Innovating Inclusion

In late 2021, CASE launched an Innovation Lab to research, select, test, analyze and grow transformative solutions that facilitate the sustained and valued contributions persons experiencing disability make to the Canadian economy. Together with 20 partners from service providers to employers to research institutions, the Innovation Lab set out to explore the role of innovation in breaking down the barriers to employment faced by people experiencing disability and other, intersectional challenges. In this webinar, we will share the lessons we have learned along the way, including approaches that show promise, as well as those that did not go as planned.  

Joy McKinnon 

Joy has been working in the employment sector for three decades in Canada and the United States assisting both business leaders and job seekers to create inclusive and diverse workplaces.  She believes that meaningful employment is the first step to full citizenship.

Joy works with business and community leaders to develop policy and strategies that assist with recruitment and retention of a diverse and inclusive workforce which increases productivity and workplace morale. In her current role as New Concepts Coordinator with CASE’s Innovation Lab she focuses on finding innovative solutions to workforce challenges.

Joy holds a bachelor’s degree in education and is a certified facilitator.

Shannon Johnon

Shannon Johnson is the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Specialist at the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE). She has been working for the past 2 years on CASE’s Innovation Lab project with a mission to research, select, test, analyze and grow transformative solutions that facilitate the sustained and valued contributions persons experiencing disability make to the Canadian economy. Shannon came to CASE with over 25 years of experience working internationally for organizations such as UNHCR, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Panzi Hospital Foundation.