Ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities observed on 3 December, the European Investment Bank unveiled a new video on its reverse mentoring programme on disability inclusion conducted earlier this year.
Because the EIB believes that open and honest communication is often the easiest way to improve understanding, make connections across differences and achieve workplace inclusion, the bank set up reverse mentoring programmes. These programmes aim to provide a space for an open and confidential dialogue between a mentor and mentee.
Through the reverse mentoring programme on disability inclusion, EIB leaders gained insight into the lived experiences of staff members and received knowledge and tools on disability and neurodiversity in the workplace. These will in turn help them advance inclusion in their teams and in the organisation in general.
In the video, Isabelle Cabos, Policy Officer in the General Secretariat and José María (Pepe) Fernández Martín, Deputy General Counsel in the Legal Directorate of the EIB share their experience as mentor and mentee of the reverse mentoring programme on disability inclusion. They outline what concerns they had prior to their participation in the programme and why it is so important to serve as advocates and allies for disability and neurodiversity inclusion.
The EIB recognises that all experiences are unique and diverse. This video aims to present the relationship between an EIB manager learning from the individual lived experience of a staff member in a reverse mentoring setting. The content of this video is not intended as a source of official information or advice on ADHD or neurodiversity at large