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Microsoft Africa Development Centre (Microsoft ADC), the engineering centre for Microsoft, is set to discover talents among people with disabilities (PWDs) at its Disability Inclusion event taking place across Africa on December 3, 2021.
The event, which is diversity-centred would focus on engineering and non-engineering talents living with disabilities and will encourage the inclusiveness of people living with disabilities in key career paths, while also raising awareness about the potential of talents living with disabilities. It will also showcase appropriate facilities, programmes and tools well suited for them to achieve functional change.
According to Jack Ngare, Managing Director, Microsoft ADC- Kenya, ‘’More than one billion people around the world live with a disability, and employment rates are relatively lower and poverty rates are higher for people with disabilities than for those without disabilities.
“From our 25 years of work on accessibility at Microsoft, we at ADC have learned that people with disabilities represent one of the world’s largest untapped talent pools and that inclusion of disabled talent is crucial to achieving our mission.
“Our employees with disabilities continue to be the catalysts of our innovations such as Learning Tools, live captioning in Teams, Seeing AI and many more. We continue to actively work to hire and nurture people with disabilities to bring their expertise into our processes, products, and culture at every level.”
Speaking further about the importance of the Microsoft ADC Event, Sophie Okonkwo, Engineering Talent Sourcing Specialist, Microsoft ADC, added “Diversity in the workplace is an essential component of any highly inclusive organisation like Microsoft.
“Organising this event to engage people with disabilities and allies in the Africa tech ecosystem is imperative, as the awareness of disability and inclusion needs to be widespread. The Microsoft Africa Development Centre Disability Event aims to celebrate the ability in disability and bring to the fore, the limitless possibilities that people with disabilities can achieve in an inclusive world.”
The Microsoft ADC Disability Inclusion event is open to all virtual events to commemorate the International Day of persons with disabilities in Africa, as well as reveal the ecosystem of Microsoft’s commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce and work culture.
The event’s activities are backed up by organisations affiliated with Microsoft Africa Development Centre and participants would have access to a wide range of mentors and speakers.