Advancing Opportunity Through Partnership: Highlights from SourceAmerica’s Xforce Conference

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

Leaders from across the country recently came together for SourceAmerica’s annual Xforce conference—a powerful convening focused on expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

SourceAmerica is one of the national nonprofits that supports the AbilityOne® Program, a federal procurement initiative that creates meaningful jobs for individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities. For the Goodwill Industries International network, this work is deeply aligned with our mission—and it showed at Xforce.

Nearly one-third of Goodwill^® organizations nationwide participate in the AbilityOne program, providing critical services and high-quality products to federal agencies. These services span a wide range of industries, including but not limited to:

• Administrative and staffing support
• Call center operations and switchboard services
• Document destruction, records management, and imaging
• Facility management and custodial services
• Food service and shelf stocking
• Groundskeeping and environmental services
• Laundry and mail services
• Manufacturing and sewing
• Reverse logistics and warehouse distribution

Through these contracts, Goodwill organizations help thousands of individuals build skills, earn wages, and achieve greater independence.

Goodwill was well-represented at this year’s conference, including outstanding support from the host organization, Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth, whose team ensured a welcoming and seamless experience for attendees.

The conference also highlighted Goodwill’s long-standing leadership in this space. During the event, Goodwill’s role in helping to found SourceAmerica was featured, underscoring our deep and ongoing commitment to expanding access to employment for people with disabilities.

Goodwill also played a featured role in a session on collaboration. At a time when policy decisions could significantly impact the AbilityOne program, collaboration and collective advocacy are more important than ever.

SourceAmerica has issued an action alert in response to a proposed policy change that could affect employment opportunities for individuals served by the program. Protecting and strengthening AbilityOne is essential to ensuring that these jobs—and the pathways they create—remain available for those who need them most.

Take action today: Learn more and contact your policymakers

The Xforce conference reinforced a clear message: when nonprofits, government, and advocates work together, we can expand opportunity and drive real impact.

For Goodwill and our partners, this is more than a program—it’s a pathway to purpose, dignity, and economic mobility.