Julie Sowash
Executive Director
A passionate disability advocate, award-winning business leader, speaker, and podcast host, Julie Sowash is a true innovator in the DEIB and TA/HR field. As Co-Founder and Executive Director of Disability Solutions, she and her team have partnered with over 70 companies of every size and industry, including PepsiCo, Synchrony, and Bristol Myers Squibb, who value people with disabilities by helping them implement outcome-based programs and solutions throughout the engagement, hiring and retention process.
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She supports the building and deployment of strategic solutions by first assessing current structures, systems, policies, and processes to identify areas for improvement. Julie provides a real-world perspective to her work as both someone living with a disability and a professional having worked in public, private, and vendor environments. She uses this experience to focus on mapping and identifying touch points, barriers, and gaps in the engagement process, including within technology, data, and vendor infrastructure. She then uses these findings to develop targeted strategies that will cater to an organization’s unique needs while focusing on creating greater opportunities for people with disabilities in every aspect of an organization.
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Julie regularly speaks at state, national, and international conferences, including the United Nations Day of Persons with Disabilities Celebration and DisruptHR, focusing on topics such as compliance and disability inclusion. She is the Co-Host of the Crazy and the King podcast with Torin Ellis, discussing diversity, equity, and inclusion in everyday life. She leads Ability, Stronger, the DEIB strategy for Ability Beyond. She was also recognized as one of the Top 100 in Talent Acquisition Technology by TA Tech in 2021 and one of the Top 100 DEIB professionals by Untapped in 2022.
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Julie has her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Indiana University. She has worked as a disability and employment leader for over fifteen years. Julie lives in Columbus, Indiana, with her husband, three children, and their dogs.
Topics
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DisruptHR - This is Not Charity, Employment Branding in the Disability Community
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BroadBean - Leading with Empathy and Knowledge: Managing Talent with Cognitive
and Learning Disabilities
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Podcasts and Features
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Amanda Burris
Director of Sales
“Your job, be human. My job, find employers creating a culture for disability and diversity inclusion.”
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With 20+ years of business leadership experience, Amanda Burris is a diversity and equity trailblazer. As Director of Sales at Disability Solutions, a leading non-profit in the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), TA, and HR space, she leads a team dedicated to helping companies find, hire, and retain talent with disabilities. As someone with a non-apparent mental health disability, she understands from experience how beneficial it is to raise awareness, provide education and eliminate biases in the workplace. At Disability Solutions, Amanda is doing just that by working with Fortune 1000 companies like Roche and PepsiCo to remove barriers to the hiring process and hire talent with disabilities through strategic outreach and cultural change. Amanda is passionate about speaking to and addressing fears and stigmas around disability, mental health wellness, and the general hiring of disabled talent.
“I am honored to be a part of a company leading the charge to make a change. 61M Americans and 1B Globally people live with a disability. Disability does not discriminate. We are across all races, ethnicities, genders, and economic backgrounds. Disabilities are short-term, long-term, and life-term and we deserve representation in the workplace.”
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Topics
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Changing Minds and Changing Lives - Amanda discusses her role as a leader with a mental health disability, and mental heath in the workplace, and how she breaks down barriers, reduces stigmas, and creates outcomes, advocating for people with disabilities.
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Mental Health Wellness in the Workplace - Amanda speaks from her personal experience with mental illness, addressing how best to support mental health wellness in the workplace, reviews various mental health conditions and frequently asked questions and stigmas.
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Dispelling Fear and Stigma about Disability - Amanda presents reasons why the disability community is a powerful untapped resource as well as discusses the business cases for adding individuals with disabilities to your workforce.
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Hiring People with Disability - Amanda addresses reasons why disability hiring is essential to your business; presents foundational disability knowledge and how to avoid accommodation pitfalls.
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Podcasts and Features
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For additional information about our keynote speakers, topics, and pricing please contact us.
Disability Solutions is a national, non-profit consulting practice working with corporate leaders to leverage the engagement of talented jobseekers with disabilities – solving a workforce employment challenge where everyone wins.