The Loudoun Disability Services Board honored Janelia with the 2023 Full Accessibility and Inclusion: Moving toward Equity (FAIME) Award in recognition of its partnership with ECHO, a nonprofit organization supporting adults with disabilities.
The Loudoun Disability Services Board honored Janelia with the 2023 Full Accessibility and Inclusion: Moving toward Equity (FAIME) Award in recognition of its partnership with ECHO, a nonprofit organization supporting adults with disabilities.

HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus was recently recognized for its commitment to accessibility and workplace inclusion, including its ongoing partnership with ECHOexternal link, opens in a new tab, a non-profit organization supporting adults with disabilities.

Janelia – HHMI’s biomedical research campus in Loudoun County, Virginia – was one of three local institutions to receive the 2023 FAIME (Full Accessibility and Inclusion: Moving toward Equity) Awardexternal link, opens in a new tab from the Loudoun Disability Services Board. The award recognizes businesses and organizations for their commitment to hiring people with disabilities and providing them with opportunities to develop their skills and careers in an inclusive work environment. In a proclamationexternal link, opens in a new tab accompanying the award, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors noted that Janelia, along with the other award recipients, demonstrates full inclusion of their employees with disabilities into their general workforce.

Janelia was specifically recognized for its work with ECHO, which the research campus has partnered with since 2016. As an ECHO employment site, Janelia supports employment opportunities for 15 ECHO participants who work five days a week at the research campus in Ashburn.

ECHO employees are an important and integral part of Janelia’s research and community. ECHO teams work with Janelia’s scientific operations and grounds teams to provide essential support. ECHO employees are also active participants in the campus community, attending campus picnics, staff parties, team outings, and other events.

Janelia is an ongoing sponsor and participant in ECHO fundraising campaigns. The research campus supported employment for ECHO employees and other service partners throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even if they could not be on campus.

The FAIME Award nomination noted that “the opportunities that Janelia has been offering to adults with disabilities over the years make them a valuable partner to ECHO, but the way that they ensure that they are creating an atmosphere of inclusion truly makes them a pillar in this community.”

Along with the most recent award, Janelia has also received a national SourceAmerica Achievement Awardexternal link, opens in a new tab for its partnership with ECHO and its commitment to the creation of jobs for people with disabilities.