Ready, Willing and Able – Neurodiversity in the Workplace – Webinar

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is among the most talked about organizational initiatives. We are all trying to broaden our hiring practices and add candidates that elevate our organizations. When we think of diversity and inclusion, our minds may go to; ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender; however, we tend to leave out an important group – persons with disabilities such as autism. Individuals with neurodiversity disorders have gone through extensive job coaching and training to prepare them for future roles. Persons with autism are ready, willing and able to fill positions through the Canucks Autism Network and other partnering organizations.

Join us on October 26^th as Ross McMillian takes us on an informational journey through the process of hiring neurodivergent candidates and how they can benefit your organization while gaining vital experience from the opportunity. This event will be by zoom, link to follow by Friday, October 21st.

Speaker Bio:

Ross MacMillan: Employer Engagement Specialist for the Canucks Autism Network (CAN) and Labour Market Facilitator for the federally-funded Ready, Willing, and Able (RWA) inclusive employment program.   In his current role, Ross shows employers the many benefits of the inclusive hiring business case, and helps them identify suitable roles within their organizations. Once jobs are identified, Ross connects employers with an untapped talent pool of neurodiverse job seekers from over 30 local supported employment agencies, which provide on-the-job supports (e.g. job coaching) for new hires. Ross works with employers and agencies, throughout the entire hiring process, providing a variety of free supports to employers so they can increase their capacity to recruit, hire, and retain candidates on the autism spectrum or with an intellectual disability.   Ross is a classically trained chef and former employer himself for 12 years, managing his own sustainable-design furniture business. Ross lives in North Vancouver with his wife Kimberly, and their daughter Jamison, and believes this might be the year the Toronto Blue Jays bring a World Series Championship back to Canada. #GoJaysGo