NEW YORK, USA — To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day (Sunday 21 March 2021), CoorDown launches its global awareness campaign “The Hiring Chain”. Their message to employers all over the world is that hiring a person with Down syndrome not only changes the life of the person concerned but can trigger a virtuous circle of new opportunities for everyone.
Sting, the award-winning artist, performs the original song “The Hiring Chain”, which is the focus of the campaign video. The punchy, joyful lyrics come to life on screen and bear witness to the “virtuous” chain of inclusion in the workplace. In the first scene, a young woman named Simone is at work at the bakery, showing customers her skills. One of these customers is a lawyer who is impressed and decides, in turn, to hire a young man and give him a chance. From there, a chain reaction ensues: the young men and women featured in the video and song show that the more people with Down syndrome are seen at work, the more they are recognized as valuable employees. Challenging low expectations and prejudices, thus creating opportunities for new hires. On World Down Syndrome Day 2021, CoorDown takes up the challenge of the pandemic and the social crisis to affirm that job inclusion is not only a right to be guaranteed now more than ever for every person, but it brings benefits in the workplace and in society at large.
Employers inspired by our film should visit www.hiringchain.org (created by Adoratorio). They will find the contact details for organizations around the world that can provide information, support, and encouragement to get people with Down syndrome into their workplace. There is also in-depth information on employment and answers to frequently asked questions about creating an inclusive workplace.
Why Work Matters. Being more independent, contributing to society, having your own income, learning new skills, meeting new people, and feeling valued. People with Down syndrome want to work for the same reasons as anyone else. But most people with Down syndrome face barriers and prejudices, lack of opportunities, low expectations, and stereotypical attitudes. Debunking misconceptions about their potential and the benefits of an inclusive workplace are the stories and experiences of companies, employers, and employees. Every person with Down syndrome can work according to their abilities. The goal is to find a role that fits each individual so they can do their job successfully. When given the right opportunity, people with Down syndrome can achieve great things and have a positive impact on colleagues, customer satisfaction, culture, and motivation throughout the company. Diversity strengthens all workplaces. A virtuous cycle that spreads into the rest of society.
The Hiring Chain campaign was created in partnership with the New York-based creative agency SMALL with the invaluable support of Indiana Production, an Italian-based production company. The original song, performed by Sting, was composed by Stabbiolo Music.
This year’s global campaign was again supported by the Down’s Syndrome Association (UK) and Down Syndrome Australia with the patronage of DSi – Down Syndrome International.
The campaign has been supported by Fondazione Cariplo and LinkedIn whose Italian office partnered with CoorDown over the past 12 months.
The campaign’s official hashtags are #HiringChain #WorldDownSyndromeDay #WDSD21.
Antonella Falugiani, President of CoorDown Onlus: “With the campaign “The Hiring Chain”, we want to invite everyone – companies, citizens, organizations – to give more job opportunities and to learn more about the benefits of inclusion. Work, for people with Down syndrome, is as important as it is for everyone. It is about ensuring a fundamental right that is also a human need and is the same for every individual. Work is an important stepping-stone for growth, for becoming adults, for the realization of one’s own life, for living independently, and having the opportunities that all working people have. Just as it is important to study, so is the passage into the world of work, because it allows us to recognize the value of people and to have new social relationships, the economic base that work provides helps build independence and emotional relationships. Ensuring equal rights and dignity in the workplace to all people who have Down syndrome means giving them the opportunity to build their future.”
Luca Lorenzini and Luca Pannese, Executive Creative Directors, SMALL New York: “We have been working with CoorDown since 2012 and each time the insights that the association offers us are so deep and fertile that the campaigns practically write themselves. This year, thanks to Indiana, we were able to work with internationally renowned director Rich Lee. And, as if that weren’t enough, Sting performed the song that accompanies the film. We grew up listening to Sting and The Police, and we’ll just let you imagine the excitement we felt when we heard his voice performing the song we wrote for CoorDown for the first time. We really hope that his contribution can make the campaign more visible and can help give more and more job opportunities to people with Down syndrome.”
Karim Bartoletti, Partner/MD/Executive Producer of Indiana Production: “The Coordown diamond we were given to produce by SMALL already had a light of its own even before we produced it: a powerful insight, a strong creative idea, a memorable song, an overall entertainment value, a celebrity appeal and, more importantly, a heartfelt purpose and request for activation and engagement through a brand content soaked with a powerful message. All this was already within the meanders of the original script, all we needed to do was make the diamond shine as brightly as possible. That’s what we did. We cannot be more proud of Rich Lee’s direction, Chris Probst’s cinematography, Luca Angeleri’s editing, Drive Studio’s post production efforts in creating – with our Team at Indiana Production – the perfect content for CoorDown to allow the Hiring Chain to be as engaging and as ‘long’ and as successful as it can in maximizing, through the power of the content itself, the spreading of a fundamental cause for people with Down syndrome.”
Giovanni Fosti, President Fondazione Cariplo: “Work allows to unleash and express one’s potential and abilities: being a priori excluded from such an opportunity that should be granted to all is painful and unfair. The current times we are living in make the inclusion of people with disabilities in the labor market even harder than before. Nonetheless, it is precisely in difficult times like these that we need stronger, more cohesive and more inclusive communities. For this purpose, Fondazione Cariplo has recently launched a new edition of the call for proposals “Abili al Lavoro” [Able to Work] and is also supporting, in collaboration with CoorDown, a campaign that aims to raise awareness regarding the importance of job inclusion.”
CREDITS:
Vocals: Sting
Sting’s Vocals Produced by Martin Kierszenbaum and Edited by Tony Lake
Sting appears courtesy of Cherrytree/A&M Records
Agency: SMALL
Executive Creative Directors: Luca Pannese, Luca Lorenzini
Original Music: Alessandro Cristofori and Diego Perugini for Stabbiolo Music
Production Company: Indiana Production
Director: Rich Lee
DP and Colorist: Christopher Probst, ASC
Executive Producer: Karim Bartoletti
Senior Producer: Silvia Bergamaschi
Production Manager: Pablo Casula
Editor: Luca Angeleri
Post Production: Drive Studios
EP Drive Studios: Justin Diener
EP Drive Studios: Ned Brown
Creative Supervisor Drive Studios: Louise Lee
Staff Artist Drive Studios: Anika Morris
Online Editor Drive Studios: Ben Thornburg
Addl Compositor Drive Studios: Silswarup Patel
Studio Coordinator Drive Studios: Leah Fuentes
Website: Adoratorio Studio and Niccolò Miranda
