Serving Employers' Needs: an
interview with John Kemp, the newly-appointed Executive
Director of the US Business Leadership Network
John Kemp graduated from
Georgetown University in 1971 and from Washburn
University School of Law in 1974. Mr. Kemp was awarded
an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Washburn University
School of Law in May, 2003. He is currently a principal
at the law firm Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville, PC in
Washington, D.C. John has been a prominent voice in the
disability movement for over 30 years. He has played a
leadership role with many of America’s most influential
disability organizations including the United Cerebral
Palsy Association, Very Special Arts, The Abilities Fund
Inc., Disability Service Providers of America, National
Council on Disability, Easter Seal Society, Goodwill
Industries, and the U.S. International Council on
Disabilities. In addition, he founded the HalfthePlanet
Foundation and co-founded the American Association of
People with Disabilities.
On April 4, 2007, the
US
Business Leadership Network announced that it had
retained John as its new Executive Director. John
graciously agreed to be interviewed for this month’s
edition of Inclusion@Work.
OBLN:
John, before we learn more about your new leadership
role with the USBLN, we would like to get your
perspective on some general issues in the employment of
people with disabilities. In recent years, there have
been allegations that the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) actually had a negative impact on the
employment of people with disabilities. What do you
think about those assertions?
John
Kemp: I don’t think those allegations are fair and I
don’t think they are accurate. The issues of employment
for people with disabilities and the problems around
that issue are deep and severe. I don’t think the
current situation can be blamed on the ADA. The ADA has
had a profound impact on the quality of our lives over
the past seventeen years.
Progress in employment has not
happened fast enough because there are still employers
out there who don’t believe that people with
disabilities can productively perform jobs. Narrowly,
they see it from their own perspective; “How would I do
this job if I had that kind of disability? I don’t think
I could – so I’m not going to hire anyone with that kind
of disability.”
Dick Thornburg, former Attorney
General, had a good way of framing the ADA. He said that
the ADA had a symbolic impact and a substantive impact.
It was a clear policy statement about the vision that
our country has for people with disabilities to be full
participants in all aspects of life. Symbolically, it
led us into a leadership position of world leadership. I
am disappointed that we have not sustained that symbolic
leadership in the last 4 or 5 years – especially around
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People
with Disabilities. But I would not blame the ADA.
As with any civil rights law,
the first few years are about creating the boundaries of
the definition and the concepts… like “reasonable
accommodation”. We’ve moved through there. We have not
been entirely successful – especially at the Supreme
Court level. We have had the definition of disability
narrowed substantially. It is time to go back and
clarify and restore those rights that Congress
originally intended to protect. I do expect that there
will be an ADA Restoration Act.
They will never push people with
disabilities into the boxes that we were in before. We
are out. We are very happy with all that we are doing…
and there is a lot more that we could be doing. The
future is only going to get better for us.
OBLN:
For those of us who are actively trying to improve
employment opportunities for people with disabilities,
do you see anything new and hopeful on the horizon?
John Kemp: In the future,
I think we are going to see greater investment of
venture capital funds in companies that are well-run and
well-managed but also owned, equity-wise, by people with
disabilities. I am currently involved with one fund that
is going to make this a priority. It doesn’t mean that
these entrepreneurs with disabilities are going to hire
a bunch of people with disabilities just because they
happen to have disabilities themselves, but I am hoping
they will. I am hoping that part of the investment
strategy will be to encourage additional employment of
people with disabilities.
Also, I am working on a piece of
legislation with a group called The One Percent
Coalition. The act itself is called the Employer Work
Incentive Act for Individuals with Severe Disabilities.
Essentially it is a federal procurement advantage for
any federal contractor or subcontractor that employs
above a certain percentage, in the range of 15 – 25%, of
people with severe disabilities. Companies – nonprofit
and for profit - that meet the standards will enjoy a
slight advantage in bidding on federal contracts. Every
other protected class group has similar kinds of
contract advantages – and they benefit from it. People
with disabilities do not. I think it is an important
piece of legislation.
OBLN:
John, you recently agreed to serve as the Executive
Director of the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN).
Can you give our readers a brief overview of the USBLN?
John Kemp: The
overarching goal is to create a world-class organization
that offers employers a meeting place, both physically
and virtually, with other employers who are keen on
promoting employment and customer service for people
with disabilities. It will strive to be a model
organization that will lead and follow a network of
chapters and members who have strong beliefs in
advancing employment and customer service for people
with disabilities.
OBLN:
“Lead and follow” is an interesting phrase. Can you
elaborate on that?
John
Kemp: Where is the action happening? It is at the
local level. It is not necessarily in Washington, DC.
Probably the most creativity that happens in
organizations like this happens in selected chapters’
and members’ home towns. That is where we have to be
smart enough to follow. We have to advance this movement
by finding those model programs, highlighting them, and
letting other people try to emulate them.
The idea is that we will build
this organization by strengthening the Chapters so that
they can become effectively engaged in advancing the
concepts that we are promoting for people with
disabilities. It is in local communities that people
know where the jobs are, what the needs are, and where
the resources are. Chapters will flourish where there
are employers who want to work together to build
something fantastic, to distinguish themselves for having
model practices. Hopefully, these well-functioning
localized networks will be the outgrowth of our efforts.
OBLN:
There are many organizations in existence that promote
the employment of people with disabilities and workforce
diversity. What distinguishes the USBLN from the rest of
that crowd?
John Kemp: While there
are many groups whose interests overlap on our own,
there are no national organizations and, typically, no
local organizations that have this dual-purposed focus -
where companies can work together to address the
challenges and find solutions to the employment and
customer service issues of people with disabilities.
There is a paucity of organizations that address these
issues this way and we intend to fill that niche and
grow with it as it evolves.
OBLN:
Amongst organizations that strive to improve employment
for people with disabilities, the concept of
“employer-driven” seems to be unique to the Business
Leadership Network. Can you comment on that?
John Kemp: We want our
organization to be a place where employers are
comfortable coming together and talking about issues
that are important to them. The issue of disability and
employment cuts a wide swath. It is a concern of
organizations that provide services to people with
disabilities, advocacy organizations, diversity-related
organizations, and others. This organization is intended
to be centric to employers’ needs. This is not to say
that it will not address the interests, needs, and wants
of other groups. We are deeply involved with a number of
non-profit organizations that will become partners of
ours. We foresee a number of strategic alliances with
them and with government agencies.
At our core, we are about
serving employers’ needs in the areas of employment and
customer service for people with disabilities. Outside
of that core purpose, there is an awful lot of room, and
a great deal of need, to build and strengthen
relationships with all the other entities that affect
disability employment and services.
OBLN:
From the perspective of people with disabilities, based
on their life experiences and their hopes for the
future, what do you hope they will see in the in the
mission and actions of the USBLN?
John Kemp: I think there
is every reason for people with disabilities to be
suspicious and jaded in their perspectives about any
organization that purports to promote the employment for
people with disabilities. There have been many
governmental and nonprofit organizations, over a period
of eighty years, that have said “We are all about
helping people with disabilities get jobs” - and there
has been little to no improvement in the employment
rates of people with disabilities.
Can we at the USBLN make a
difference? We are going to really try. There are a lot
of issues that affect the employment opportunities for
people with disabilities, but employers do hold the
jobs. Why has there been no progress? What is it that
fundamentally is causing this no-growth state of
employment? It is not acceptable to me and it is not
acceptable to those companies that are involved in the
USBLN.
People with disabilities need to
know that there is an impatience that I and the Board of
Directors of the USBLN share on this issue. It is not
acceptable. We have to try new and different things to
generate more employment. On the policy front, it could
be time to dismantle some of our social programs and
rebuild them.
Again, the status quo is not
acceptable and there is an impatience on the part of the
USBLN – a desire to make a major change, to try new
approaches and to partner with groups that are also
anxious to bring about change.
OBLN:
Can you expand a little on the relationship between the
USBLN and its Chapters throughout the country?
John Kemp: It is a
partnership. We hope to support them with tools to
organize themselves in an efficient way, to explore what
the needs and wants of their communities are, to create
partnerships in their communities, to increase their
membership base, and to generate needed revenues.
In addition, we want to build a
strong national office that can create national
campaigns and public relations programs, take national
policy positions, and be advocates on the Hill and with
the Administration on issues that will promote the
unified mission of the organization.
OBLN:
What are some of the immediate priorities of the USBLN?
John
Kemp: We are working hard right now at our upcoming
national conference. It is a major showcase event for
our organization. We are intent on holding a first-class
event on September 23 - 26, 2007 in Orlando. In
conjunction with the conference, there will be a Career
Fair. In partnership with the American Association of
People with Disabilities (AAPD), there will be the
launch of Disability Mentoring Day for 2007.
Our partnership with AAPD is one
of the exciting new partnerships that we are developing.
We envision a strong ongoing partnership with AAPD as,
in the future, we tackle different issues of common
concern. We have established a partnership with the Job
Accommodation Network through which we are sponsoring
nation-wide educational webinars for employers. We have
a new partnership with the Youth to Work Coalition and
that will enable us to engage with youth with
disabilities at this critical stage in their lives.
OBLN:
As the new Executive Director, what message would you
like to get out to the existing Chapters of the U.S.
Business Leadership Network?
John Kemp: The USBLN
support to you will grow substantially over time. We are
laying the foundations for a high-quality national
organization that will be a strong resource to you in
the future. I will assist you personally in any way that
I can. I will be more than pleased to travel to your
communities, as I can, to engage with your business
communities and generate interest in your efforts.
Our goal is to support you and
to help you grow by providing information, support,
resources, answers for questions from your local
employers and to keep the USBLN as a good “brand name”
for you to be associated with.
OBLN:
If an employer from a community where a Business
Leadership Network does not exist reads this interview
and is interested in forming a local chapter, what
should they do?
John
Kemp: I would be honored if they would call
me or email me directly. My phone number is 202-466-6550
and my email is
john.kemp@ppsv.com. They are also welcome to contact
Katherine McCrary our Board President. Her contact
information is on our website. We can connect them to
one of many successful BLN Chapters throughout the
country that will be happy to assist them.
Visit the website of the
USBLN
Laura
Bock: First, there is no cost to post jobs. One of
the distinct advantages that employers have in dealing
with the JDN is that we know our clients. We know their
skills and their strengths. We have checked out their
backgrounds. We know that the degrees and training on
their resumes are real. This pre-screening saves the
employer hours of time and effort.
Laura
Bock: Our Network’s job developers are committed to
helping each other to be better for the employer –
becoming informed on what employers really need and not
contacting them until they have someone who can likely
meet the employer’s hiring needs. We have a code of
conduct that prescribes that our job developers will not
refer clients to an employer unless they have good
potential to meet all the qualifications that are
specified for the position.