Episode 9

Applying Authentic Inclusion to All Employee Segments, with Frances West

Authentic inclusion - what does this mean for organizations and individuals? On Episode Nine of the Caregiver Camp Podcast, Debbie Howard chats with Frances West of FrancesWestCo, a global advisory company working with public, private, and non-profit organizations including start-ups, to operationalize inclusion as a core business imperative to drive disruptive innovation.

With digital technology accelerating at a faster pace due to the pandemic, it is even more imperative that organizations think about digital inclusion in all aspects for employees to be able to feel authentically included. Frances explains the importance of approaching digital inclusion with “human first” thinking, and designing for the human experience first and foremost as the key to being authentically inclusive. 

In this episode you will hear:

  • How authentic inclusion needs to be approached holistically
  • Designing digital technology for workplaces for the human experience 
  • Challenges of digital inclusion in the workplace and how they can be overcome 
  • How we can all be more digitally inclusive 
  • Designing products to be inclusive for hearing and visually impaired
  • Digital inclusion for elders and digital tech adoption
  • How organizations need to be thinking of their employees to include their caregiving responsibilities (as part of being inclusive)

About Frances:

Frances West is a former IBM executive and was the organization’s first Chief Accessibility Officer where she was recognized for establishing IT accessibility standards, shaping government policies, and developing human-centric enterprise technology and solutions.  She founded FrancesWestCo, a global advisory firm in 2016, providing strategy and advice for C-suite, government, startups and venture capitalists on digital inclusion and innovations. She is the author of Authentic Inclusion™ Drives Disruptive Innovation, a timely and actionable book featured at CES and SXSW.

Sought by Fortune 500 companies, government organizations, non-profits and start-ups, Frances West delivers virtual or on-site keynotes that influence, inspire, and impact audiences to prepare organizations for future growth. Whether keynote, townhall, or fireside chat, Frances’s presentations influence leaders, impact business and inspire transformation, and are customized for live and virtual events.

Connect with Frances:

Website: https://franceswest.co/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frances.west.104 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/franceswest34/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-west-0b81924/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fwest34 

Links to items mentioned in this episode: 

International Labor Organization and Global Business and Disability Network

Leave no one offline: A primer on engaging your company on digital accessibility 

Ask the C-Suite: Episode 2 (July 8, 2021)

A Chief Accessibility Officer’s Keys to Success

TEDxMountainViewCollege

Authentic inclusion: what is it and why it matters

MASSTLC CEO, Tom Hopcroft interviews author and visionary of inclusion, emerging markets and business transformation, Frances West

Authentic Inclusion: An Interview with Frances West

Connect with Debbie:

Debbie Howard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiehoward/

Website: https://caregivercamps.com/ 

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About your hosts

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Tanya Krim

Tanya Krim is a long-distance caregiver for her parents who live in England. So she knows first-hand the emotional landscape and challenges of juggling work, life and caregiving. She chose to augment her 20-year career as a qualitative market researcher by obtaining her M.S. in Gerontology.

In the process, storytelling has become her passion as she believes that storytelling can offer multiple benefits to care recipients as well as their caregivers.

She is now applying her background to crafting meaningful, emotive, insight-rich Legacy Stories/Histories and spearheading storytelling training to help working caregivers as well as their care recipients reminisce, relive, revive and 'reset'.
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Debbie Howard

Debbie Howard is a former caregiver who served as both long-distance and live-in caregiver during her mom’s dying days in South Carolina, while running her Tokyo-based market research consultancy.
With the launch in 2016 of AMI (Aging Matters International) and TheCaregivingJourney.com, Debbie combined her caregiving experience with her 40 years in market research and communications to support companies and working caregivers in navigating their caregiving journeys with more ease and grace. https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiehoward/?originalSubdomain=jp
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Jonathan Brody

Jon Brody helped his mom age in place and live independently to the ripe old age of 93.
With over 30 years of marketing experience in the healthcare industry on both the client and agency sides, he has a deep knowledge of corporate needs including global strategy, market research & analytics.
He has bolstered this with his acquisition of an M.S in Gerontology from the University of Massachusetts. He is also a proud member of the Gerontological Society of America, American Society on Aging, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.