Fifty Japanese companies join ‘The Valuable 500’ list that aims to boost disability inclusion in business

From The Yomiuri Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan

May 18 2021

The number of companies participating in The Valuable 500, an initiative to encourage disabled people to enter society, has reached its target of 500 companies worldwide. The Nippon Foundation, which supports the initiative in Japan, made the announcement on 18 March.

The initiative was launched in 2019 by Irish social entrepreneur Caroline Casey and others. The aim is to reform the businesses of companies so that disabled people can fulfil their potential.

Fifty companies from Japan are participating, including Kao Corporation, Suntory Holdings Limited, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Limited and the Tokyo headquarters of the Yomiuri Shimbun. Google and Coca-Cola from the US are also participating. 　

The participating companies will work together to encourage the development of products that take into account the needs of people with disabilities, create an index to measure the extent to which companies are using people with disabilities, and set up job sites with accessibility in mind.