Yesterday, I (virtually) attended the first meeting of ThisAbility network in the creative industry, which was held at the D&AD studio in London.
ThisAbility (@ThisAbilityClub) is the invention of my good friend Sulaiman Khan @Kinectricity. Its purpose is to support #creatives who happen to have a disability, foster collaborations between influential people & importantly celebrate creative thinking.
It was great having the CEO of D&AD Tim Lindsay opening the session whilst supporting ThisAbility filling that niche of untapped potential in the Creative industry.
We had a large attendance of people like Michael McGrath (@MichaelMc_Grath) Founder of @MuscleWarrior, Caroline Pay & Mike Alhadeff from Grey, Laura Jordan-Bambach from Mr President and many other creative individuals that hopefully brings collaboration. A special thank you to Nadya Powell from Innovation Social (@NadsBads) for organising the virtual meeting without a hitch.
We discussed what the mission statement of ThisAbility should be:
- Inclusivity rather than diversity
- Change thinking practices as a community
- Persistence in the future
Clarity of purpose is important to ThisAbility, Michael McGrath succinctly put it “Let’s not boil the ocean”. Membership should not exclude any disability so it needs to be pan-disability.
When visiting Sulaiman last week, he mentioning Neuroplasticity: The brain’s ability to reorganise itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. That caused me to think of ThisAbility as a macro-neurone organizing the Creative Sector to form new connections with talented disabled creatives.
#Creativity #Inclusivity #Innovation is the #Future – ThisAbility is the #Route
Uncanny Vivek 