In this episode of Scott-Parker Goes Live, Susan sits down with Lesa Bradshaw - international speaker, social entrepreneur, disability inclusion specialist, and founder of Bradshaw LeRoux (South Africa) and Lesa Bradshaw International (UK).

Lesa brings a rare blend of lived experience, business acumen, and global perspective. From her experience in South Africa to her work across Europe and the UK, she has spent decades tackling the systemic barriers that keep disabled people out of meaningful work and helping organisations shift from compliance to genuine confidence.

Together, Susan and Lesa explore:

• How compliance cultures worldwide — from quotas to rigid medical definitions — distort inclusion and prevent organisations from accessing real capability.

• The consequences of treating adjustments as “special treatment” instead of a basic requirement for fairness.

• What businesses get wrong when they focus on counting disabled people rather than removing the barriers that disable them.

• How Lesa helps global organisations translate inclusive intent into practical, context-specific action across regions with very different realities.

• Why authentic leadership, honest questions, and a willingness to listen transform disability inclusion from a legal obligation into a business advantage.

Lesa also shares powerful insights from her work with companies that are beginning to make real progress — including what it looks like when leaders shift from fear and uncertainty to curiosity, humility, and meaningful change.

Grounded in humour, humanity, and sharp strategic thinking, this conversation reframes disability inclusion as an evolution in good business practice, not an act of charity and not a compliance exercise.

Whether you're a senior leader, HR professional, policymaker, or simply someone who wants to understand how to remove disabling barriers and design for human reality, this episode offers clarity, challenge, and a fresh way forward.

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

In this thought-provoking episode, Anel Martin sits down with Susan Scott-Parker to unpack the real-world impact of workplace adjustments and why most organisations are still getting it wrong. 

Susan shares decades of insight with clarity and conviction, challenging outdated assumptions and offering a practical roadmap for change. 

From the hidden costs of delay to the ripple effects on employee engagement, this conversation reframes adjustment management as a business imperative -not a compliance checkbox. 

This episode offers fresh language, real examples, and a compelling case for engineering fit-for-purpose systems that work for everyone. 

Tune in to explore how “Everyone Wins a Balloon” is helping organisations move from 'stuckness' to strategy and why treating people properly is always good for business. 

To access this document please visit https://www.businessdisabilityinternational.org/everyone-wins-a-balloon/

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

In this episode of Scott-Parker Goes Live, Susan sits down with Christine Hemphill, Managing Director of Open Inclusion, a global inclusive research agency leading the way in disability and age inclusion.

Christine explains what inclusive research really means – and why it matters. From packaging and digital design to government services and immersive technologies, she shares how authentic insights from disabled and older people can transform products, services, and environments for everyone.

 Together, Susan and Christine explore:

• Why mainstream research often excludes people with disabilities – and the consequences for design.
• How inclusive research provides practical, ethical, and commercially valuable insights.
• Examples of “design crimes” that exclude, frustrate, or even endanger users.
• The importance of paying participants fairly and embedding lived experience throughout research processes.
• Why inclusive design isn’t  charity –it isn’t special treatment -  it’s simply good design.

With stories that range from packaging struggles to life-or-death safety design, Christine highlights how listening more broadly leads to innovation that benefits us all.

Whether you’re a business leader, policymaker, designer, or researcher, this conversation will change the way you see the world – and the way you design for it.

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

‘We fail disabled people when we fail to meet the legitimate needs of business’ – discuss!

I want to start 2025 with something a little different: my ‘Master Class’ for some Canadian disability organisations who were beginning to suspect that their traditional relationship with business did not help disabled people find meaningful jobs and careers. Some also sensed that their traditional messages aimed at the private sector as ‘the problem’, even ‘the adversary’  which needs to be educated and policed-  just isn’t working.

To be honest they struggled to accept my initial premise: that just as business needs, without doubt, to become more ‘disability confident’- so the disability sector needs to become more ‘business confident’…and must begin to position people in the private sector as valued stakeholders, valued service users, and potential partners.

I explore the need for modern business engagement and communications strategies (and not just in Canada) – as disability  organisations stop generalising about more than a billion people as they set out to prove that  ‘they’ are employable…and begin to explain that it’s a jolly good idea for any employer to learn how to recruit everyone based on their capabilities and potential.

Imagine a campaign aiming to persuade employers that 38 million people labelled Canadians are ‘employable’…everyone knows you can't generalise about 38 million human beings: some can do this job- some can’t- some don’t want the job- some would need flexitime- some would not…… why on earth do so many campaigns targeting business still generalise about more than 1.billion people labelled ‘disabled’? 

Hence the need for “the new business and ethical rationale for best practice.” 

You can tune in via :

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIbq9GIPtBI (THIS EPISODE - AUDIO ONLY)

It’s also available on my website - https://www.businessdisabilityinternational.org/podcast/

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Today, I am happy to release Episode 6 of Scott-Parker Goes Live! 

In this episode, we speak with none other than the extraordinary Kate Nash OBE – a force of nature and a self-proclaimed ‘agitator’ who has dedicated her career to reframing how the world views ‘disability’. 

Kate founded PurpleSpace in 2015 to empower Disability Employee Networks/ERGs worldwide. PurpleSpace is no small mission – it’s a movement, built to amplify the voices and the leadership potential of millions of disabled people in work –all  through the art and the science of NETWORKOLOGY! After the release of her first book, Secrets and Big News, Kate’s vision took on a life of its own.

 Then, in 2017, with one tweet, she sparked #PurpleLightUp – now PositivelyPurple – a global movement, uniting employees with disabilities and their  executive allies and colleagues around the world, to showcase the power and talent of disabled people and their contribution to the global economy.

 In this inspiring episode, Kate shares insights on positivity, perceptions, and the new chapter she’s ready to lead. Don’t miss this compelling conversation.

 You can also access the podcast video  YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@businessdisabilityintern-zs8iz/podcasts or on my website https://www.businessdisabilityinternational.org/podcast/

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Episode Five of Scott-Parker Goes Live features Dr Nancy Doyle and is particularly well timed, as October marks ADHD Awareness Month with the theme "Awareness is Key!" 

Dr Nancy Doyle, Founder Genius Within, is always absolutely fascinating: she must surely be one of the world’s leading authorities on neurodivergence and its impact on human beings in work and on the impact of work on human beings. A distinguished Occupational Psychologist, her scientific, lived and business experience could not be more relevant as she advises employers on how to liberate everyone’s contribution.

Two headlines for me from our conversation: 

• ‘we need to focus most decidedly not on clinical diagnosis but on making it easier for people to do well on the job’ – and
• ‘neurodivergent people are canaries in the mineshaft for all us’ 

And do check out her answer to my question: ‘if neurodivergence is a disability, why do so many organisations talk about ‘disability and neurodiversity’: they would never say “disability and paraplegia”. 

 You may be interested in Dr Doyle’s upcoming book 'Learning from Neurodivergent Leaders', available for pre-order ahead of its release in February 2025

Pre-order here https://guardianbookshop.com/learning-from-neurodivergent-leaders-9781805011422/ 

 If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience. 

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

This programme is called ‘Scott Parker goes live’ – which prompted my latest challenging conversation with Anel asking: So what is top of your mind- what is ‘live?’ - as you continue to tackle what you describe as the ‘global disability equality crisis’?

Her questions just kept coming:

- Why does the world still so strongly resist the message that disability is a human rights and equality imperative-as evidenced by your ongoing struggle to get disability into the global ethical and responsible AI debate?

- Why are disabled employees never described as ‘entitled’ to reasonable adjustments –as women are ‘entitled’ to maternity leave’? 
 
- Why does the phrase: ‘inclusion is a choice’ trigger your instant reply: “Well I guess ‘not robbing a bank’ is also a choice.’’

- Does focusing on the ‘bright side’ of incremental progress really get better results- or does failure to dig deep into disability specific obstacles, such as the state of HR training worldwide, or the ideology of equity and inclusion - make progress less likely?

Do join us for what we hope you agree is a thought provoking conversation.

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

What does good governance really look like- and do we care? Do join me for my fascinating conversation with Alice Maynard. 

In a world where we are pushed to act quickly and act again and then jump to the next call,  Alice Maynard’s level of thoughtful self- reflection is indeed rare and precious. She draws on years of direct experience on an amazingly diverse range of organisations – from the boards of HMRC and Transport for London to Chairing one of the UK’s largest Non-Profits…to her current roles as Chair of the University of York, member of the Financial Conduct Authority and more.  Her optimistic wisdom will hearten anyone wanting the institutions that shape our lives to ensure their governing boards work to the level of integrity, trustworthiness and effectiveness that our complex world now so desperately requires.

Alice’s advice on what  good governance really looks like – what high impact non-executive board members do …and not do…and what they really really should not do…is grounded in decades of learning from her direct and often challenging experiences

Do join us….

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Here comes my first episode of "Susan Scott-Parker Goes Live.”.

I so enjoyed my thought-provoking conversation with Phyllida Swift, CEO, Face Equality International - a unique, indeed historic, global alliance: members range from international non- profits to the ever-so-grass- roots group in Nepal –all  coming together to promote ‘face equality’.

I kicked off with: ‘Why did the authors of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities completely forget – never even discuss --  disfigurement?  Are you – should you be? - protected under disability equality or any other equality legislation?

And why, at your launch, was that young woman so cross when I said she should be protected from disability discrimination? Remember she pushed back instantly: “I'm not disabled! ..I live with facial difference”.  

 Phyllida delves into her personal experience as she moved on from her accident to leading the world’s first such global campaign- fighting for a world where everyone, I repeat everyone, can say with pride: “ My face is my masterpiece!” 

And where the world’s humungous social media companies no longer erase your brother’s face in that birthday party photo, because his ’non-standard’ appearance triggers the algorithm’s disapproval. And there is nothing you can do about it.

And  of course we also talk about the exciting upcoming ‘International Face Equality Week’  this year from 13-19 May-  and how individuals and organisations are getting involved. 

 This year’s theme is indeed “My Face is a Masterpiece’:  it’s a brilliant campaign – do join in – have some fun! – and help us celebrate  the unique artistry found in every face   https://faceequalityinternational.org/about-fei/international-face-equality-week/ 

 Find out more about Face Equality International and Disability Ethical AI? here.

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.
 
 If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

It was such a pleasure interviewing Caroline Casey- as she continues mobilising the collective power of business to tackle, in her words, “ the global Disability Equality Crisis”.  

Our conversation, as such long standing friends and colleagues, provides fascinating insights into the world -and the lived reality - of this fascinating international change maker…who combines the power of her personal story,  her passion for justice, and her lived experience of business – and her sense of humour! – to go where no disability campaigner has ever gone before… 

Why do we do what we do? ‘The presumed chasm between the world of disability and the world of business remains unacceptable – it’s bad for business and bad for people’. 

What are we up against? ‘Influential companies like McKinsey’s saying that ‘disability has no materiality for business’. Which is a complete denial of what it means to be human – and of the importance of human beings to any business and to any economy.

 We open with the simple question: “Are we covert human rights campaigners?”

 Her answer: “What am I?  – well I’ve learned to separate ‘what I am’ from’ what I do’ … hugely important …let's  just say I am a ‘positive troublemaker!’.

 “Labels, after all, are for jam jars – I’ve been called a social entrepreneur, innovator, disruptor – and more lately, and I'm easy with this, a global activist and campaigner. Mind you I’ve also been accused of running a cynical PR campaign for the Evil Capitalist System!.”

 Caroline has managed to secure commitments from more than 500 CEOs (for the first time in history) to put disability on their agenda – an amazing achievement – but inevitably the conversation also turned to: ‘but what about the 1500 who turned down this free opportunity? What does that feel like?’ How do you persuade disbelievers?’

 What has she learned?

 “Susan and I laugh the dark humour of the dark moments – you must find the humour….or this is just too hard. 

It’s not enough to be right –  find the common ground and read your audiences – different audiences have different ways of connecting. 

Connect closely with people who both love you and challenge you.

Don’t take failure personally, as you do what hasn’t been done before 

And  remember… as I had to tell myself time and time again– that you’re not going to solve it all – Do take those moments to celebrate what you’ve achieved along the way- and find the laughter!”.

 Great listening for anyone working in the ‘disability & business’ domain-or indeed the social justice space more generally -  tons of inspiration and thoughtful lessons to help you along the way.

This episode is also available now on my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwX0u79G98I&t=4s 

If you found this episode valuable please remember to share it with your network. We need to get this conversation out to a wider audience.

If you would like to suggest a future topic or guest for an upcoming podcast please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.