Celebrating Value and Talent: Goodwill Recognizes NDEAM

By Laura Walling, Vice President of Government Affairs, Goodwill Industries International, Inc.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), an opportunity to celebrate the contributions people with disabilities make to America’s workplaces, communities and economy, and to recommit to expanding access to meaningful employment. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2026 NDEAM theme is, “Celebrating Value and Talent”.

For Goodwill®, that commitment is part of our mission every day. In 2025, Goodwill provided employment, education and other support services to more than 166,000 people with disabilities, part of the nearly 1.9 million people Goodwill served nationwide.

NDEAM is also a reminder that building a strong workforce means ensuring people with disabilities can fully participate in it. DOL encourages employers to recruit, hire, retain and advance people with disabilities and highlights strategies such as accessible workplaces, reasonable accommodations and apprenticeships.

Goodwill advocates can help turn those principles into policy. As Congress, federal agencies and states consider workforce policies, we can encourage policymakers to:

• Expand access to workforce development, education and skills training for people with disabilities.
• Increase apprenticeships and other work-based learning opportunities.
• Support employers in recruiting, hiring, retaining and advancing workers with disabilities.
• Promote accessible workplaces and reasonable accommodations.
• Ensure people with disabilities are included as policymakers address AI, emerging technology and the changing nature of work.

DOL specifically encourages policymakers to advance disability employment throughout the year, including through apprenticeship, internship and fellowship opportunities for people with disabilities.

NDEAM is an important moment of recognition, but expanding economic opportunity requires year-round commitment.

Goodwill advocates have an important role to play in reminding policymakers that America’s workforce is stronger when everyone can develop their skills, contribute their talents and pursue meaningful employment. In recognizing NDEAM, we are “Celebrating Value and Talent” and continue advocating for policies that expand opportunity for people with disabilities in communities across the country.