Temporary Experts

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆

Jen recently spoke at DisruptHR Halifax about why talent, skill, and experience do not disappear when someone’s capacity or schedule changes.

Too often, we measure commitment by hours, availability, and presence. What if we focused instead on 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 and what people can contribute?

Thank you to for making room for this important conversation.

Watch “Time Is the New Currency” here:
https://vimeo.com/1215023032

Disability Pride Month ends today. The work of building truly inclusive systems does not.

Throughout July, we have talked about flexible capacity, traditional work models and the skilled people those models continue to overlook.

People living with disabilities and chronic illness do not lose their knowledge, experience or ability because they cannot always work traditional hours. Neurodivergent people and caregivers also bring valuable perspectives and capacity that may not fit neatly into the way work has always been structured.

Visibility matters. Representation matters. But neither is enough if our schedules, contracts, funding and procurement decisions continue to make participation impossible.

Inclusion must move beyond who we invite. It must shape the systems we create and the opportunities we make possible.

This does not mean lowering standards. It means creating more than one path to reach them.

Disability Pride Month may be ending, but turning advocacy into action must continue.

We cannot build inclusive systems if we only recognize traditional capacity.

Many organizations genuinely want to be inclusive. They welcome diverse applicants, add inclusion language and look for better representation.

But if every schedule, contract, funding requirement and procurement decision is still designed around someone being available full time during traditional hours, we have changed who we invite, but not who can participate.

People living with disabilities or chronic illness, neurodivergent people and caregivers may have enormous skill and capacity. What they may not have is the ability to fit that capacity into an existing model.

Real inclusion requires us to reconsider how work is structured, how capacity is measured and what successful participation looks like. This does not lower standards. It creates another way to reach the outcome.

When systems recognize flexible capacity, more people can contribute. Businesses, organizations and communities also gain access to talent they are currently missing.

We cannot build inclusive systems if we only recognize traditional capacity.

It is easy to say that everyone is welcome. It is harder to look honestly at whether our schedules, contracts, funding and expectations make participation possible.

If every opportunity is still designed around traditional availability, the system has not become inclusive.

Inclusion becomes real when we change what the system allows people to do.

Sometimes, it is the system that needs to change.

Disability inclusion is often framed as helping a person adapt to the way work has always been done. But if the only capacity we recognize is traditional, full-time availability, skilled people will continue to be left out.

Flexible capacity exists in every community.

People with years of experience, valuable skills and a desire to contribute may not be able to offer those skills within a standard 40-hour week. Their capacity has not disappeared. It simply needs a different way to be recognized and used.

This is where social enterprise can create practical change. Business decisions can also create social impact by connecting overlooked talent with businesses, organizations and communities that need it.

Temporary Experts was created to help make those connections possible.

The standard does not need to change. The path to reaching it does.

July is Disability Pride Month.

The flower in today’s quote uses the colours of the Disability Pride flag. Each colour represents part of the disability community:

❤️ Red represents physical disabilities
💛 Gold represents neurodivergence and cognitive disabilities
🤍 White represents invisible and undiagnosed disabilities
🩵 Blue represents psychiatric and emotional disabilities
💚 Green represents sensory disabilities

The charcoal centre honours disabled people who have been harmed or lost through ableism.

Disability Pride is about recognizing disability as part of human diversity. It is also a reminder that people should not have to hide, overcome, or reshape who they are to be valued.

"Sometimes, it is the system that needs to change." 💛🤍❤️

I never wanted to fit into so many boxes. Visible, invisible, chronic, neurodivergent. Here I am anyway.

If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. These categories overlap far more than the forms and applications in our lives ever let on. They tend to travel together, not live in separate, tidy boxes.

July is Disability Pride Month, inclusive of every visible and invisible version of that experience. At Temporary Experts, we believe flexible work isn't a perk. It's inclusion in action. Nobody should have to disappear from work because traditional structures don't fit their body, brain, energy, or life.

If your life doesn't fit neatly into one box either, there's room for you here. Create your free profile at tempexp.com.

Compassion Works. So Do We.

From my PR Card to My first Canada Day as a Canadian citizen 🇨🇦

25 years here, and I finally made it official 😅 should've done it ages ago!

I'm SO proud right now 🥹 and I'm a musical person through and through, so the anthem? Yeah. I'm not making it through that one dry-eyed 🎶💛

Happy Canada Day, especially to my fellow new citizens out there 🙌

From my talk at DisruptHR Halifax last week. This is what we're building at TE:

Experts, create your profile and your first listing. Businesses, get out there and create your free profile, it's free either way. → tempexp.com

Compassion Works. So Do We.