Global Disability ERG Summit

During our first Global Disability ERG Summit, hosted by Financial Times, London on the 15^th of October 2024, we revealed the global top three priorities of disability ERG/Network leaders.

The global PurpleSpace community of disability ERG leaders has identified that they want their organisations to prioritise:

1. Improving policy and practice by routinely learning directly from their own employees and customers with disabilities.

2. Investing in a visible and effective workplace adjustment/accommodation service.

3. Normalising the experience of disability by routinely delivering storytelling campaigns (that includes the experiences of senior executives with disabilities).

At the 2024 Summit, employees with disabilities agreed the barriers that must be removed in order to liberate the potential of the world’s circa 756 million working-age disabled people to the mutual benefit of the people with disabilities (and the millions of people who will acquire their disabilities while in employment) and the global economy.

For the first time ever, global businesses and policy makers were able to learn directly from the global community of employees with disabilities.

Since the 2024 Summit, PurpleSpace has shared these insights on the global stage, including:

• International Labour Organization conferences in Geneva (2024) and Singapore (2025).

• Zero Project at UN Headquarters in Vienna (2025)

• Global Disability Summit in Berlin (2025)

You can now review the full recording of our summit here and read the 2024 Summary here

The Opportunity to Create Global Impact

To build on the momentum of the 2024 Summit and meet the increasing expectations of employees with disabilities, businesses and policy makers, PurpleSpace must evolve its approach to engaging and equipping the global disability ERG/Network community:

 

• Disability ERG/Network leaders want to create a global leadership development ecosystem where employee networks, champions and allies from a range of sectors, cultures, geographies can learn from (and with) each other.

• Global organisations need globally relevant solutions informed by high calibre local intelligence that comes from their own people with disabilities.

• Leading brands are increasingly investing in learning how to deliver consistent best practice in every market in which they operate, including in how to consult, resource and empower their disability ERG/Networks.

• Everyone wins as we build the capacity of disability ERG/Network leaders to contribute to emerging global and regional corporate strategies seeking to deliver business improvements that also benefit people with disabilities. 

2026: Creating the roadmap to a ‘Global Network of Networks

At our second Global Disability ERG Summit on 15 October 2026, we will:

• Launch our roadmap to the ‘Network of Networks’ in 2028.

• Collaborate globally to create a Second Edition of ‘Purple Planet’, mapping prevalence, maturity and impact of the global ERG/Network movement.

• Graduate our 2025/26 50 new and aspiring disability ERG leaders graduate from the global FutureMaker programme, and launch the new cohort for 2026/27.

If you are interested in sponsoring, being a hub host or attending our 2026 Summit you can register your interest HERE.