3.4 ACEVO’s offer for disabled leaders
The majority of the interviewees for this project had some connection to ACEVO. This was inevitable given the small scale of this project and the desire to speak to staff and board members as well as members themselves. It is notable that of the six politically identifying disabled leaders interviewed in this process only two were members of ACEVO. Of the remaining four politically identifying disabled leaders interviewed, only one was fully aware of what ACEVO was and did.
I’ve had next to no formal or external support [for my role as CEO], however I have had amazing peer support relationship from other leaders of DPOs.
When disabled leaders had the role and offer of ACEVO explained them, they unanimously saw the value in the organisation and the potential support the organisation could offer them as individuals both currently and throughout their leadership career.
The lack of understanding of what ACEVO does felt challenging for many disabled leaders working in organisations under great financial strain, as justifying the membership fee to your organisational governance board is hard if you don’t understand what you and your organisation are going to get out of the spend. Many of the interviewees indicated that they wished there were taster options to give disabled leaders tangible experience of membership benefits so that they could justify the costs.
As a disabled leader and being new to the role joining something like ACEVO felt like too much.
For those disabled leaders who were familiar with ACEVO or already members a key issue that was highlighted was not seeing themselves in how ACEVO communicates what it does or its working priorities. One interviewee identified having considered ACEVO to support their leadership journey and having concluded that there was no one like them to be mentored by so there wasn’t any point in seeking the opportunity, because the mentor would likely not understand their reality.
I’ve looked at several leadership programs including ACEVO and the mentors don’t reflect my experience and therefore would lack knowledge to support my journey.
While a number of people noted recent attempts to platform disabled speakers at events, they expressed frustration that the speakers were only ever seen in relation to disability inclusion rather than wider topics where CEOs held expertise.
It would be great if ACEVO could create space for disabled leaders to be heard.
Platform disabled leaders talking on leadership not because they are disabled but because they are good leaders. However it is also important to recognise the skills and assets disabled leaders develop to survive.
From both staff and members there was a strong feeling that the organisation’s approach to disability inclusion is reactive rather than proactive and there was a sense that things were only accessible because people asked rather than being pre-emptive. That being said, the disabled leaders who had experienced ACEVO’s approach to meeting adjustments had nothing but praise for the quality and dedication the organisation showed in meeting expressed needs.
My experience of ACEVO is they are great, they listen… For me it’s about effort not perfection.
While this is perhaps to be expected given the small-scale and means of selection around this research, all interviewees familiar with ACEVO spoke of seeing disabled leaders and reasonable adjustments at organisational events. This is perhaps an area where an anonymous survey would be particularly useful in understanding if anyone is currently feeling excluded from ACEVO’s activities. Some of the interviewees not familiar with ACEVO expressed a degree of trepidation around the organisation’s ability to be inclusive to them which suggests that the organisation needs to work on communicating its accessibility offer and approach externally as this may increase take-up of membership by disabled leaders.
Of the ACEVO staff and board members interviewed, many struggled to identify work that ACEVO had done in this area in the main part due to the misunderstanding of where mental health conditions fit in with disability. Some staff did describe ACEVO’s work around mental health and wellbeing, but did not associate this with disability.
There was excitement both from staff and disabled leaders at the possibility of what an offer opportunity within ACEVO could do if tailored specifically to the needs of disabled leaders. Many of the disabled leaders felt that they could benefit from being in contact with other leaders in order to share experiences and find solutions.
All parties emphasised that any offer needs to be based on the needs of disabled leaders, which should be established through co-production. In order for this to be achieved meaningfully and in a way that is non-exploitative, there may need to be some reimbursement of time.
ACEVO needs to co-produce their offer with disabled leaders and they need to fund the process to ensure those leaders can be at the table.
Some of the issues that were identified as being specific to disabled leaders were
- The barriers and discrimination experienced in the sector and how that affected people’s roles.
- The challenges and opportunities that come from having to manage your own access needs while leading an organisation.
- The fact that many disabled people-led organisations are small and flat with high expectations of their CEO and the functions that they are required to perform while simultaneously having limited opportunities for CPD and progression.
- The question of how you create reasonable adjustments for yourself when that is something that you hold organisationally.
The disruption caused by COVID-19, whilst negatively affecting access for many disabled people, does also present an opportunity for ACEVO and other infrastructure bodies to seriously consider what accessible engagement looks like both virtually and face-to-face. For example, when face-to-face meetings are possible again how could videoconferencing and live streaming be integrated in a way that allowed for interactive participation remotely.
