TRANSCRIPT

USBLN CONFERENCE 2014 ORLANDO, FLORIDAOCTOBER 1, 2014 7:30 p.m. ET CRYSTAL D/E

ANNUAL LEADERSHIP AWARDS DINNER

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*** >> JILL HOUGHTON: Good evening. Good evening. And welcome

to the Annual Leadership Awards dinner. On behalf of the USBLN, welcome. We invite you at this time to eat. We're going to take some time to eat your salads and be served. And visit with your fellow attendees at each table. Thank you.

Welcome to the 2014 USBLN Annual Leadership Awards dinner. Please enjoy your dinner, and the program will begin promptly at 7:50 p.m.

>> Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage Jill Houghton, the executive director of the USBLN.

>> JILL HOUGHTON: Welcome. Thank you. On behalf of the USBLN, we want to welcome you to the Leadership Awards Dinner. It's a very special evening. And we're so pleased that AMC and Barnes & Thornburg is supporting this event this evening. We want to encourage you to continue to finish eating while we get this program started. But first what I'd like to do most importantly is recognize some distinguished guests that we have in our presence this evening. First and foremost we're joined this evening by John Kemp.

(Applause) John really needs no introduction because he is a -- he's a

-- he's a father in our movement. But he's also the founding director of the USBLN. And this organization would not exist had

he not taken those six boxes of paper and turned us in to who we are today. He's currently the president and CEO of the Viscardi Center in New York. And we're so pleased and honored to have him with us this evening.

We're also joined this evening by Assistant Secretary Kathy Martinez, who leads the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor. Thank you, Kathy for being with us. We've really enjoyed having you with us throughout the whole week.

And last and certainly not least, we're joined by Mr. Mark Perriello, the president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. AAPD.

(Applause) We're so pleased to be working together with AAPD on the

launch of the first ever Disability Equality Index. Thank you. (Applause) We've -- many of you have been with us throughout the week.

But for those of you who have not been with us, the USBLN is a trusted advisor to business on disability. We're here to help business leverage disability inclusion in the workplace, in the supply chain, and in the marketplace.

And we couldn't do it without the assistance of our corporate partners, without the assistance of our BLN affiliates, without the assistance of our certified disability-owned businesses, and without the assistance of our many, many strategic partners. So to each of you in the room this evening, you're all part of our family. And we thank you.

(Applause) Next what I'd like to do is invite you to join us in viewing

a short video. This video actually depicts how this year's public service announcement was made. And it concludes with a public service announcement. Now, for those of you that are not familiar, we are so honored that one of the wonderful things that AMC does for the USBLN is throughout the whole month of October for about the last four years, they have allowed and created the opportunity for the USBLN to air a public service announcement in their 5400 theaters across the nation during the month of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

So now I invite you to turn and watch a video about how it was made and once again, it concludes with the actual public service announcement.

(Cheers and applause.) >> JILL HOUGHTON: So we're so pleased that this evening

seated here at table number 3, we're joined by Anna as well as Dan. And here are you ready for the best news ever? To all you businesses out there that thought that you could hire Anna, well guess what? Northrop Grumman already did.

(Cheers and applause.) Anna just was hired in to a professional development

rotation program. And wow. Northrop Grumman is one lucky company. So --

(Applause) Now it gives me great honor to introduce to you this

evening tonight's emcee. This man really needs no introduction. Keith Wiedenkeller. He is the board chair. He recently retired as the Chief People Officer from AMC. He currently serves as the president and CEO of a nonprofit organization in Kansas City. And he is a man who is deeply committed to disability inclusion, demonstrated through his actions every day at AMC. And continues to demonstrate those through his actions in serving as the president of our board. Without further ado, Keith Wiedenkeller.

(Applause) >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: So thank you, Jill. I hope you like

the PSA. That is a project that, as Andy mentioned in the video, we started that -- I mean, this is our 5th year. And it is really a labor of love to see what Andy and the team can put together. It's always entertaining and always high quality and always something I'm very proud to have shown on the screens at AMC theaters. That video, that PSA will be seen by 18 million people.

(Cheers and applause.) So I'm glad that AMC is there to be able to support the BLN

in that manner. It's -- you know, frankly, my affiliation with BLN has been the highlight of my career at AMC. And I tell my friends back at AMC that all the time. So it's really been a privilege to be able to facilitate that connection between these two organizations.

So thanks for that. And thanks for allowing us to be part of that.

So now I'll put on -- take off my AMC hat and put back on my USBLN board chair hat. Because we want to get on with the business of recognizing leaders. As I've said before, at the Business Leadership Network, that's what we're really about is leadership. The idea of being examples of being committed to a cause of actually being outstanding paragons of what you do in your field so that you're a model for all these other folks that want to follow in your footsteps.

Leadership, as we've said before, is not necessarily so much about making someone do what you want them to do. But making them want to do what you want them to do.

And I think that that's what the leaders that you'll hear about tonight have done through their example, through their hard work and through their commitment.

So in order to kick that off, though, be have one special

leader in the room who's going to join me here in a second. As he's coming up to the stage, I'll introduce Jack Smith. Jack Smith is the founder and president of Charlotte International Partners, a USBLN certified disability-owned business that imports and sells European and Asian commercial lighting. Jack has a special treat for us today. And we're going to do a drawing here in a minute. But before we do that, Jack is going to treat us to a song. What you may not know about Jack is, in addition to being a DOBE and a DOBE sponsor and part of the host committee, Jack sings in a Gospel quartet.

(Cheers and applause.) And when, we talked about that and the idea came to us

that Jack could sing here for us and be a great way to get things kicked off. And we said is there a song that's especially well-suited to what we do here together? And Jack said there really -- he couldn't just think of one song that was perfect. So Jack has a colleague who sings with him in this quartet who has a daughter with MS and whose wife works as a special education teacher. And Jack's colleague John Douds wrote and composed a song about what we do in terms of leadership and advocacy in the disability inclusion space. So Jack, come one up and treat us to this great song.

You've probably heard it said before, sometimes life's not fair.

You've seen the awkward glances, you've felt the lasting stare.

But you are undaunted, you take it in your stride,You're focused and relentless, and will not be denied.Just because a mountain's steeper, does not mean it can't be

scaled, or because a sea is deeper, does not mean it can't be sailed.

From belief in yourself there will grow, all the strength you need, to release your potential -- and let the world know, you have the power to succeed.

Some have their preconceptions, that give you little due,They may have good intensions, while underestimating you.But there are allies strong, who help to show the way, and

want to be a part of a new enlightened day. Just because a mountain's steeper, does not mean it can't be scaled, or because a sea is deeper, does not mean it can't be sailed.

Deep within yourself, there will grow, all the strength you need,

To release your potential -- and let the world know, you have the power to succeed.

It's not an easy path to follow, it comes with no guarantee,

But with the risk comes the reward, of a sweeter victory.Just because a mountain's steeper, does not mean it can't be

scaled,Or because a sea is deeper, doesn't mean it can't be sailed.Within in yourself, there will grow, all the strength you

need,To release your potential -- and let the world know,You have the power to succeed.You have the power to succeed.(Cheers and applause.) >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: Thank you, Jack.I have to sort of get myself back together now after that.One of the things I forgot to do earlier as a special treat,

our final drawing of today's events, AMC wanted me to give away an annual gold pass tonight. This pass to AMC theaters will allow two people, it's a pass for two, you can see as many movies as you want for a year. So -- I should have said that before I really would have gotten your attention.

Luis Cruz.(Applause) Congratulations Luis! Okay.All right. So -- the next part of our presentation I think

you're going to really enjoy.We've got two people that -- one of whom needs no

introduction, although I'll introduce her anyway. But as you may know, Deb Dagit is here tonight. Deb is --

>> Yay! >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: Yeah, Deb Dagit is in the house!

Deb is going to be working her way up to the stage as is Ted Childs, recent retired from IBM. So I'll invite them to the stage and as they're walking up, I'm going to talk about them.

Ted retired from IBM in August of 2006, after a distinguished 39-year career as a member of their corporate human resources team. Upon retiring, he founded Ted Childs, LLC. The role of Ted Childs LLC is to serve as a global strategic diversity advisor to senior management and a client's workforce diversity team.

While at IBM, Ted held a variety of human resource assignments, including 15 years of executive responsibility for Global Workforce Diversity program and policies. In addition, he served as executive assistance to Dr. Benjamin J. Hooks, executive director of the NAACP, on an IBM social service leave from March 1982 to September 1983. Ted is a graduate of West Virginia State University, a member of the board of director and a past president of the universe's foundation and a life member of the West Virginia State University national alumni association.

Welcome Ted to the stage. (Applause) I'll read this. But you know it all already, most of you.

Deb Dagit retired as chief diversity officer for Merck in 2013 and launched her own company, Deb Dagit Diversity to deliver the consulting services and products she wished were available when she was a Chief Diversity Officer. While at Merck, Deb was responsible for global equal opportunity, employee relations, recruiting, staffing and diversity and inclusion. Under her leadership, the company was recognized for its exemplary work in diversity and inclusion by Diversity Inc. and "Working Mother" magazines, the Families and Work Institute and the Human Rights Campaign. Merck also received the Department of Defense Freedom Award and the Department of Labor new freedom initiative award during her tenure. So for the next 20 minutes or so, Deb is going to engage Ted in a thoughtful discussion on his pioneering work to introduce disability in corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives at IBM. Deb, I'll turn it over to you.

>> DEB DAGIT: Thank you, Keith. Thank you, everyone, hopefully you all got a chance to enjoy the nice dinner we had tonight. And I'm just so honored and privileged to sit here with my very close friend, actually, I actually think of Ted more as my big brother of another mother.

(Laughter)And like a good big brother, Ted has given me a lot of

encouragement and what we call in the corporate world as constructive criticism. But just as been extremely helpful throughout my career. And what I wanted to share with everyone here tonight whether you're an executive or a diversity leader, a service provider or person with a disability, is just a glimpse into the wisdom that I've had the privilege to experience. And what Ted and I decided to do is talk about through storytelling, some experiences that he's had as an early adopter around disability.

So for my first question tonight to Ted to get the conversation flowing, is IBM is a company, even before Ted's arrival, was an early adopter of disability. And then Ted in turn as a Chief Diversity Officer was one of the first. He completely included disability as a dimension of diversity and inclusion and the priorities he put forth with the corporation with his considerable influence. And I wanted to talk to him a little bit about when that started, why it started and how that happened. And include some stories about the people along the way that impacted his experience. So Ted?

>> TED CHILDS: Thank you. I joined the IBM company in 1967. And I made it a point to learn about the culture and the heritage.

And I found out that the company hired its first disabled employees in 1914.

And had actively engaged in promoting job training for the disabled in the '40s. For me personally, I have -- and those of you who know me, I'm pretty relentless and I have an unyielding commitment to fairness. When I was first appointed to the executive role, I knew that there were people who were quite sure that I was going to focus on the black community. And I made it a point not to do that.

I wanted to identify the groups that I knew the least about and who didn't have a voice inside the company. And there were three: The disabled community, the gay community, and the Native American community.

(Applause) And I knew I could get things done for women and people of

color particularly black and Hispanic if I focused on those groups, I would move the team -- the leadership team away from worrying about me attacking them on black or women's issues. I'd get that done.

But I needed to ensure that everybody had a seat at the table. That was my strategy right until the day I left.

Now, there was one situation that I think defines my commitment to fairness.

It was my first major defeat. My first year of recruiting I was responsible for IBM's recruiting at all the black colleges. And we had a record setting year. The second year of recruiting they said look, you've done what we asked you to do. We want you to take on all the big schools in the northeast.

I came into my office one day and there was an application laying on my desk. I had no idea where it was from. I read the application. The pedigree was impeccable. 3.5 grade point average, trinity college. Psychology and mathematics.

When I got to the last page on the application where -- you gave all your security stuff, have you ever been arrested, whatever, and you sign the thing, scribbled across the page was three words. "I am blind."

I called. His name was David Michelle. I invited him in. He came in with his dog. He took the program and aptitude test. He blew the test away. Interviewed for programming jobs. A few days later, my manager called me in. He said Ted, I want to talk to you about your disabled applicant. He said close the door. Now, I had kind of a reputation of being a smart ass. I was 23, 24 years old and all I'm thinking is I've been good, I haven't done anything. Why does he want to close the door? He said about your applicant, we're not going to hire him. They're not going to send him an offer. What I said to him, I can't say here. He said that's why I wanted you to close the door. I

called David. I couldn't send him a letter to explain what had happened. And I cried and David cried. I found out later that David cried because he felt sorry for me. He never expected to get hired.

This was in 1969. Two or three months later, I get promoted to White Plains, New York.

I'm driving around White Plains, New York, looking for a place to live. I have the CBS news on my radio. And this news story comes across that President Nixon had honored three students at the White House that day for academic excellence. And one of them was David.

I pulled off to the side of the road because I started crying again.

I was really bent out of shape over this.And I said -- this is not ever going to happen to me again.It never did. (Cheers and applause.) >> DEB DAGIT: So many of you have heard me exhort in many

different settings what it means to sit to operationalize in your organizations not about us without us. And I get really dismayed when we're talking about implementing a disability strategy and we don't have people with disabilities on our team. Especially in HR and on the D & I team. And we're going to be good at this? Would we do that with any other group. The next thing I'd like of love for Ted to share is that Ted had some amazing people on his team that he counted on every day who were people with disabilities. And I thought that was a really important aspect to share this evening as well.

>> TED CHILDS: I think, if you're going to be a leader in the diversity space, you have to not by your words but by your actions demonstrate that you're willing to have people in your inner circle who don't look like you and who represent the interests particularly of those people who need to be assured that they have a voice at the table.

And if they -- if they have a job, close to the person who is leading the effort for the company, that will send a message to their community that we're in.

We got somebody who looks like us or who has our set of experiences advising the person who's got a drive this stuff. For me, it was a man named Jim Sanaki whom you've met. He was director of diversity communications. Jim is a quadriplegic.

The nickname I gave him on my staff was -- because you could always hear him coming. So I started calling him "wheels."

Because you could hear the wheelchair coming down the hall.He is a Colgate grad. He has a giant brain. And he helped

me get comfortable with talking about the fact that the word I hate is disability and the word I love is ability and I want

people to talk about what folks can do and not what they can't do and he helped me.

(Applause) He's also a brilliant communications executive.So for internal communications, press media stuff, we were

on top of it. The last year that I reported to the board I was able to tell the board that for television, radio, and print media, an outside firm had validated that our diversity work had been viewed by over a billion people worldwide.

Jim had that kind of fine touch in developing the communication strategy, getting our messages in to the speeches of all the senior vice presidents so that wherever they were talking anywhere in the world, they were comfortable talking about diversity-related matters because they were well prepped. And we enabled them to do it naturally without people thinking that oh, they just threw that in as something to say. These folks could stand up and talk about it and they could do it. They could do it convincingly. Because how you communicate, the substance of what you get done, in any of the diversity subject areas, is how can we enable the subject to be discussed as a business issue not as a one off. This is about our business. This is about our talent pool. And we have to be able to talk about it comfortably, not as if it's something special.

Something special happens every now and then. But when we talk about it comfortably, then something's going on all the time.

I think one of the critical things for me was -- I don't remember the year but it was around 2000, I went to the board every year and I always showed a chart about executive representation, globally for women and then for women in the ethnic minority groups in the U.S. I added two bullets at the bottom of the chart for the U.S. chart. Number of gay executives, number of disabled executives. And --

(Applause) Thank you.What was the magic was the first question that the board

asked was predictable. How do you know? And I said look, I'm not here to out anybody. I can prove -- I got names for every number on the chart. I know who the disabled executives are, I know who the gay executives are. And as I talked about it around the world, two things happened. My first objective was to get it talked about as part of the executive discussion. But I wanted the young people who were disabled or gay to understand that it was okay for them to aspire to be an executive. And that someone from their community had already walked through that door. That they wouldn't be a pioneer.

(Applause)

The second outcome was that as I talked around the world to large groups, executives who were gay or disabled but not out would approach me and say, "I didn't understand the value of the kids here knowing that people like us were here as executives. I'm volunteering. Include my name. Add me to the number."

(Cheers and applause.) >> DEB DAGIT: So when I first got my first disability gig,

I found like I'd tricked my way. I was working for Sun Micro Systems and temps and ADA had passed. They were terrified. And I came in as a contractor and did all the other diversity stuff. It wasn't that hard to comply with the ADA at that time. And then they hired me and like a lot of women and people of color and others from underrepresented groups, I felt like a bit of an imposter about ready to be caught at any point in time in various meetings. And way back then is when I first met Ted. Both being in the IT sector, showing up at a lot of the same meetings, both being natural rabble-rousers, we at the time were taking on the conference board and trying to demonstrate to them -- it was foolhardy not to integrate diversity and inclusion into their primary brand. And they weren't having any of it at first. But we convinced them.

But what my next question is or opportunity for Ted to talk a little bit about his experiences, I hear so often that there are many people who would love to show up in the world as allies for people with disabilities. And they worry about etiquette and language choices. And what Ted did for me and Jim and many others is as a person who had a vast nest work, a lot of power and privilege in many circles, he would say when I was about to speak, "You're about to hear EF Hutton" part of me was like I better rethink the way I was about to say that. The bigger part was wow, he took apart of his brand of who he is and he put it on the line for me. And that's more than just being an ally in terms of pulling somebody from a chair or guiding them up a ramp or pointing them from point A to point B or even giving them a job. But, as you put it, Ted, you're part of my inner circle. And I'm darn picky. So for the audience, if they aspire because they care as deeply as you do, because of your experience with that first gentleman back in '69. And they want to be strong allies in the way you were both not only for people with disabilities but for others who were marginalized. You wanted their voices to be heard, talk a little bit about how you lent your brand, how you lent who you were so that others could get in to that inner circle. And however, you want to share that story.

>> TED CHILDS: Well, I did in fact, label you E.F. Hutton. And those who are old enough in the room to remember the E.F. Hutton commercials, the substance was -- in those commercials, there would be a number of people around doing different things.

And one -- and talking in private communication with someone else would say "E.F. Hutton says," and everyone would go silent because everybody wanted to know what E.F. Hutton said because that was considered to be just the best advice you could get around your money.

I have felt for many years that Deb represents the content and character of that message that if she had something to say, I wanted to hear it.

About anything in diversity.I think what struck her as odd about me was that I never

called on her for disability stuff. I called on her for -- to help me think through real gut wrenching diversity issues that might affect anyone.

The things that I would leave you with to think about is any of the isms -- racism, sexism, homophobia, opposition to the gay community, they're anchored in stereotypes. One of am I favorite quotes is Will Rogers. "I don't worry about what men know. I worry about what they do know that ain't true, because it's the ain't true that gets us into some very difficult situations. Because people make judgments on what they know that ain't -- that isn't true. They refuse to accept that it isn't true."

So I just have some fundamental things that I use particularly in thinking about our work all applicable to the disabled.

First, the people who make those decisions comfortably you worry about them because I think they're dangerous. But the reason that I worry is because they're comfortable making assumptions about people, making decisions for people, speaking for people, because they think they're better qualified to do it than those people.

>> AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you!(Applause) >> TED CHILDS: So from my perspective, the greatest disease

in the world is arrogance and the greatest medicine is humility.(Applause) I think that you have to be -- at my retirement dinner,

which I've been told was the largest retirement event at that time in the history of IBM, the people who were allowed to speak had to use one word to define me. And three or four of them used one word. Relentless. First time Lou introduced me to the board, he told the board this is the most relentless man I ever met because I wouldn't go away. I thought I was right. And my relentlessness is anchored in my concept of fairness. Fairness not selectively applied but applied toward the treatment of everybody. And that gets difficult. I think you have to understand the importance of executive champions in our work and their role and they have to understand their world, which is to

fight for people who have a disability and to satisfy themselves on any employment decision that the person's been treated fairly. I think you have to -- every day come to work with your game face on. People used to ask me don't you ever smile? Don't you ever joke around? And I said I don't have time to joke around. There is so much goddamn work to do. I can't -- I can't play. And if I let am I guard down, somebody's going to take advantage of me.

So I'm just not going to let my guard down. And I'm going to be driven consistently every day in every situation by answering one question: How would I like to be treated in this situation? And when I can't get to that answer, then I'm going to keep on fighting.

I think we have to understand the importance of corporate or division control of money that's set aside for accommodations.

I don't want any first line manager to make a decision on accommodation based on what the financial impact would be to his or her budget.

(Applause) I want us to understand the global value of building

accessibility. So after -- when ADA came out, I had my team go through that. I asked the real estate division in IBM to partner with my team to develop a set of building accommodation guidelines. And then to go to every country where we did business -- and that's over 100 countries. And if that country had ground rules that were tougher than ADA, leave them alone.

But ADA in the U.S. was going to be the benchmark everybody where in the world in terms of building accessibility. And if you can't get there, we'll pay for it.

So you have no excuse for not doing it. We have to ensure -- by the way, I got to this because of -- I went to a meeting at IBM -- the IBM team hosted in a city in Spain. And the driver lets me out, and I go walking looking for a way to get in the building, I had a heart surgery. And I walked all the way around that building and the only way I could get in was to walk up an enormous set of stairs. And I -- well, that got fixed.

(Laughter)And the last question would be to ask the question to get

people asking individuals the question what would it take for you to do a job? Just before I left IBM there was a situation that I told you about at our meeting earlier. A young Asian brother had graduated from Stanford with a master's degree in computer science.

Three years in this kid made manager which was like very unusual.

He was blind.And the management team came to me one day and said look,

we're thinking about offering him an assignment that would take

him to Europe for five or six months.But we don't know how to ask him.(Laughter)I said, "Why don't you -- he does speak English." (Laughter)Why don't you ask him? So thinking that they were being

very witty and bright, they sat down with him and said look, we're thinking about an assignment for about six months in Europe. And we want you to -- we want you to make a list of the things you would need to take on this job.

And we'll be back in a couple of hours.They went back thinking that he had this you know -- he

probably filled up a pad with stuff he needed.And they said well what do you think? And he said, "Well, I

need a passport." (Laughter) >> TED CHILDS: They were stunned. You don't have to -- you

don't need any help to travel to Europe or to get around town or whatever? He said, "You know, my parents raised me not to be dependent. I earned my way into Stanford. Graduated with honors. I live here. You guys don't worry --" He said have I not asked for something I'm entitled to? You going to give me a car to come to work every day? Because I get here every day. I get around Stanford and San Francisco. What is it you guys think I need? I must be missing something.

We have an enormous challenge in this country. It's about talent. And we're competing with countries that have four times as many people as we do. Two of them in particular, Indiana and China. Each of those countries could have 600 million people in poverty. They'd still have twice our population to engage in the economic system.

We can't afford to leave anybody out. If we're going to engage in and win the talent pool.

(Applause) I chaired the business advisory community's employment

committee that gave a report to President Bush. And I'm very passionate about this. We are going to go down the tubes as a country if we don't get everyone engaged in the economic process that we can. And for people to make a judgment about someone because of their Will Rogers interpretation of a person's ability, see, I'm very simple about this. I'm a from the neck up guy.

If they've got other disabilities think they might interfere, then we need to talk about that. But, if from the neck up they're all there, there's a job they can do somewhere. And we need to be very thoughtful about every person should stand up and speak up and challenge anyone who wants to keep somebody

out of the system because keeping them out because of a disability is like keeping me out because I'm black or keeping you ow because you're a woman. We got to get rid of the keep outs and get involved with the keep in people. And if you don't want to be a keep in person, I don't have any use for you.

>> DEB DAGIT: Thank you.(Applause) So with that, I really thank -- I haven't had any chances

to publicly thank Ted for being my big brother and my coach and ally and sponsor and mentor and a lot of other adjectives. I know he's influenced the world in so many ways for me and countless others. And I'm glad we were able to share this evening with you. And now we're going to celebrate some other award recipients. So thank you, Ted.

(Applause) >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: Speaking of leadership, right?

Thank you, Ted, thank you so much.So at this point in the program it makes a lot of sense for

us to follow up that great group of stories inspiring us, helping us to see the right path, helping us to be brave and courageous and relentless. It makes perfect sense that now we're able to recognize some of the people within our midst that have exercised some of that same leadership. I have the honor and pleasure to announce and present our 2014 U.S. Business Leadership Network awards this year. We had six award categories.

The first category is the John D. Kemp Leadership Award. We have an award for the Affiliate of the Year. The Top Corporation for Disability-Owned Businesses, the Advocate of the Year supply chain inclusion award, our Supplier of the Year award, and finally, our Employer of the Year award.

So we'll begin with a very special award, as I've said. And this is the first year that we presented the John D. Kemp Leadership Award. As you have already heard and most of you already know, John was a founding executive director of the USBLN. John Kemp is the reason that I am involved with the BLN. When I was first starting our local chapter when Linda Baker came to me from the Missouri Governor's council of disabilities in Kansas City and asked you need to start a BLN in Kansas City and be the lead employer, and not knowing any better, I shed Okay. Sure. Within a year John D. Kemp was in Kansas City speaking at one of our meetings, inspiring me, encouraging me, telling me that I was doing the right thing and telling me that I -- that he news that I could do even more.

So without John, many of us wouldn't be here but I have the pleasure of inviting John upstage at this point in time. Ladies and gentlemen, John Kemp.

(Cheers and applause.)

>> JOHN KEMP: Thank you, Keith. And good evening, everyone.

I cannot believe looking across this room how big this conference has gotten.

(Cheers and applause.)Unbelievable.I'm here with my wife Sam. And everybody should know my

wife Sam right over here. If you don't, you're missing a great person.

I want to say thank you to Keith and to Jill and to the board of directors and the great staff of the USBLN. And I just want to say that it was about 10 years ago that I was asked to take over and become the first professional executive director of the USBLN.

There were about seven boxes of bank receipts. But I want to say to Catherine McCary and the board in existence then, thank you for having confidence in me and thank you for your support and when I brought you budgets and side a we're going to go up 50% in revenue, you believed me. And sometimes we made it, and sometimes we didn't quite. But we kept growing anyway. All I can say is I caught a rising star in the USBLN. And I was privileged to help shape and guide it. But then when I left three and a half years ago, Jill Houghton, who was my deputy, took it to the moon and beyond.

(Applause) Today I see a thriving USBLN. When I look at the audience

and I see leaders like Assistant Secretary Martinez and I see all of you employers out there, I have to say to myself, we really can't be very happy with the employment rate of people with disabilities. And let us not forget that it's still hovering at about 20%. And the purpose of the USBLN is all about jobs for people with disabilities plain and simple. You've got the jobs. And there are many qualified individuals out there who need them. So let's get connected up.

(Applause) I believe n disability across the enterprise and I think

about Deb Russell and Meg O'Connell and a number of entities who are really trying to talk about this as the USBLN is.

And we really do think -- have to think broader than employment to marketing, to supplier diversity and to able information and communication technologies, I also want to thank Keith for not asking me to sing tonight. For a moment I thought I was going to start singing or he was going to call me up to sing and that scared me to death.

But I want to say Jack, that was beautiful.And the words that I heard that resonated with me are words

that should resonate with you. "To release our potential, you

have the power to succeed."So that's what the USBLN has come from, where it is today

and the future is unlimited. Now let's get on with the John D. Kemp Leadership Award.

>> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: Thank you, John. So the Leadership Award was an idea that came to mind actually a couple years ago. And the award is designed to be presented to an individual who has developed or influenced the development of significant company disability employment programs and services that resulted in measurable, tangible, and positive outcomes that dramatically improved disability employment opportunities.

The person that we've selected to win this very first John D. Kemp award has established IT accessibility standards in their company, shaped government policies and developed human centric technology and industry solutions to create an inclusive workplace environment so that all people can reach their highest potential in work and life. Under her leadership, her company has created and maintained a culture and environment in which people with disabilities feel welcomed and valued by enabling an inclusive workplace environment so that the company can attract and retain the best talent. She's taken a proactive role in standards and government policy arenas, enabling her company to bring accessibility to more people worldwide and she has ensured that accessibility was built in to her company's design methodology to help designers realize how any physical, cognitive or situational disability can affect a person's use of a product and how accessible design plays a key role in making any person's life easier. So John, I'm going to invite you back to the podium to spring this surprise on the group.

>> JOHN KEMP: The recipient came to this country at the age of 19. English was not her language. Within three years she had graduated from college and within a three-month period graduated from college, got married and started her job at a multinational technology company.

She is the mother of two beautiful sons, one of whom is married. And when she joined, she started with a job and recently she became a chief. She became the first chief accessibility officer in the history of IBM and is now a mission

(Applause)and I am very, very proud to call up the first recipient of

the John D. Kemp Leadership Award and it goes to Frances West.(Cheers and applause.) >> Frances West: Thank you, Keith and thank you, John. So

we've been talking a lot about section 503 and about self-disclosure. So I have a confession to make. Frances West is not my real name.

(Laughter)My Chinese name is Fu Ming Wong. Fu means frying rant, Wong

is my surname. When I came to the country, I had a chance to pick my name. I was going to use my original name. But, if you put Fu and Ming together, it became "fuming."

So that was not a very good start.(Laughter)So I looked into the dictionary and picked Frances and then

I proceeded like John said, married a round eyed foreign devil.So I became a West. This has been a momentous year for me

personally. Like John said, earlier this year, my son, my oldest son, Han, got married. Two days later my husband and I celebrated our 35th anniversary.

(Applause) And then we celebrated the third year passing of my

mother. Two days later, we celebrated the 30th year passing of my father.

And on the eve of July 21st, my mother's actual birthday, the senior VP of IBM communications Johnny Wata tweeted my chief accessibility officer appointment. So as far as I'm concerned, there is a God. Because it's just too many co-- coincidences. We all know that when you take on the journey, especially those of you who have disabilities, it is a long journey. And sometimes it gets very tiring. It gets very discouraging. But then you look up, there's always the person that pulls you ahead or advises you. And John has always been that person. But there's another person very special in my life really taught me everything about disability, about the passion. And this person is P.J. Addington. PJ, could you join me on the stage, please. Please? So those -- for those of you who don't know, P.J. is IBM lobbyist for disability policies. I met her over the phone when I first took this job. And this is the lady who taught me everything. Ted Childs talked about you need to be relentless. In my culture, there’s no such word. But P.J. is my advocate. She's the relentless lady. I always tell my team, you need to have three Ps. You need to be polite. You need to be patient. And you need to be persistent. But there are times you need to scream like Ted. And I can't scream because I was not taught how to scream and P.J. became my voice. So I just want you to know that despite how hard the journey is, there's always somebody out there in my case P.J. is my guardian. So thank you very, very much for this big honor. And I'm humbled to receive this award. And I don't know what to say except that I will just keep doing it. I still feel that I have not fulfilled my duty or responsibility in changing the U.S. policies. So for those government program officers, you know, you're going to hear more from us. So thank you.

(Cheers and applause.) >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: Let's hear it again for Frances and

John and P.J. One of the reasons that I love coming to this conference every year is that I get inspired. And I get inspired by people like them.

At this point in time, I'd like to invite Lynn Kirkbride to the stage to join me to present the affiliate of the year award.

>> LYNN KIRKBRIDE: Good evening, my name is Lynn Kirkbride, and I am the Director of Affiliate Relations for the USBLN. And I want to know how many people here want to take disability inclusion home with you after the conference?

(Cheers and applause.) I would like you to know that there are BLN affiliates

that exist in 26 states and in more than 46 locations across the U.S.

These BLNs exist exclusively to serve the needs of business. And I would encourage you to seek out the BLN affiliate closest to you and get involved.

You can find affiliates, our affiliates on our USBLN Web site. And while affiliates vary, given the needs of a specific location, the Affiliate of the Year will give you an idea of the types of great programming that you will find in a local affiliate.

I'm proud to tell you about this year's affiliate.Our hats go off to the Ohio BLN. Woo hoo! Yeah? They have

nearly 50 corporate members representing some of Ohio's most prestigious companies. The organization has a unique governing structure with a very active and dynamic board led by an executive board of 11 business reps from Ohio health, American electric power, 5th third bank, Manpower, nationwide, cardinal health, Proctor & Gamble, Time Warner cable, trinity health, Walgreens and Wal-Mart transportation.

These 11 companies direct the Ohio BLN's administration and operation. The remaining business members serve on committees and carry out their initiatives. And what's unique about the Ohio BLN board participates. For example, there are 75 to 80% participation on their quarterly conference calls alone. In November of 2013, the Ohio BLN received the central Ohio workplace initiative from a national family foundation to assist 100 individuals with disabilities to become employed through their member companies.

This has provided the capital the Ohio BLN needed to grow and provide sourcing services to its growing membership. They're successful in reaching the goal by November they will receive the grant for the second year. And I understand you're well on your way.

The Ohio BLN is recruiting new members every month,

educating employers, encouraging the sharing of best practices and promoting collaboration among the corporate members.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Ohio BLN has a wonderful partnership with the state of Ohio vocational rehabilitation program and John Hackathorn, who is here tonight. This partnership has been instrumental in allowing them to hire Leslie Wilson from Wilson Resources who has invested her heart and her soul and her time into the formation of this affiliate.

Chris Moranda of OhioHealth has provided strong corporate leadership and a whole lot of soul and the expertise to move things forward. Chris also serves the USBLN affiliates by being our affiliate liaison representative to the USBLN board. And Chris, we deeply value you, wherever you are. This BLN is truly outstanding and with you thank each of you and all of your Ohio member companies for all your hard work. Please welcome Chris Moranda and several of her board members to the stage to accept this award on behalf of the Ohio BLN.

(Cheers and applause.) >> CHRIS MORANDA: Just like the Academy Awards. So

excited. (Laughter)You guys look fabulous, I just want to say.First, I want to thank Lynn. I've just so enjoyed working

with her. And Linda Denny with the affiliates this year. I'd also like to thank the board of directors and of course Jill. I'd like to thank that selection committee for this award, because I know it had to have been a very tough decision. As we are one among an outstanding group of affiliates.

And it was evident when we had our summit on Monday. We all learned a lot about each other, and we are going places.

So I also -- I've heard that term journey many times, just recently. And throughout this conversation.

And we, Ohio BLN, have been on a journey. One of the things that happened to us this year that Lynn indicated was that we received this grant. It was like a -- it was just like a game changer. It was unbelievable for us to be able to step in to the next level for us.

And we're so appreciative of that grant because I believe that they felt that the confidence -- they had confidence in us and entrusted us to source job seekers with disabilities and learning and attention issues.

100 jobs, one year.And to help me accept this award is our collaborator, John

Hackathorn. He's the business relations manager for the state VR opportunities for Ohioans with disabilities and we've continued to grow a great partnership as we bring more companies on and collaborate together.

I also have with me which I'm very excited about is Ken Travis, regional manager with home goods. District manager, sorry, got that wrong. District manager with home goods and home goods is that TJX company and I'm learning all about Marshall's. I'm learning about that. I'm getting there. And the thing that I want to say with Ken is that under his leadership with TJX is going to open a training program in collaboration -- it's going to be in Columbus and it's going to be with OOD, with voc rehab. So we're very excited. That is going to happen really soon. So we're so excited about that.

And my last thank you and we mentioned Leslie Wilson. But you know what? Leslie has helped us grow up. I really think that we needed that as we were moving in our journey. And she helped guide us and tips to guide us with her expertise. And with the project that we have going on.

So, again, my gratitude, my thanks and appreciation to the USBLN. This is such an honor. Thank you.

(Applause) >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: Thank you so much, Chris. And

congratulations. You're an inspiration and model for all of us BLN affiliates out there. Our next award is to recognize the corporation that we believe this year has done the best job of working with disability owned businesses. And to present that award, I would like to invite Patricia Richards to the stage. Patricia.

>> PATRICIA RICHARDS: Thank you. Why did my throat just kind of dry up as soon as I realized I was the next one up here? So -- I'm so pleased to be able to stand before you today and share with you the two awardees, information on the two awardees, before I do that, I'd like to do a shout-out to a couple of special friends to USBLN. First, these two organizations have been very important in terms of helping us develop our disability supplier diversity program. And so I'd like to recognize first, Chris who is the chair of NGLCC. Chris, you're going to have to stand. Go ahead. Thank you.

And also, I'd like to recognize Sam McClure, you see me looking at a card, Sam. She's the vice president of affiliate relations and external affairs. But I had to ask for her card because I just know her as Sam.

You know? Good people. Thank you.And I'd also like to recognize the women's Business

Enterprise National Council, WEBANC and its national partner organization headed by Nancy Allen. Nancy stand up president of the women's development council of Florida. Thank you, darling.

This award that I'm going to tell you about, the top corporation for disability-owned businesses recognizes the leadership and significant effort by USBLN corporate member and

most importantly serves as a model for others who wish to demonstrate a commitment to disability, supplier inclusion. The award is presented to a corporation or government agency that's demonstrated an outstanding commitment to inclusion of USBLN certified disability-owned businesses including service-disabled veteran-owned businesses and their supply chain processes and corporate supplier diversity program. So just some of the things that they are noted for and that got the recipient of this award. First, the corporation has had a supplier diversity program for over 20 years, founding partner program. They had a representative serving on power national certification committee. They're active in USBLN programs and initiatives and publicly recognizes USBLN as a partner as their partner. They participate on the corporate advisory board. They have $3 million in 2013 with USBLN certified disability-owned business enterprises. Very happy.

>> JILL HOUGHTON: Woo!>> PATRICIA RICHARDS: And they talk about it. They

communicate their marketing interests in persons with disabilities as employees and as suppliers. They help create and fund a scholarship program for disability-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses to aid in their growth and development. On behalf of the USBLN and its board of directors, it's my pleasure to announce Wells Fargo as the 2014 top corporation for disability-owned businesses.

(Applause) And I'd like to share with you what two organizations had

to say about them. Tuck executive education writes Wells Fargo has been involved with the Tuck school of business at Dartmouth for many years providing support and encourage so that many individual business owners could participate in Tuck's minority business executive program. WEBANC, NGLCC, and most recently the USBLN.

I know many of you know what those stand for. While Lewis, the president of the greater council in Georgia rights support saying our mission 0 is to certifies and educate WBEs to become strategic partners in the arena. Wells Fargo walks the talk in supporting this initiative. There's no doubt that this company should be recognized as a pinnacle of excellence for growing and sustaining business communities regionally and nationally. So accepting the top corporation award is Regina Edwards, senior vice president and head of supplier diversity, supply chain management, Wells Fargo.

(Applause) >> REGINA EDWARDS: Well, I am super excited and before I

get started, I want to invite members of am I team to join me on stage. CaSondra divine and Julie Logan if you could join me on

stage, please. They do so much work for USBLN. And while they're coming up, I'd like to thank the leadership of USBLN on by behalf of all the team members, 270,000 team members at Wells Fargo. We're super excited to be here tonight as well as we're incredibly enthusiastically excited about this honor. I think it's very important when we think about the value of supplier diversity that we connect in to suppliers across diverse segments. I have been moved as well as passionately -- I'm getting full as I'm standing here and thinking about the suppliers I've met tonight and the stories I've heard. It's really incredible as you spend time in the supplier diversity arena to come face-to-face with individuals who have not only grown successful businesses but who have also made it past very interesting and significant challenges in their lives.

I think about Willy Davis would came up to me tonight and talked to me about his experience at Tuck. He was one of the diverse business that's Wells Fargo sponsored through the program. He shared with necessity not only the networking he's done through the program but also the way he returned to his business implementing what he learned. It's clear to me that what we're doing with USBLN is causing positive outcomes.

But when I think about Wells Fargo and the benefit of partnering with disability opened businesses, it's much greater than just a supply chain organization. Being here in Florida this week we have 14,000 Wells Fargo team members in the area. Last year we donated over $11 million to nonprofits and schools in this state with a focus on helping not only disability-owned suppliers but helping people with the diverse segments across the board. I only have a minute or two an add state senior vice president on diversity. We're to the only focused on that but we're also active focused on the record increasing spin with diverse suppliers. Over the past 10 years we spent over $8 billion with diverse businesses. And so for this year --

(Applause)-- I'm proud to say and my team knows that we look at the

data very often. We're ahead of 2013 by 20%. We're serious about diversity at Wells Fargo.

(Applause) As we move through the evening, I look forward to

continuing to meet, continuing to greet, continuing to receive business cards and hear the stories of those in the room. We are already strategizing at the Wells Fargo table about ways that we can integrate more USBLN suppliers within our supply chain. So we thank you for this honor. And we're not going to stop here. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.

(Applause) >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: All right. Let's hear it again for

Wells Fargo. (Applause) >> PATRICIA RICHARDS: Congratulations. And now it's my

pleasure to announce the winner of the advocate the year supply chain inclusion. This is the second year this award has been given. It recognizes the individual or advocate and/or procurement champion who has provided exceptional support in the development of the USBLN certified disability-owned business enterprises, DOBEs as we call them. Including service-disabled veteran-owned businesses and the disability supplier diversity program.

This awardee has demonstrated outstanding commitment to the utilization and growth of disability entrepreneurs.

She serves on a key DSDP committee and leads the SDVOB, service-disabled veteran-owned business subcommittee. She devotes time to the USBLN and DSDP programs Andy vents. She shares her knowledge on ways to improve our processes marks she meets with and counsels with disabilities businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. She works tirelessly to advance acceptance of USBLN certified DOBEs. In a support letter that we received from one of the DOBEs, from one of the suppliers, it stated "She personifies all that is needed in supplier diversity and sustainability advocate. That small businesses like mine need to be included to be successful in a competitive business environment."

In addition to what I've just shared with you, I'm very pleased to say that she is a friend of mine and it's clear to me that she cares deeply about the disability business community. So please join me in welcoming to the stage and congratulating Manager, corporate procurement supplier diversity and sustainability, Fannie Mae, Advocate of the Year.

>> ROXANNE WILSON: Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm not very good at speeches so bear with me. But I do want to USBLN so much for just being an advocate and support forum for disabled owned businesses. At this time, wave, stand, if you're a service-disabled veteran. I just want to thank you so much for being the first DOBEs to really be a part of USBLN. We are going to fill up this room. Double and double with service-disabled veterans, which is such -- it's such a joy for me to even think about. So I just wanted to thank our troops and thank our veterans in the room.

(Applause) Sometimes when you say something and you say it louder and

you keep on saying it, they up just giving you the task, right? So I -- I'm very thankful to be on a wonderful committee at USBLN. And I really wanted to make sure that service-disabled veterans not only knew about USBLN as far as their certification

but knew that it would be easy for them to transfer from their certifications through the federal government and also get a certification through USBLN. And this year was some awesome people, we developed a lovely subcommittee to make sure that the qualifiers for service-disabled veterans were sharpened, that they were understood, and that there was a rationale statement that was able to be marketed out to corporate members to disseminate to service-disabled veterans. And so now we have corporate members that will be able to give a very, very concise marketing flyer to all their service-disabled veterans. And be able to move forward with having one national certifying database to search for all service-disabled veterans.

(Applause)And we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Jill. And for

Keith and for Patricia. Patricia doesn't give herself enough clout for what she does for the DSDP, which is a Disability Supplier Diversity Program as well as Cami. So I just definitely want to thank them.

(Applause) And I'm thankful to be working at Fannie Mae because I

wouldn't be able to be given this opportunity if my name was just Roxanne Wilson and didn't have a comma, supplier diversity manager for Fannie Mae. So I'm very thankful for them to have such a strong diversity supplier program and I continue wanting it to be stronger. So thank you all for everything.

(Applause) >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: Congratulations again. At this

point, I'd like to invite Cami Turcotte to the stage to award our prestigious Supplier of the Year award for 2014.

>> The DOBE Supplier of the Year award is a new category this year. The USBLN has recognized advocates and top corporations when it comes to disability business inclusion, and it is fitting that we recognize disability suppliers or service-disabled veteran-owned suppliers who are provided excellent service and distinguish themselves and their business through their business practices.

Serving as a role model for disability business inclusion in the supply chain. I would like to explain a little bit more about the design of this award. The award is open to USBLN certified DOBEs. The term DOBE is used by us exclusively to denote certification. The supplier must be nominated by a USBLN member, corporation or customer. A nomination must be completed separately by nominee and nominator.

I am pleased to say that we have three excellent nominations and the judges shared with me their angst in having to pick just one. But we insisted.

This is what the USBLN member had to say about our winner.

You may be able to determine who it is based on the description, but mum's the word.

This firm has provided high quality communication access to IBMers and its customers. Captioning service for meetings, conference calls, webinars, as well as other related services.

This firm also helped open up our on-call educational classes and webinars to hundreds of IBM employees. Without previously they could not attend by offering realtime text and captioning services. This met their growing communication access needs while also meeting their aggressive cost objectives. High marks were also given in quality of products and service. Cost competitiveness, contract administration, problem resolution, overall professionalism, and vision of the management team.

The nominated DOBE has great leadership and is focused on cost avoidance and innovation. To quote, meeting or exceeding our customers' expectation is what we strive for on every assignment, we undertake with consistent commitment to quality service and customer care.

On behalf of the USBLN and its board of directors, please join me in congratulating Caption First, Patricia K. Graves, president.

(Applause) >> PATRICIA GRAVES: Thank you very much. I am so honored

to receive this award.I started my company in the fourth bedroom of my home in

Illinois ... 25 years ago almost to the day!It happened because the technology improved to the point

where I could write on that little steno machine (like what you see in court) and have English text appear instantly on the screen. Like what you're seeing here.

I also started the company because I have deafness and many other disabilities in my family, And I have a very acute awareness of some of the struggling they go through.

Along the way I had the privilege to see, feel, And join in the journey of several of my clients as they experienced their hearing loss.

For some of my clients that journey was painful, And for others of my clients, the journey was just a little bump in the road. So when I overnight found myself in the same category of "disabled," I was grateful for what I had learned. You see, I had learned that when I focus on my client comfort and high-quality services, I can never go wrong. But most importantly, I had learned that having a disability was not a hindrance to but was an integral part of my success.

I accept this award as a proud disabled woman business owner and as a humble servant to my clients. My thanks go to USBLN for establishing this award. My thanks go to my captioning team and

to my fellow Caption First employees. And my sincere thanks go to my client, IBM, my very long-term client. I thank you for nominating me. And enjoy the rest of your evening.

(Applause) >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: And for our final award, the USBLN

Employer of the Year award, I'm going to invite Jani Willis to the stage. Jani Willis has worked with us relentlessly with several important projects this year. And it's only fitting that she should come up and present our Employer of the Year award. Jani.

>> JANI WILLIS: Thank you, Keith. Good evening.>> AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yay Jani.>> JANI WILLIS: Hi, Bob. Companies that receive the USBLN

Leadership Award in the employer category are recognized for exemplary policies, strategies, and initiatives that have resulted in measurable results in the areas of disability inclusiveness in the workplace, marketplace, and supply chain.

This evening I have the honor of announcing the recipient of the 2014 USBLN Employer of the Year. The competition this year was very strong but the selection committee was unanimous in the choice of the winner. Let me assure you that the member of the selection committee were all representatives of industry leaders in the area of disability inclusion.

And so I'm pleased to announce this year's Employer of the Year is Starbucks coffee company.

(Cheers and applause.) The first Starbucks opened in 1971 with a single store in

Seattle's historic Pike Place Market. Today they connect with millions of customers every day in more than 20,000 retail stores in 64 countries. According to Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer, despite the differences in culture, politics, language, how people dress, there is a universal feeling that we all want the same thing. We deeply want to be respected and appreciated for our differences. Starbucks disability inclusion practices and accomplishments span the enterprise. But we're just going to name a few.

Starbucks believes that accessibility is not only a business imperative. It's a global responsibility.

Starbucks strives to be a place for all people with or without disabilities. Where accessibility is seamlessly integrated. Where universal design is a reflection of their global responsibility. Their CEO and senior leadership are publicly open about both hiring and being inclusive and accessible place for people with disabilities. They have established companywide accessibility standards, club web standards, captioning standard, service animal standards and flexible work standards.

Starbucks military initiative includes veterans with disabilities with a commitment to hire at least 10,000 veterans and active duty military spouses over the next five years.

(Applause) Starbucks partners with the national technical Institute

for the Deaf on internship and partners with supported employment agencies to hire and retain partners -- or people with disabilities. To ensure that their trainings are inclusive for all, they are available in video, written materials, presentations, wonted on one coaching and self-guiding formats. They have an annual access series on disability, access and inclusion.

Finally, Starbucks values individuals with disabilities as assets in the workplace. Please join me in welcoming Jessica Rafuse, Starbucks manager for EEO initiatives, law and corporate affairs who will accept the award on behalf of Starbucks. Welcome, Jessica.

(Applause) >> JESSICA RAFUSE: Thank you, everyone, for this tremendous

honor. On behalf of our 200,000 partners, or employees, all across the globe including those who are here with me today from our local area, thank you for this honor. Especially since I've spent the whole week with you. I have learned so much personally and I cannot wait to get back and implement my to-do list, which keeps getting longer and longer. Thank you for that. At Starbucks we were committed to our people and our partners and our business.

It's within our mission, our mission is to up spire and nurture the human spirit. One person, one cup, one neighborhood at a time. One person first. And that's very important because when we think about Starbucks internally, we think about it as a place where we're not a coffee company that serves people we're a people company that serves coffee. And that was so important for me looking for work when I wanted to make a decision to move to a different job. I really wanted a company that kind of got it, that understood it. And so I knew new Starbucks was the right place for that.

So some of the ways in which we're doing that is really looking at this as an opportunity this year that we've been talking a lot about 7%. And 7% really engages the conversation, it opens up the door. But more than that we're looking at a cultural change. This is so exciting for me personally like was mentioned earlier Chris said about journey. Where I am in my journey. This is my first USBLN conference so looking at this from a new angle has been richly rewarding for me and knowing that our leaders are open to that is a really great experience. So we're looking at our partners and we're looking at the

importance of the assets, the benefits, the gifts and rewards that we receive because we have a disability. So, if you'll indulge me on a coffee analogy, some of you heard this earlier. This is what we call the Peabody premium. We love coffee, a lot. And a pea berry is a type of coffee, it is actually an agricultural defect that occurs naturally in about 5-10% of all coffee cherries. A coffee cherry is look a regular cherry and if you look inside normally there are two beans side by side. If a pea berry, there's only one coffee bean. It's smaller and it's rounder and it was historically discarded as a defect. It was damaged. It was less valuable. But now we know that the pea berry roasts more consistently so they prefer it because this he know how it will taste. We know coffeemakers prefer the pea berry because it has better flavors. The most recent pea berry we offered in our reserve line was described as uniquely spicy and acutely sweet. Because it is unique. It is an asset. So we are really taking a look at the assets that our partners with disabilities bring to the table.

This has been so rewarding for me and for our leadership because we've had the opportunity to finally talk about this openly.

And so the stories that I've heard from project manager who has diabetes and every single day she monitors and checks her diabetes and this checking and this monitoring and the meticulous nature that she goes about it makes her the very best project manager there is. Store managers, such a large population and really, the heart of our company, our stores.

If I've spoken to a store manager who has a type of mental illness and she told me that because of that mental illness, she is able to deescalate, and empathize. Customer service. This is exactly what we're looking for. The transferable skills that we seek in a store manager. So this is the dialogue that's happening internally at Starbucks and I guess for me personally, the story telling culture has been very important and I'm sure like many of you in the room it's difficult to tell your own story. So I'm practice. But as someone who has muscular dystrophy as a child and my muscles began to weaken, I went from being an athlete and a sports enthusiast to focusing on books and academics. And went from being someone who drove to someone who can navigate the Metro bus system in Seattle.

I had to adapt. I went from someone being a sports enthusiast to being an attorney. I had to adapt.

So my pea berry premium is adaptability. And in the fast paced dynamic business of retail, that's exactly what you need to do. Adapt quickly. So thank you for your patience when I talk about the pea berry premium and more importantly thank you for my to-do list. Thank you for all the companies I've learned from

today and this whole week. And has given me even more fire to go back to our leaders and show them exactly what more we can do. And this award is exactly that. It is the inspiration to continue the momentum. Because we have plenty of work to do. And I'm excited to join as Jill mentioned on the opening day, I didn't really understand it then this family that she described. But thank you for being so welcoming and warm as I travel through my own journey. I now know that when we link arms, we can do this. So on behalf of our partners and Starbucks Coffee Company, thank you.

>> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: Yet another person to inspire me. Thank you, Jessica, and thank you to Starbucks again. Thank you.

(Applause) So we're coming to the end of the awards presentation and I

know that I have a very good friend who is anxious for me to finish because there's I heard a baseball game that she wants to watch.

>> Not any more. >> KEITH WIEDENKELLER: It's over? Okay.All right.Anyway, I want to thank you for being here tonight. As we

close tonight's evening and work to finish the conference tomorrow, thank you for all that you've done. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being at this conference. But most importantly, thanks in advance for what you're going to do. Socrates said that the greatest way to find honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

Or as my colleagues at the Humane Society say, be the person your dog thinks you are.

(Laughter) (Applause)So as you leave here tonight, I don't want you to just be

inspired. I want you to go way here committed to being that person that we think you are. To going out there, changing world one cop of coffee at a time, one person at a time, with end friend at a time, one mentee at a time, one supplier at a time, one employee at a time. Go out and do it. We can go out from here, this conference doesn't mean anything if we're just all fired up and excited and then we walk out of here and we just behave the same way. My Psych 101 class taught me the definition of learning was a change in behavior. So let's go out there and change our behavior. Have a good night. Enjoy the rest of the conference.

(Applause)

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This text is being provided in a rough draft Format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) or captioning are provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings.

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