Lessons learned from community organizations: inclusion of people with disabilities and others

Workforce diversity requires broader vision and scope in managing diversity so that there is greater inclusion inside and outside organizations. This paper provides this vision by extending the stream of workforce diversity research to community-oriented inclusion and its processes. The authors interviewed 34 people with disabilities and 40 people without disabilities who were stakeholders of community arts and sports organizations. The participants with disabilities were mainly arts audiences, artists and sports athletes, and the participants without disabilities were mainly managers and government officials. The key findings report the importance of inclusion through common interest groups being facilitated by (1) non-minority specific communal activities, (2) listening to minority voices, (3) multidimensional accessibility, (4) availability of organizational and natural champions and (5) cross-boundary networks and collaborations. In order to create more inclusive organizations, the authors suggest that private organizations need more community-oriented values, goals and strategies that foster boundaryless inclusion of people with disabilities and other minority groups in organizations and society.