This article is also available in: 日本語
Hello,
It’s Mizuki. It has been about 2 months since my last blog post.
I was very lucky to have the opportunity to do a research in the U.S. for a year starting 2015. I had interviewed several companies for my research before moving to the U.S. and very luckily again I am able to work with one of the companies to continue my research on diversity and inclusion now. It had been about 18 months since I was working full time. I was very nervous on my first few days. My clear mission and the access to the international network soon helped me settle into the new environment.
I am able to restart my advocacy works.
A multinational consulting firm invited me to give a talk in their internal event. I had shared my learning of differences of employment for people with disabilities in the U.S. and Japan. Career paths of people with disabilities in Japan are very limited. On the contrary, the situation in the U.S. is quiet different. I had also talked about the incredible talents with disabilities that I met in the U.S. to help people understand there is no unlimited possibilities of employment for people with disabilities.
The company, which invited me to give a talk, already hired many employees with disabilities and plans to create a more diverse career paths for their employees. After the talk, people from HR department had asked me many questions. I am very happy to know that there are so many people who are willing to listen to me and care about this topic.
Very luckily, I was invited to write articles for a magazine published by DPI, as known as Japan National Assembly of Disabled People’s International. They are interested in employment for people with disabilities. I do feel very fortunate to be able to continue giving out voices and utilizing my learnings in the U.S. I want to continue my advocacy in 2017 as well!