Championing employment for individuals with disabilities starts at home for Bank of America

video button

[Music throughout]

[On screen copy] Support Services at Bank of America employs over 300 people with intellectual disabilities

[Unidentified woman speaker] It's so many success stories in here, it’s just crazy.

[SUPER: Keri Laws, Support Services employee] It makes me feel really good that I’m getting married this year.

[SUPER: Dawn Trinidad, Support Services employee] I’m a good influence on my son because I got my job here.

[SUPER: Selina Waller, Support Services employee] Everybody encourage you to do your best.

[Dawn Trinidad] Yes, this is a job that I can do!

[Selina Waller] I have a future here.

[Keri Laws] We’ve become friends here at Bank of America, it’s like a family.

[Headshots of the woman smiling]

[Bank of America sign]

[Employees coming into work and working]

[Unidentified male speaker]
Support Services is a line of business within global marketing and corporate affairs here at Bank of America, that supports every major line of business through our services of fulfillment, screen printing, digital printing, and warehouse and fulfillment.

[SUPER: Mark Feinour, Support Services executive]
Every employee here within Support Services has a cognitive and/or developmental disability.

The culture within Support Services is for our teammates to look out for each other. And what we found with Ron and Terence is, they have a special relationship. Ron is a great resource for Terence, to help him get to and from the building each morning. And then on the flip side, Terence is a help with Ron when they sit there and do fulfillment jobs together. They compliment each other well with their abilities.

[Unidentified female speaker on a microphone] Ron is an asset to the team, keep up the great job Ron.

[Female hands Ron an award certificate]

[SUPER: Anne Finucane, Vice Chairman]
So much of what you do is about the respect that we’re giving to our customers. Without your help, we simply would not do as well. And you should congratulate yourselves for that.

[Mark Feinour]
We consider Support Services like any other line of business. We just happen to have a different talent pool that we pull our resources from. Everything that we do within Support Services is 100% quality checked. And 99% of our business is repeat business because our customers see what we do and realize that they’re getting a better product at a lower cost than they would using an outside supplier.

When you look at Support Services and why our tenure is the way it is, is because we look out for each other, both inside and outside the workplace. And that’s one of the things that sets us apart from other companies.

[Selina Waller] Hey guys, how are we doing this morning?

[Female employees laugh with Selina]

[Selina Waller] Family, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. This is family. From the moment we come in the morning till the time we leave, this is us.

[Smiling faces of Support Services employees]

[END CARD:
Bank of America logo
ALL OF US / BETTER CONNECTED
LIFE / BETTER CONNECTED
To learn more, visit bankofamerica.com/supportinginclusion

© 2018 Bank of America Corporation

At Bank of America, we believe it’s important to understand the 3 million people in the U.S. with intellectual disabilities, both as customers and as employees. We have a long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, from employing individuals with disabilities to engaging employees through advocacy and volunteerism and ensuring our products and services are accessible.

Our Support Services team is an in-house marketing and fulfillment operation made up of 300 employees with intellectual disabilities, who support every major line of business within the enterprise. The group operates in Wilmington, Delaware; Belfast, Maine; Dallas, Texas; and now Boston, Massachusetts. Everything they touch affects the customer.

Support Services gives individuals facing barriers to employment the opportunity to achieve financial stability and become successful members of their communities.

“Support Services is one way we are creating an environment where all employees, including those with disabilities, have an opportunity to succeed and achieve their goals and is a demonstration of our broader commitment to strong environmental, social and governance practices,” said Anne Finucane, vice chairman.

Learn more about Support Services.

As Support Services senior executive Mark Feinour explains, “We’re just like any other business. We just happen to have a different talent pool that we draw from.”

1-3%

of the total U.S. population has an intellectual disability
62%

of people with intellectual disabilities who work in a competitive setting have been there three years or more
The majority of adults with intellectual disabilities are unemployed or underemployed

^{[Statistic #1] Source: Special Olympics. What is Intellectual Disability? (2017). Specialolympics.org. Retrieved from http://www.specialolympics.org/Sections/Who_We_Are/What_Is_Intellectual_Disability.aspx

[Statistic #2] Source: Questions & Answers about Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). (2017). Eeoc.gov. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/intellectual_disabilities.cfm#fn7

[Statistic #3] Source: Special Olympics. What Is Intellectual Disability? (2017). Specialolympics.org. Retrieved from http://www.specialolympics.org/Sections/Who_We_Are/What_Is_Intellectual_Disability.aspx}

Championing employment for individuals with disabilities starts at home for Bank of America

1-3%

62%

Advertising practices