Highmark Health’s Jenny Homme Creates a World of Accessibility for the Disabled

As a Senior Business Process Engineer and Chair of Highmark Health’s Abilities Business Resource Group (BRG), each and every day is a new opportunity for Jenny Homme to help people with disabilities better connect to health care, career opportunities and workplace advancement.

She knows well the many intertwined accessibility issues surrounding disabilities. Her father is blind and has also committed his life to helping others with disabilities live their fullest lives through his career at Highmark and Bender Consulting.

In fact, Homme continues to work on a digital accessibility initiative her father worked on during his tenure at Highmark. We wanted to learn more about Homme and her team’s work at Highmark to increase accessibility for those with disabilities. You will see that her passion and enthusiasm are contagious.

It really goes back to having a dad who is blind and faced a lot of accessibility issues. Growing up, you never really expect for your dad to say, “Hey, can you help me pay this bill online, because I can’t see the screen.”

Jonathan Kersting: So, tell us where you developed this passion around creating accessibility for all.

Jenny Homme: It really goes back to having a dad who is blind and faced a lot of accessibility issues. Growing up, you never really expect for your dad to say, “Hey, can you help me pay this bill online, because I can’t see the screen.” So, you know, I had a very realistic view of what people with disabilities experienced in the workforce day to day. It kind of grew that passion, and I was lucky enough to be able to join Highmark, and initially start working on that and continue to grow and evolve my career and be involved in things like the Abilities Business Resource Group. I love it.

JK: It seems like a pretty natural thing for you to be part of this Abilities Resource Group. And you’re taking quite the leadership role in it. Now as the chair of this group, tell me more about it.

JH: So, the Abilities Business Resource Group is one of the eight BRGs at Highmark, and we focus on supporting individuals with disabilities internally and externally in our community; being that voice and advocate. We are a little bit over 100 members, which in my mind is amazing. So, when I took over and became chair, two years ago now, we were around 40 members and have added about 60. When I joined Highmark, the group was led by one individual who was incredible, and she unfortunately passed away very suddenly.

A lot of other members stepped up and decided to just start driving it full force, right. So, we shifted up our approach and our strategy. And we still have many of the initiatives we started with, including programs like Vendor Leadership Academy, which we host every year. We also have high school students with disabilities go through a leadership program, and we help facilitate that by bringing in guest speakers and curriculum. We added really focused sessions on our employees so that they feel the value and I think that helped grow the BRG by being able to give those one-to-one experiences and make people feel like they have that support. It’s been a joy as someone young in their career to be able to become the chair and really drive the efforts.

JK: I almost hate to ask you what fires you up to go to work every day. But, tell me more about what makes Highmark a place for you to grow and have more impact.

JH: You know what it is? I think it’s people. And it’s funny because I consider myself an introvert. But really, it’s being able to see the impact on other people. That’s the sweet stuff for me. You know, earlier this year, we had a member of our BRG, who noted that she didn’t feel like she was connecting with the right opportunities for growth. And through some of our focus sessions, she was able to find a mentor who helped her have some crucial conversations with her manager and was then able to refer her to a position in the same area, but a different role that she’s much happier with. For me, that was so rewarding.

And, for the past seven years, Highmark has been named as one of the top places to work for disability inclusion, according to the Disability Equality Index. So, we’ve been able to score 100 on that survey, and that’s because we care about digital accessibility. We look internally at our hiring; we look at our procurement; and we partner with diverse businesses. So, we look all across the board and make sure we are considering individuals with disabilities in everything we do.