Valuable 500
Leading the inclusive revolution
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There is a global disability inequality crisis. And it can’t be fixed by government and charity alone. It needs the most powerful force on the planet: business. But right now, 96% of organizations don’t see the opportunity. So, to empower businesses to end this crisis, we need strong and accountable leadership.
The Valuable 500 is a global movement putting disability on the business leadership agenda – calling for 500 of the most influential business leaders and their brands to ignite systemic change by unlocking the business, social and economic value of the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities around the world.
The new movement was launched to engage time-poor CEOs who don’t see disability as relevant or interesting to them. It needed to have the punch of a cause campaign with the intelligence and sophistication of a B2B campaign. So, The Valuable 500 asked Interbrand London to refresh their brand identity and reposition disability from a charity issue to a corporate issue.
The route to a truly inclusive world is through the creation of truly inclusive business. In the last 30 years, bold business leadership has played a crucial role in driving social change. Now is the time for bold business leadership to do the same for disability inclusion. The collective impact of getting 500 private sector corporations to put disability on their board leadership agenda will see more businesses investing in disability inclusion than ever before.
The result was a sophisticated visual identity which would encourage CEOs to engage with an uncomfortable topic. It was designed with accessibility at its core whilst standing out from the sea of soft inclusivity campaigns. The new Valuable 500 identity successfully marries the strength of business with the heart of responsible leadership, repositioning disability and proving that designing for disability doesn’t mean compromising on style.
The biggest risk is that we do not practice what we preach in terms of accessibility. This is why the craft of the visual identity was so important, everything from the colors to the typeface, to the icons, to the layouts and production of documents and website had to be inclusively designed.
If the messaging and the content had not been accessible, we would have lost credibility with disability activists and therefore failed in terms of gaining traction and support.
The biggest opportunity is to be the first brand to fully understand the challenges around business inclusion from a pan-sector and global perspective. The Valuable 500 is in the best position to bridge the gap between disability as a charitable cause and a business driver.
The Valuable 500 has been deemed by experts across the world as “the most successful global disability campaign to date”. The thought that went into the accessibility meant it was fully embraced by corporates, their leaders, 57 NGO’s, Governments and consumers with disabilities.
Results so far include: 250 companies and their CEOs joining the movement (including Sir Richard Branson), across 42 Sectors and 24 countries, together representing $4 trillion combined revenue and nearly 10 million employees.
