Blue Ridge Bank Prioritizes Disability Inclusion

Blue Ridge Bank partners with Charlottesville-based disability inclusion startup, VisitAble, to boost training and awareness of bank employees

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has been on the forefront of everyone's minds, but the truth is that the disabled community has often been left out of most, if not many, DEI conversations and initiatives. Blue Ridge Bank is not making that mistake.

On Tuesday, November 8th, 2022, Blue Ridge Bank earned VisitAble's Advocate Certification. VisitAble is a startup based in Charlottesville that is helping make disability inclusion champions out of both public and private organizations.

In order for Blue Ridge Bank to earn VisitAble's Advocate Certification, Blue Ridge Bank employees received VisitAble's disability inclusion and awareness training. With over 25 locations, VisitAble and Blue Ridge Bank worked together to train more than 250 employees on this important topic.

Joe Jamison, Founder of VisitAble, said the following about the Blue Ridge Bank training process: "Blue Ridge Bank embraced this training with open arms to make sure as many employees as possible learned about disability inclusion and awareness. We are incredibly excited for the impact this will make not only for Blue Ridge Bank customers, but also employees and any community members that bank employees interact with outside of their job."

This collaboration was a big stepping stone for both organizations. For VisitAble, this was the largest group of employees they have trained at one time. For Blue Ridge Bank, this was an excellent step towards making disability inclusion a priority.

Brooke Ullman, Marketing Director at Blue Ridge Bank had this to say: "I learned a few things I didn't know regarding individuals' initial approach preferences. The section highlighting how to actively listen to those with speech differences was profound. I feel more empowered to truly have someone feel comfortable from the moment we meet."

VisitAble's mission is to enable a better experience for visitors of all abilities at public-facing locations. VisitAble offers a proactive and positive approach to help entities make disability inclusion improvements through its certification programs: the VisitAble Advocate Certification and the VisitAble Advocate+ Certification. Our strategy is to work with and to help entities attract and serve their customers and visitors with disabilities. Specifically, we educate them to prepare them to provide a great user experience, and broadcast crucial accessibility information in an unbiased manner to alleviate the uncertainty that may prevent customers with disabilities from visiting. For more information, please feel free to check out their website.

Blue Ridge Bank, N.A., is the wholly owned banking subsidiary of Blue Ridge Bankshares, Inc. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, Blue Ridge Bank provides a wide range of financial services including retail and commercial banking, insurance, card payments, wholesale and retail mortgage lending, and government-guaranteed lending. Blue Ridge also provides investment and wealth management services and management services for personal and corporate trusts, including estate planning, and trust administration. Visit www.mybrb.bank for more information.

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SOURCE Blue Ridge Bank, N.A.