Adevinta for Everyone (A4E) has dedicated the month of December (and also part of January 2024) to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls every year on December 3rd. This year, a special working group within A4E organised two global initiatives and a series of local events to engage with as many employees as possible around the topic of disabilities from multiple perspectives.
The list of events was opened by an educational Bytes Session featuring Lesa Bradshaw, International TedX Speaker and founder of Bradshaw LeRoux Consulting. Lesa explored different ways disability inclusion can be implemented within the workplace, while recounting some pivotal experiences from her personal life. One of the key pillars of Adevinta’s DEI strategy is the inclusivity of the products we launch, and listening firsthand to Lesa’s experience was incredibly valuable for our teams who are looking into enhancing the accessibility of our marketplaces.
On a global level, we also opened an anonymous Google Form where anyone could share snippets of their experience, whether they live with a disability/ies themselves or they are someone’s carer. We received numerous insights that shed a light on the importance of a flexible working environment, physical and digital accessibility and the allyship practised by family members and colleagues.
Local events
From a more local point of view, the Dutch chapter of Adevinta for Everyone organised a successful movie night in Amsterdam. They screened the 2019 comedy-drama film “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” a modern retelling of the ‘Huckleberry Finn’ story.
This was followed by a truly heartful and thought-provoking discussion around the various themes presented in the film. Some of the attendees also shared their personal experiences as well as potential ideas on how to make our workspaces more inclusive.
In our Parisian hub, an intimate roundtable featuring no more than 30 employees was organised to let a few colleagues recount their personal experiences with disabilities. The event, based on the concept of psychological safety and confidentiality, was opened by Adevinta’s CEO Antoine Jouteau, who delivered a personal and engaging introduction, and leboncoin’s GM Amandine de Souza was also present during the whole event. The next step for Paris is already on the agenda: a BBL (Brown Bag Lunch) in 2024 on the topic of product accessibility!
Barcelona will follow suit in January 2024 with a roundtable that will follow a similar format. Three employees have already expressed their interest in joining the event and recounting their experiences.
Finally, our Adevinta for Everyone library corners, which we talked about in our previous article, are growing every month. From “Disability Visibility” to “Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally” and other books in local languages, our employees will have the chance to engage in educational readings that shed a light on the multifacetedness of disability.
