Sodexo Receives 2009 Disability Matters Award
By Karen Graham, Senior Recruiter, Talent Acquisition Group

Jodi Davidson, Director - Diversity Initiatives; Michael F. Connor, Area GM - Senior Services & Co-Chair of SOAR; and Laura C. Antal, Sodexo University - Instructional Designer

Sodexo Organization for disAbilities Resources (SOAR), one of several Employee Network Groups, was created to raise awareness and to provide education and resources to employees who have a disability or who have a loved one with a disability. In recognition of Sodexo as an industry leader, we were recently awarded the Disability Matters - Work Life Award by Work Life Matters Magazine and Springboard Consulting at a recent conference in New York City.

"It is so personally gratifying to see the incredible commitment of our awardees to supporting people with disabilities and their families in so many aspects of their businesses," said Springboard Consulting President Nadine Vogel. "It illustrates their recognition and commitment to the inclusion of a community that is now considered to be the largest minority market in the world."

Adrienne and her 6-year-old daughter Clare. Clare has Down's Syndrome.

Adrienne Vadell Sturges, Sodexo Assistant General Counsel and Co-Chair of SOAR, knows first-hand how education and training in the workforce can go a long way towards changing people’s perceptions about what it means to have a disability. "As the mother of a child with a disability, I’ve come to learn that most people have good intentions. They want to say or do the ‘right’ thing, but don’t always know what the ‘right’ thing to do or say is. By educating people regarding when it’s appropriate to offer assistance and teaching them to focus on what an individual can do, we heighten people’s awareness in their day-to-day interactions with people with disabilities. This is a crucial first step towards true inclusion."