#PurpleTalk is our campaign to drive conversations about the personal and business benefits of inner disability confidence. We do this by sharing stories from our members and other employees who are managing their disability or long-term condition and getting on at work. What most of these individuals have in common is a desire to share their experiences to help other colleagues through an employee network or the wider organisation to develop their own resilience and learning on disability and inclusion.
Katherine (Katia) Ramo is an Associate in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice at law firm CMS. She is also Founder & Chair of the CMS ENABLE Disability Network as well as being an active member of our community here at PurpleSpace.
In this article, Katherine talks about acquiring her disability, her drivers for setting up the CMS Enable Disability Network and her advice for building inner disability confidence through the art of ‘Transcending It’, the ‘It’ being an event or an outlook which could limit your impact on the world.
"We now live in a world where possessing the right credentials and skills in the workplace are not enough ingredients for lasting success. Finding and utilising our generosity of spirit and developing a depth of character as individuals and organisations does matter in making a lasting difference in the layered spheres we exist in. It is no longer ‘good to have’ but ‘must have’. This holds true as to whether you work for the sixth largest global law firm, a small boutique organisation or yourself.
A few years ago, I became disabled as an adult. I was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Stickler Syndrome Type II. It causes vision and hearing loss and affects the joints. This was in addition to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of a civilian tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Regrouping myself, and reinventing my career gave me a purpose, a raison d'être insofar as not to dwell on the losses and to look to the future even when at times there was none. During that time I was unable to detect that I was already transcending it. The evidence shone when I joined the CMS London Office, forming my beloved CMS ENABLE Disability Network and serving as a Trustee on the Board of BlindAid.
The CMS ENABLE Disability Network was born in 2014 out of my own life journey and its trials and tribulations. From the outset we decided the network would operate around the concept ‘APPEAR’ which is a mnemonic for six strands of activities as follows:
- Awareness: This is central to disability issues by default because many, through no fault of their own, are unaware of the wide spectrum of the disabilities that exist.
- Participation: This is related to mobilisation of people in our UK offices and internationally and/or our key clients to encourage them to participate in the Network to widen its impact.
- Practice: This is where we showcase disabled role models in various professions and engage them to share their journey. This will serve the Network’s mission two-fold: (a) showing true grit prevailing against the odds; and (b) having a depository bank of best practices.
- Empathy: This links with awareness and understanding. There are those who claim that empathy cannot be taught. This is a misconception as well-proven studies indicate that empathy can be taught through training, awareness and exposure.
- Action: I strongly wish for this Network to survive beyond its founding members and the only way is to be action-oriented in a myriad of ways whether initiating new training campaigns, or volunteering as Advocates and/or lobbying for certain disability causes...the possibilities are endless.
- Reporting: This is a very sensitive issue and must be addressed via this forum. Fear stops many people in their tracks and prevents them from reporting debilitating disabilities especially disabilities that cannot be seen. The Network aims to encourage sharing of information to remove any stigmas.
Alongside a clear vision for the network, we have undoubtedly been helped on our way through the active involvement and support of senior colleagues and champions, including The Senior Partner Penelope Warne, Dame Fiona Woolf and many others, who have proactively endorsed the network transcending the view that disability is not just a personal health related issue but the responsibility of the entire organisation.
In essence, if you look closely, you will find that the art of transcending 'it' happens every day every moment on both individual and firm levels. The question is: is it you transcending it, is it your organisation? If none of you are transcending, then are you willing to or in a position to change it to help drive cultural change on inner disability confidence?"
Permission of Use: This blog post has been adapted, with permission from the author Katherine (Katia) Ramo, from a diversity and inclusion article published by CMS in 2015. No reproduction is permitted without credit to the author and purplespace.org.
This content has been chosen for public access.
The full blog and all content is available to Members.
The full blog and all content is available to Members.
