CHARLES A. RILEY, II was the co-founder of
WeMedia, the first multimedia company devoted to people with disabilities, and
the former editor-in-chief of WE magazine, its national bimonthly publication.
Professor of Business Journalism at Baruch College, Riley has authored fourteen
books on music, literature, and the arts, as well as disability-related topics.
His most recent book is Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change
(UPNE, 2005). About His Book "Disability and Business"
Although more and more corporations are including diversity in their business
plans, one major group has been left out: people with disabilities. The passage
of the Americans with Disabilities Act promised an end to discrimination more
than a decade ago, but the unemployment rate for people with
disabilities—physical and mental, visible and invisible—remains high, and
businesses remain uncertain about how to hire, manage, and market to what is by
far America’s largest minority.
In this comprehensive guide to incorporating disability into corporate
strategies—from hiring to selling to office architecture—Riley argues that
disability and business need one another. In exchange for inclusion and
empowerment in the workplace, people with disabilities bring a trillion-dollar
consumer market to the bargaining table, revenues untapped by most major
companies. Instead of relying on the paternal “it’s the right thing to do”
attitude, Riley emphasizes the business case for inclusion, pointing the way to
higher sales volume and a talent pool of creative thinkers, the “user-experts”
who know best how to reach the community.
Based on more than 100 interviews with inside sources at Microsoft, IBM,
Cingular, Boeing, SunTrust, and other major companies that have already enjoyed
success and recognition in the disability field, Riley identifies the best ways
to integrate disability into a company’s diversity strategy and shows how
successful integration has the potential to transform the way a company does
business, enhancing profits as well as reputation.
This is the first book to explain disability culture to the full spectrum of
industry and across all departments; and it is the first to provide corporate
leaders with a master strategy for making disability a productive and profitable
aspect of their business plans. Riley’s central premise—that the two sides are
already capable of helping one another, but have not recognized how to make this
happen—speaks directly to the needs of each community and proposes a practical
agenda that will directly benefit both.
“Some authors have tried to write about disability and employment, but
Charles Riley covers the issue in a comprehensive and realistic way. He explains
the nuances of disability, provides real resources and strategic assistance to
companies everywhere committed to, or interested in, hiring people with
disabilities. A practical and indispensable guide for managers, recruiters, job
seekers and placement counselors.”
—Alan Muir, Executive Director, Career
Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD)
