The United Way is partnering with Life Directions and the Ontario Disability Employment Network to bring you Disability Awareness and Confidence Training.

Why attend? Build the knowledge and confidence to create a more inclusive workplace. This practical training helps dispel myths about disability, strengthens inclusive hiring practices, and equips your team to welcome and support employees with disabilities

Why attend? Inclusive workplaces are stronger workplaces. Learn practical strategies to recruit, onboard, and retain talented employees with disabilities while building a culture where everyone can thrive.

Attendees will receive a Certificate of Participation.

This training session will be delivered by Disability Employment Inclusion Specialist Jennifer Hope.

They will teach your teams why employing people who have a disability is valuable for any business regardless of size.

What to expect in the facilitated DACT session:

• Explain the benefits of inclusive hiring practices
• Dispel common misconceptions and myths about people who have a disability
• Prepare your teams to confidently on-board new employees who have a disability
• Provide an opportunity for you to ask any question in a safe, supportive setting

While the afternoon and evening sessions are tailored to different audiences, the core learning is the same. Both will build disability awareness and confidence, challenge common assumptions, and explore how we can remove barriers and create more inclusive workplaces, organizations, and communities. The examples and conversations will shift depending on who is in the room, with the afternoon leaning more toward employment and workplace practice and the evening toward boards, governance, and community leadership.

Choose the session that best fits your schedule and role, or come to both for the opportunity to explore the ideas through two different lenses.

Registration below

September 23rd – 1:30-4:00 pm

Lower Hall – Harmony Centre Owen Sound – 890 4th Ave East – entrance is off 9th street

Disability Awareness & Confidence Training for Service Providers 

Designed for employers, nonprofit staff, HR professionals, service providers, economic development partners, and others whose work involves hiring, employment, or workforce participation.

This session will focus on the practical and economic side of disability inclusion: understanding barriers to employment, challenging common assumptions, strengthening inclusive hiring and workplace practices, and building organizations that can better attract, support, and retain talent.

If disability, employment, workforce development, accessibility, or organizational practice touches your day job, this session is for you.

OR

September 23rd – 6:30-9:00 pm

Lower Hall – Harmony Centre Owen Sound – 890 4th Ave East – entrance is off 9th street

Disability Awareness & Confidence Training for Nonprofit Boards

Overview

Nonprofit boards play a critical role in shaping organizational culture, setting strategic direction, and ensuring their organizations reflect the diverse communities they serve. Disability inclusion is not simply an operational responsibility. It is an important component of effective governance, strategic leadership, and organizational excellence.

Disability Awareness & Confidence Training for Nonprofit Boards equips board members with the knowledge, confidence, and practical governance strategies needed to foster more accessible and inclusive organizations.

Through interactive discussions, a review of the current landscape of disability in Canada, case studies, and realistic governance scenarios, participants will explore how boards can recognize and remove barriers, challenge common misconceptions about disability, and embed accessibility and inclusion into strategic decision-making.

Why This Training Matters

More than one in four Canadians identify as having a disability, yet barriers to participation continue to exist in employment, leadership, governance, and community life.

Boards influence the culture, priorities, and accountability of their organizations. By increasing disability awareness and confidence, nonprofit boards can make more informed decisions, strengthen governance practices, and foster organizations where everyone has an equitable opportunity to participate and contribute and reflect the communities in which they operate.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Increase their understanding of disability in Canada and its relevance to employment and nonprofit governance.
• Recognize the barriers people who have disabilities may experience in employment and participation in community.
• Challenge common myths and assumptions that can influence governance decisions affecting people who have disabilities.
• Understand the board’s role in fostering an accessible and inclusive organizational culture.
• Apply governance practices that support accessibility, accountability, and continuous improvement as relevant to disability inclusion.
• Promote inclusive communication and accessible governance practices.
• Support leadership development by encouraging equitable opportunities and inclusive mentorship.
• Recognize how Employee Resource Groups, Advisory Committees, and lived experience can strengthen governance and organizational decision-making.

Session is free to attendees, but donations are being accepted to cover coffee and snack costs.