Prudential Recognizes Disabilities Awareness Month

The company’s Annual Diversity Recognition Month is also in full swing

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) hosted a workshop on Monday around engaging individuals with disabilities in the workplace and marketplace. The event held in recognition of Disabilities Awareness Month featured Nadine Vogel, president, Springboard Consulting, LLC, a firm specializing in disability issues.

“There are more than 50 million Americans with some level of disability”

“By offering learning opportunities with experts such as Nadine Vogel, we continue to raise awareness of the issues that people with disabilities face,” says Emilio Egea, Prudential’s Chief Diversity Officer. “Nadine’s session helped our employees understand the many dimensions of disabilities from a personal and business perspective, which ultimately strengthens our culture of inclusion and increases our competence to support our employees and serve our markets in this area.”

This workshop is one of a number of efforts underway at Prudential to provide an inclusive environment for people with disabilities. For example, Prudential offers business-based workplace accommodations that enable employees experiencing a temporary or life-long disability to successfully perform the functions of their job. Examples include flexible work arrangements, ergonomic evaluation and workstation alteration, emergency evacuation planning, care counselors and life coaching.

Prudential also sponsors the Abled and Disabled Associates Partnering Together (ADAPT) business resource group. ADAPT is a network of employees, some of whom either have a visible disability, a chronic medical condition, or have a family member with a disability. ADAPT educates others on disability issues, assists Prudential in reviewing policies and practices, helps to identify marketing opportunities and provides feedback on the development of products and services tailored to people with disabilities.

“There are more than 50 million Americans with some level of disability,” says Beverley Mariso, executive assistant and co-chair of ADAPT. “It’s great working for a company that actively seeks out the perspectives of employees with disabilities and engages our population as a source of talent and a market for our products and services.”

October is also Prudential’s Diversity Recognition Month. Employee teams from 11 locations throughout the company have planned workshops and community events on topics such as workplace diversity, managing inclusively, cultural competence, globalization, generational differences, wellness and communications.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with approximately $638 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2008, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Leveraging its heritage of life insurance and asset management expertise, Prudential is focused on helping approximately 50 million individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. The company’s well-known Rock symbol is an icon of strength, stability, expertise and innovation that has stood the test of time. Prudential's businesses offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. For more information, please visit http://www.news.prudential.com/.