Gotham Gazette published an op-ed written by ICD’s Co-Presidents, Diosdado Gica and Joseph T. McDonald III, titled, “Build a Workforce Pipeline for New Yorkers with Disabilities.”

The piece highlights a historic opportunity to engage people with disabilities more fully in the workforce, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as New Yorkers with disabilities continue to face disproportionately high unemployment rates despite the climbing number of job openings, which was most recently reported at 11.3 million nationally.

ICD’s Co-Presidents call on New York City to create a robust pipeline to expand the number of individuals with disabilities in the workforce, and offer the following three key actions to accomplish this:

1. Specific funding to support the training and pre-training of individuals with disabilities

2. Greater apprenticeship opportunities for individuals with disabilities

3. Incentivized hiring of individuals with disabilities

Mr. Gica and Mr. McDonald state,

It’s time for New York City to build the pipeline needed to transport that human energy so that it can revitalize the economy as well as the lives of New Yorkers with disabilities.

To read the full piece, click here.