Beyond the Town Hall: Ted Brown’s Role in Expanding Disability Employment

By Tess Bell

Editor’s Note: This story was reported and written by Tess Bell, a college student and youth reporter who regularly covers local government meetings and civic events. While assigned to report on a disability town hall, Tess identified a deeper story emerging from the discussion — the long-term impact of Ted Brown’s work on inclusive employment. With editorial mentorship, she was encouraged to pursue that angle, expanding the piece beyond an event recap into a reported feature. This story reflects Our Times’ commitment to developing young journalists’ critical thinking, reporting judgment, and ability to recognize newsworthy impact within community conversations.

Last September, the Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council (INSILC) hosted a disability town hall meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Evansville, Indiana. INSILC is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of Hoosiers with disabilities. The event was sponsored by AARP. Ten local vendors attended the event and two American Sign Language interpreters were provided.

City council president, Ben Trockman, moderated the discussion. The panelists were Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry, State Rep. Alex Burton D-Ind., and former Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana Vice President who began Toyota’s disability hiring initiative, Ted Brown.  Panelists addressed topics including affordable housing, accessible transportation, access to municipal information, and state-level policy issues. Attendees were also invited to ask questions and share concerns during a public Q&A. Much of the discussion centered on Brown’s personal experience and how it informed Toyota’s approach to inclusive employment.

Brown spoke about his son, Zach, who was born with spina bifida, a condition that occurs when the spine and spinal cord does not form properly and causes physical, emotional, and social disabilities. Now 28, Zach has his own apartment, drives, and works at Toyota full time, all things that Brown and his wife were told early on would not be possible. Brown says that when Zach graduated high school, he saw no opportunities for his son to have a career.  Around the same time, Brown learned about an enclave program-a supported work model that places employees with disabilities into paid jobs alongside dedicated job coaching- at a Toyota plant in Kentucky. Inspired by the model, Brown went to his superiors, and offered the same idea.

Toyota partnered with The Arc Southwest Indiana to launch and expand the initiative.  By 2015, the enclave program doubled in size. While leadership initially felt the company met its goals, Brown’s perspective changed after meeting Randy Lewis, a corporate executive, father of a son with autism, and author of No Greatness No Goodness. His story made Brown realize he wanted more not only for Toyota, but for individuals with disabilities.

 Working again with The Arc Southwest Indiana, Toyota helped create the Inclusive Talent Apprenticeship Program — a 12-week initiative that provides hands-on job training, mentorship, and housing support. Participants live in a nearby hotel while working and learning on the job throughout the program.

The program did not come without its challenges. One major obstacle was the traditional hiring process.  “We eliminated the interviewing, the testing, all of these things that we saw were the major hurdles for this population, and we replaced it with on the job training and assessments,” said Brown. They also learned that apprentices needed more than six weeks to learn job tasks, so they doubled the training time to twelve weeks.

Another hurdle, although short lived, was  resistance from some employees unfamiliar with working alongside individuals with disabilities.. “The perceptions I had, and the perceptions others had… it just takes time to overcome those,” said Brown. “Toyota’s willingness to change and try new things made it fertile ground for a program like this.”

Toyota gained approximately 100 team members with disabilities from the program alone. Its success eventually led Toyota to expand the model across its operations, applying its principles to all team members — not only those with disabilities.