expertise and insights that foster long-term value creation by companies — for investors and society alike trib.al/UMLYWuX

We know the disability community well, write former Sen. Tom Harkin and @bobludke of @HarkinAtDrake.

People with disabilities want the opportunity to lead. They have a unique experiences and skills that are very relevant in a Covid-19-disrupted workplace trib.al/UMLYWuX

The pandemic forced workplaces to adapt to a way of work long practiced by those with disabilities, with a reliance on:

💻Technology
💡Ingenuity
⚖️Flexibility
🏠Remote places to work

Those skills — and the mindset behind them — are at a premium today trib.al/UMLYWuX

Accessible innovation is everywhere:

📚Audio books
🚗Cruise control
🔊Amazon’s Alexa
🛴Segways
🗣️Voice-activated dictation on your iPhone

The underlying tech of each of those products was brought to market to assist those with disabilities trib.al/UMLYWuX

Adding disability to the Nasdaq rule will make a tremendous difference: Greater diversity among leadership can lead to diversity throughout the organization.

Board members with disabilities will give value to both the company and the disability community trib.al/UMLYWuX

People with disabilities are more likely to lose their jobs in times of economic downturn.

In the first half of 2020, 20% of workers with disabilities lost their jobs compared with 14% of the general population trib.al/UMLYWuX

In order to achieve its vision of a more inclusive private sector, Nasdaq must do a better job of recognizing the intersectionality of diversity.

Disabilities cut across all of us, regardless of gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation trib.al/UMLYWuX