11th October 2022
Meet Inspirathon speaker – Mike Adams
Meet the Inspirathon 2022 speaker, Dr Jerry Gule. Sign up free for the Inspirathon
Mike Adams is changing the disability conversation. From one traditionally focussed on charity, vulnerable people and welfare to one about value, contribution and opportunity.
Mike has bucked convention. He has engaged the business community by introducing the $8 trillion worldwide Purple dollar, and providing organisations with the solutions to unlock this market. And involve their staff. Purple Tuesday has become a global brand in improving the disabled customer experience.
Mike has been named in the Shaw Trust Power List of the UK’s top 100 most influential disabled people for 2022. Mike was awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2012 for his services to disability.
He is looking forward to sharing his journey, anecdotes and practical hints with you at the Inspiring Workplaces Inspirathon 2022.
Why do you do what you do?
We need to change the disability conversation for the next generation of disabled people. As a recent teenage disabled person said to me “one day we will be running this town. We cannot be prevented by mops and buckets”. What she meant was disabled people will be expected to become an integral part of society but if accessible toilets continue to be used as store cupboards then this can never happen.
I get out of bed every day to draw on my lived experience and role to remove those mops and buckets.
Describe your talk in 100 words
92% and rising
Disabled people make up 17% of the world’s population. A huge pool of talent ready to be unlocked. For innovative and creative organisations. Find out the commercial and social benefits of disability from Mike Adams OBE, CEO of Purple, and how we can engage all staff to change the disability conversation.
What problems will your talk solve for our audience and why is it needed?
The £274 billion disability market (the Purple Pound) is hidden. Forgotten. Or simply ignored. At one level solving the issue is about making this visible and understood. The international sign for disability, the wheelchair symbol, reflects only 8% of disabilities. People need to understand the needs of 100% of disabled people. Engaging with staff in their everyday working and personal lives is key to unlocking this problem.
What valuable insights, strategies, tools or techniques will our audience walk away with?
This session will set out the business case, social impact narrative and key statistics brought to life through lived experience stories. And supplemented by a range of handy hints for delegates to take away and implement instantly as part of the required change movement.
What do you think will be the major differentiator of the workplace of the future, as opposed to the way we work today?
Reasonable adjustments will not be unique but common place. A diverse workforce is talent full stop and not a box to be ticked. Talented employees who happen to have a disability will be unleashed and support a much more enriched global workforce that reflects the communities it serves.