MaRS and CIBC Launched the Final Inclusive Design Challenge: Future of Work
TORONTO, December 5, 2023
On December 4th, the day after International Day of Persons with Disabilities, CIBC and MaRS proudly kicked off the final installment in the Inclusive Design Challenge Series. This national open competition is focused on reducing barriers to the Future of Work for persons with disabilities, and invites solutions that prevent and/or reduce AI bias in their recruitment.
“The future of work will be impacted by the actions we take and decisions we make today. Through this Inclusive Design Challenge, we’re calling on our innovation ecosystem to make the future more accessible,” Bree Ranieri, Vice-President, People and Culture, MaRS Discovery District.
“In this final challenge we look forward to receiving innovative submissions that will help to reduce employment barriers for persons with disabilities. In particular, the winning solutions will be valuable in tackling emerging technological biases in the recruitment process,” said Andrew Greenlaw, Vice-President, Sponsorship, Community & Brand, CIBC. “Together with MaRS we are proud to uplift and improve the opportunities for persons with disabilities to achieve their ambitions.”
This is a national call for solutions. The Future of Work challenge is open until March 4, 2024, with prizes totaling $100,000. Winners will be announced in the spring of 2024.
Learn more about how you can apply for this challenge here.
About the MaRS and CIBC Inclusive Design Challenge
In 2020, MaRS and CIBC released a research report that profiled a range of barriers persons with disabilities face throughout their employment journey. The research prompted MaRS and CIBC to launch the Inclusive Design Challenge Series, a set of four distinct innovation challenges designed to seek solutions to help overcome many of these employment barriers. The innovation challenges invite changemakers from the disability and innovation communities to propose and develop solutions to these barriers.
About CIBC
CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with 13 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. Across Personal and Business Banking, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, and Capital Markets businesses, CIBC offers a full range of advice, solutions and services through its leading digital banking network and locations across Canada, with offices in the United States and around the world. Ongoing news releases and more information about CIBC can be found at cibc.com/en/about-cibc/media-centre.html
About MaRS
MaRS is North America’s largest urban innovation hub. A registered non-profit, MaRS supports high-growth startups and scale-ups tackling key issues in health, cleantech, fintech and other sectors. In addition, MaRS convenes all members of the tech ecosystem to drive breakthrough discoveries, grow the economy and make an impact by solving real problems for real people — in Canada and around the world.