Advance, Cornell ILR School's publication for alumni and friends.
Issue link: https://advance.epubxp.com/i/524292
5 rawing inspiration from President Ronald Reagan, Lisa Yang '74 is working to "Tear down this wall!" Yang's efforts are not aimed at a physical wall, like the one that once divided Berlin, but a metaphorical one — the stereotypes that block people with disabilities from securing meaningful employment. In April, Yang gifted $10 million to ILR's Employment and Disability Institute, naming it the Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang Employment and Disability Institute, for herself and her ex-husband. Their interest in the issue is personal: Yang and Tan are parents of two adult children with autism. "With this gift, I hope to engender a paradigm shift in hiring practices, and — more radically — in thinking, where disability is seen as just another aspect of diversity," Yang says. She points out that while companies often believe there is no return on investment for hiring people with disabilities, the reverse is true. "Individuals on the autism spectrum, for example, have unique qualities — attention to detail, pattern recognition focus, logical reasoning — that have a measurable, positive impact on the bottom line." Furthermore, she says, enlightened hiring practices can create new markets as companies become more sensitized to the needs of those with disabilities — a population that is large and growing. Yang had another goal in making the gift. "It is important for Cornell to inculcate in its students a sensibility about diversity — and, in particular, neuro- diversity — because their colleagues, their families, their friends are going to have that profle," she says. "It needs to be part of the DNA of every Cornell student, not just those who major in disability studies." "We need to do that so we can build a better future for everybody." In addition to providing the naming gift for the Employment and Disability Institute, Yang, a native of Singapore, has funded Global Service Learning internships, the expansion of institute courses to non-ILRies and the K. Lisa Yang Scholarship Fund for Undergraduate International Students at Cornell. A former Wall Street executive, she retired in 2001 and has devoted much of her energy since to disability and mental health advocacy. She serves on the board of directors of the Devereux Foundation, one of the nation's leading mental health organizations, and is a recipient of its Cheryl and Howard Hassman Leadership Award. In 2013, she was honored by the Cornell Asian Alumni Association, and in 2014, she received the ILR School's Alpern Award. She is a member of the ILR School Advisory Council and a former member of the Cornell University Council. "People are a company's most valuable resource — they generate revenue and determine proftability," Yang says. "By marginalizing a large part of the population because they have a label on them called 'disability,' companies are shortchanging themselves." "Why would they want to do that?" "Whatever it takes to highlight this cause, I will be there," she says. "There's a lot of work to be done." n r e A I n A A "By marginalizing a large part of the population because they have a label on them called 'disability,' companies are shortchanging themselves." INN O VATION