Colgate-Palmolive is committed to our purpose of reimagining a healthier future for all. One way we do this is by creating a culture of belonging, where everyone feels like they can be their authentic selves and receive the support they need to achieve their potential. This includes creating a workplace where people with disabilities can thrive.
Here are a few ways we create an inclusive environment for people with disabilities at Colgate, as well as extend our impact beyond our Company to empower the community.
Supporting people with disabilities and caregivers
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are key drivers in helping us build an inclusive organization where all Colgate-Palmolive People feel they can be their authentic selves. Our ERGs celebrate individual and collective diversity, contribute to employees’ personal and professional development, and offer opportunities for connection.
Our Colgate Abilities Network (CAN) ERG serves as a valued resource to Colgate People around the world and helps us commit to fostering an inclusive environment that cares deeply for and provides an equal opportunity for people with disabilities.
The ERG initially launched in the US and recently added chapters in Mexico, Europe and Africa/Eurasia, as well as at Hill’s Pet Nutrition in Kansas. Members help facilitate belonging and allyship by creating a space for people to come together as a community, hosting educational events and digital programming, celebrating key milestones and exploring how everyone can be an ally to disabled people.
To raise awareness about the ERG, CAN recently spotlighted members from around the globe with a social media series in support of International Persons with Disabilities Day (below).
Partnering with Key Organizations
Beyond creating an inclusive workplace environment, we strive to extend and champion these values in the communities we serve. We currently work with the following diversity partners to promote disability inclusion.
Representing People with disabilities communities
In addition to working with partners, we highlight how disabled people are often under-represented in ad campaigns.
Colgate’s 2021 Smile Strong ad featured Brina Maxino, who is proud to live an “extra” ordinary life rather than an ordinary life. Brina was born with an intellectual disability but was able to overcome people’s expectations to graduate as Valedictorian, earning three college degrees.
We also have various initiatives that support people with disabilities.
Colgate’s Bright Smiles, Bright Futures mobile dental van visits special needs schools.
Colgate sponsors Project Accessible Oral Health, which aims to be a catalyst for change in the way oral healthcare is delivered to and received by people with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities, as well as their caregivers. Oral healthcare is an inseparable part of overall healthcare.
The Colgate Abilities Network has partnered with Hill’s Pet Nutrition Abilities Network to support The Seeing Eye’s mission to train and provide guide dogs to people who are blind or visually impaired, enhancing their freedom and independence and allowing them to navigate the world with confidence. We hosted the Seeing Eye at our office where [over 1,000] employees learned the impact a trained dog can have on a person’s life. As part of our partnership with The Seeing Eye, Colgate and Hill’s were giving naming rights to two upcoming graduates. Our employees submitted hundreds of options before the final names were chosen, Tashi and Colinas!
We also are proud to partner with Best Buddies International. In May 2023 in Mathare North, Nairobi, Kenya, we brought students together for a sports inclusion day. The event featured exciting sporting activities that united everyone and created lasting connections.
With Best Buddies International in Adjirigano, Accra in Ghana, spending the day at the HandsOn Live-in Academy, we're dedicated to teaching students with autism, intellectual, hearing and speech challenges and Down Syndrome. Together with the students we enjoyed activities such as outdoor games, painting, piano and cooking lessons.
With the Chicago Best Buddies chapters, we have hosted lunch and learns to engage Colgate-Palmolive People with the organization. Through this initiative, CP People conducted a series of mock interviews for Best Buddies participants interested in entering the workforce. These sessions provided valuable, real-world experience for participants, helping them build confidence while developing essential interview skills as they pursue employee opportunities.
Since 2023, Colgate CAN has also partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), aimed at fostering important conversations about mental wellness within our organization. Through this collaboration, we spotlight the significance of mental health and raise awareness about the resources Colgate-Palmolive offers to support the well-being of our employees.
In September 2025, CAN will host their inaugural event with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), a global nonprofit leader in cell therapy, at our Piscataway, New Jersey office. Renowned for creating essential connections that spark action and accelerate innovation, NMDP works with a vast network of researchers, blood stem cell donors from the world’s most diverse registry, transplant partners, physicians, and caregivers. Their groundbreaking efforts are expanding access to life-saving cell therapies and paving the way for transformative cures.
