Thursday 18th March; 10.00 am to 11.15 am
Virtual Breakfast Seminar
To ensure a productive and efficient workforce, all our employees must be appropriately managed and supported to fulfil their potential, and this obviously includes the growing number of employees who have a disability or health condition. However, whilst employers recognise this, it isn’t always clear what providing support looks like in practice and this, in turn, leads to uncertainty around what types of adjustments should be provided, how to source them and how they actually work.
For this Breakfast Seminar, we will be joined by a number of individuals who will talk about their own disability or health condition, and how they manage this in the workplace. As well as focusing on the adjustments they have benefited from, they will also talk about how they manage their disability with their manager, colleagues and clients. It will also be an opportunity to learn how different organisations approach support in the workplace and to hear best practice.
There will be plenty of time to engage in conversations with these individuals, to ask the questions you have, and to learn more about subjects that we know little about. The session will build your knowledge in order that you have a better understanding of certain disabilities, as well as of adjustments and considerations in the workplace.
Agenda:
o Disability in the workplace
Helen Cooke, Director, My Plus Consulting, will start the seminar by sharing some insights and observations
o First-hand experience
Individuals will share their personal experiences of having a disability and the implications for this in the workplace.
o Discussion
This is the opportunity for delegates to discuss in more depth what they have heard and to consider the implications on how they support their employees with disabilities and health conditions.
Speakers:
James Ellery-Gower
James is Senior Manager, Financial Services - Cyber Security at EY and Co-Chair of EY’s Disability Community.
James has supported Financial Services clients on their Cyber Security agenda for the last 10 years and has had experience in Disability Recruitment prior to joining EY. James has extensive media exposure focusing on Disability, with a publication in The Guardian and recordings on the BBC, Channel4 and YouTube. James also leads one of EY’s largest chartable partnerships in the UK, whom focus on providing equipment, support and life skills to disabled children.
James has cerebral palsy and is a keen wheelchair tennis player. Walking with sticks and using a manual wheelchair, James passionately promotes the abilities of disability, and always looks to articulate why a disability positively sets you apart in the workplace.
Matthew Hands
Matthew joined Morgan Stanley as a Technology graduate in August 2016 having successfully completed a year-long Industrial Placement with the firm whilst studying for his degree in Computer Science from the University of York. He has had Right Hemiplegia since birth which makes lots of day to day tasks, walking long distances and performing office tasks like typing or writing notes more challenging for him. As such Matthew has required multiple operations on his right arm and leg throughout his lifetime, and has continued to undertake Physiotherapy into adulthood.
Matthew has held two roles during his tenure with Morgan Stanley; the first within the firm’s Reliability & Production Engineering division managing Foreign Exchange Trading platforms from a technical stand-point, liaising with traders, clients and developers to ensure that system issues are resolved quickly and efficiently with minimal impact to the firm or its clients; crucially ensuring that repeat issues are avoided. In December 2019 Matthew took advantage of internal mobility within the firm, joining it’s Enterprise Security Platforms division as a developer to work on our next generation login and authentication systems for client facing applications. Outside of his day to day responsibilities Matthew enjoys taking an active role within Graduate Recruitment for Morgan Stanley, not only as an interviewer and a mentor but also as an pro-inclusivity adviser to the firm’s entire graduate assessment process.
Katherine Holdstock
Katherine is a Manager at PwC currently on secondment to their Talent and Impact team. She’s spent the past 5 years working in Student Recruitment at both EY and PwC following completion of her graduate scheme in Assurance and qualifying as a Chartered Accountant. Outside of work she’s a Samaritan, School Governor and keen runner!
Not only has Katherine supported a number of candidates requiring adjustments during her career, she also battles with Generalised Anxiety Disorder sprinkled with episodes of panic and depression. Her condition means that she has made some conscious career choices to overcome some of the barriers in managing her anxiety in the workplace. She’s keen to share her story to help improve how companies help to support and manage those with mental ill-health.
Krishna Kakkaiyadi
Krishna is an associate in the Intellectual Property group at Pinsent Masons and advises a range of emerging and established life sciences companies on cross-border patent disputes, regulatory and transactional matters. He holds a first degree in Biomedical Sciences from the National University of Singapore, a degree in Law from the School of Excellence in Law in India and a first class Masters' degree in Law from Cambridge.
When he was 13, Krishna was diagnosed with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN –Type II), an autoimmune, slow-progressing chronic kidney condition that causes one's kidneys to lose their filtering capabilities and eventual kidney failure. He has spent the last 20+ years of his life across three different countries, through two kidney transplants, countless haemodialysis sessions, dietary and fluid restrictions, all with the help of his close family and friends. The past year during the COVID-19 pandemic has proven a special challenge with the shielding restrictions and the risks of falling seriously ill due to immunosuppression, but has been made bearable thanks to his wife, family and an agile and supportive office environment.
In his time with MPGN, Krishna has fielded the entire range of responses from people when they first hear about his condition – from shock to genuine concern to sympathy to ignorance ("Is it infectious?"). He is therefore keen to raise awareness of kidney health issues, hidden disabilities and most importantly, every person's own unique potential and resilience to achieve their personal goals against all odds.
Holly Lane
Holly was born deaf and British Sign Language (BSL) is her first language and the language that she prefers to use every day. Holly has a degree in Graphic Design but went straight into working in the voluntary sector across a range of Deaf organisations. This eventually led to working on an Access to Justice project which developed an interest in legal matters and she was delighted to join Baker McKenzie in 2019.
Holly’s current role is very varied – as D&I coordinator for the EMEA region, she relishes the opportunity to influence awareness and practice relating to all those impacted by the complex work of D&I. Holly has a team of interpreters working alongside her in her role and firmly believes that her methods of communication bring an extra element of understanding to the firm and their clients.
Holly also has a PGCE and has taught BSL in a range of settings. As a qualified translator, she is part of a team of Deaf translators providing a daily Covid 19 bulletin for the NI Deaf community. In her spare time, Holly likes to walk and run and is the proud owner of a beautiful Golden Retriever puppy.
Qassim Saeed
Qassim is an investment strategist in BlackRock’s ETFs and Index Investment team (EII), having joined in the graduate class of 2018. He is also a part of BlackRock’s Ability network and a member of the Diversity and Inclusion team within EII. Prior to joining EII, Qassim was a Summer Analyst in 2017, within Retail Solutions and Partnerships in EMEA Retail.
Qassim graduated in 2018 with a BA, with first class honours, in History with Political Science from the University of Birmingham.
Breakfast Seminars are exclusively for members of the Recruiters’ Club. They are ideal for anyone wishing to build their understanding of different types of disabilities and the impact it can have on the individual in their studies, extra-curricular activities and the workplace
MyPlus Recruiters’ Club Platinum and Gold members are entitled to 2 complimentary places. Additional complimentary places may be available depending on room capacity, with priority being given to Platinum members.
MyPlus Recruiters’ Club Silver and Introductory members may purchase places at a reduced price of £50 +VAT
MyPlus Universities’ Club members are entitled to 2 complimentary places at all. Recruiters’ club events. Additional places may be purchased at a reduced price of £50 + VAT
Contact lise@myplusconsulting.com to purchase places.
MyPlus run a variety of events for employers. For details of the different types visit our events page. For details of forthcoming Recruiters’ Club events taking place visit our events calendar page.
