Patty O’Sullivan lost her hearing when she was 18 months old and said in the past she was passed over for promotions because of her disabilities.
She was a participant in the Leadership Institute for Managers with Disabilities, which was held for the first time by the UCLA Anderson School of Management this week.
The launching of the institute marks the first time an executive training program has ever been tailored specifically to the disabled.
In the past the Executive Education Program at UCLA has offered similar weeklong tutorials for women, blacks, Latinos and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
This institute, however, is the first program of its kind anywhere in the country.
“What you get out of this is priceless,” said Patty O’Sullivan, who also was a speaker representing Agilent Technologies, Inc. “We now have built a good networking group for people with disabilities,” O’Sullivan said.
The program accepted only 25 applicants to maintain a small, intimate learning environment. From early morning until well after sunset Monday through Thursday, the class attended seminars on leadership-related topics.
Seminar titles included “Showing Executive Readiness,” “Addressing Stereotypes” and “Personal Leadership Styles and Skills.”
“This is an amazing, groundbreaking event that’s happening. It’s on sort of a small scale, but this is a seed that will grow enormous results,” said Robert David Hall, the program’s keynote speaker.
Hall is a UCLA alumnus best known for his portrayal of Dr. Albert Robbins on the CBS television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Hall lost both of his legs in 1978 when a car accident involving an intoxicated truck driver caused his gas tank to explode, burning over 65 percent of his body. After being fitted for two prosthetic legs, it took Hall a year to learn how to walk again.
He now serves on a number of national committees for performers with disabilities and uses his success on CSI as a platform of advocacy on behalf of the disabled community.
“There is no diversity unless you include people with disabilities,” Hall said. “They’ll talk about ethnic diversity all day long, and that’s a very necessary thing, but there’s such a huge contingent of people with disabilities in America.”
While nearly 20 percent of Americans have some kind of disability, only half of a percent of words spoken on television are uttered by a disabled person, Hall said.
“The truth is that we are undervalued and underused,” he said.
The institute is meant to remedy such concerns, equipping young, disabled leaders with the necessary skills and contacts to excel in the workforce.
Fourteen major corporations were represented in the program, including Google, Microsoft and AT&T. Each company sent executives who has been with the organization at least five years, ensuring that they are experienced.
Colin Petheram, an executive representing AT&T, said he saw the program as UCLA’s way of rounding out the overall concept of diversity.
“The way we see it at AT&T is that people with disabilities are an integral part of our workforce,” he said.
Since a variety of disabilities was represented, the program’s organizers made sure that all the necessary accommodations were made to ensure that each participant was able to learn.
The banquet room on Tuesday evening had only four chairs at each of the tables, allowing room for those in wheelchairs to eat comfortably. A sign-language interpreter translated both during Hall’s speech and for participants who wanted to have individual conversations.
Laurie Dowling, the executive director of the Office of Executive Education Programs distributed business cards with her information written in both print and Braille.
Victor Pineda, a student pursuing his doctorate in urban planning at UCLA, is confined to a wheelchair and said he sees the institute as a groundbreaking opportunity.
Pineda’s work in urban planning recently took him to Dubai where he helped create a leadership program for people with disabilities.
“It’s a place to look at and understand leadership and how much we have to contribute,” he said of the institute. “Before we were supplicants, but here we are builders.”