As National Disability Employment Awareness Month closes, ACL is announcing Mentra as the $100,000 grand prize winner of the Inclusive Pipeline for American Businesses Challenge competition.
Research shows American businesses that hire and support workers with disabilities see improved performance and productivity—28% higher revenue and 30% higher profit margins. However, businesses that want to diversify their workforces do not always know how to implement effective talent pipelines that include people with disabilities, and people with disabilities experience many barriers to employment that lead to a higher unemployment rate when compared to their non-disabled peers.
In November 2019, ACL launched the Inclusive Talent Pipeline for American Businesses challenge competition to help businesses identify ways to help expand their recruiting and retention programs to better include workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities.