ED&I strategies across the working world are constantly evolving. With calls for intersectional approaches gaining more traction, we wanted to make sure our next Women In Transformation event covers the entire array of inclusivity.

To help support this, we recently sat down with Lead Consultant, Adil Ghani to hear about his story and how his work at The Ability People is helping organisations create environments that welcome and support disabled professionals across the UK.

Adil will also be joining us at our next instalment of Women In Transformation and will be sharing what organisations need to do to better support their disabled staff and candidates.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got to where you are now.

“At the age of three, I was diagnosed with Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, a group of diseases which cause weakness and wasting of muscles, from arms and legs to the heart and muscles required for breathing.

Alongside this diagnosis, my parents were also told my life expectancy was only 18 years.

During my time in education, I started off going to mainstream schools. This was until the dystrophy in my legs and arms worsened to such an extent that my parents moved me to a special needs school that could better support my day-to-day physical needs. I also now happen to be a governor at the same school.

After completing my GCSEs and A-levels with the mainstream school that partnered with the special needs school I attended, I looked to what I wanted to do with my future.

I decided that I didn’t want to go to university, partly because of my life expectancy and also because I was aware that the job market was really tight and knew it would be even harder for someone with my condition.

So, instead, I decided to volunteer at events, and quickly, I got into the charity space and worked with a charity, Panathlon Challenge, that help to get disabled children into sports.

This is where I bumped into Paralympian Liz Johnson, who was an ambassador for the charity and, overall, just a brilliant role model. I’d known Liz since I was 13, and she wanted support in getting The Ability People organisation off the ground, so I naturally said yes.”

Can you share a bit about the work The Ability People do?

“Originally, we started off as just a recruitment company that looked to get disabled people into the world of work. While doing so, though, we realised that there were a lot of unnecessary barriers within a lot of companies that were stopping disabled people from joining their teams.

From here, we decided to take a different approach. We became more consultative and decided to offer our expertise in how organisations can improve and change their ED&I approaches.

This involved a lived experience piece which really shows our authenticity as we know exactly what kind of challenges candidates face and understand the reservations that some businesses have when carrying out change.

Our main goal is to convince teams that to make the most progress, they shouldn’t compartmentalise ED&I topics. While you may think it’s easier to focus on one topic at a time, the reality is that by doing this, you shut yourself off from intersectional approaches.

We also convince teams to have a separate “Inclusion Pot” in terms of funding so they know where to look if they need to invest in projects, processes or people.”

Do you think progress is being made in terms of ED&I?

"I do think we all know what the right thing to do is, but it’s having the confidence to do it and being able to say I’m not 100% sure if we’re uncertain.

There is change occurring in the ED&I space, but the reality is that most of the people who are driving it are doing so because they experience bias and prejudice themselves or they have somebody close to them who does.

For whatever reason, it’s difficult for people to get behind and support a cause if they don’t experience it ordinarily, especially when it comes to disabilities.

This is partially because the media does such a poor job of showcasing what every day looks like for those with disabilities. For many, their idea of those with disabilities is the Paralympics. While it’s a brilliant event and all those taking part are amazing, the reality is they’re full-time athletes a lot of the time, so they won’t reflect the experience of most disabled people.

Also, people just don’t expect disabled people to work. They’ve got this concept of disabled people where they’re incompatible in the working world, and this stops people from applying, and it stops businesses from hiring them.

Additionally, some of the changes taking place don’t always feel genuine. It’ll take some time to see if the effort being put in by organisations is meaningful or if they’re just paying lip service to the ED&I world.

For example, one company we work with were worried that by creating a more inclusive and accessible interview process for those with autism, they were somehow creating an unfair advantage for those who are neurodivergent.

Worries like these could lead to losing a lot of progress if they’re not raised as soon as they occur. Being able to show uncertainty regarding these processes is crucial to being able to defend them and their purpose. It is worrying that there may be some organisations who end up undoing some great work just because they don’t ask ED&I experts simple questions.”

What do you hope to bring to Women In Transformation?

“I want to be able to give people the courage to act when it comes to ED&I, especially in terms of supporting those with disabilities, who are so often overlooked. Sometimes, you have to throw out the rulebook to make progress, and I want to give people the boost they need to be able to do that.

I also want to dispel a lot of myths surrounding disabilities and help people understand what it’s really like living and working with a disability day-to-day."

Wrapping Up

With such a brilliant story and years of expertise in the ED&I space, Adil is a fantastic advocate and ambassador, and we can’t wait to have him join us at our next edition of Women In Transformation.

If you want to find out more about the series and what our events have looked like in the past, you can by clicking here.