How this CEO is helping employers hire workers with chronic illness

When Hannah Olson walked away from her dream job, it wasn’t because she didn’t enjoy or excel at the work. It was because she was chronically ill.

Olson was diagnosed with Lyme disease in her early 20s, and her treatment plan required her to be on an IV for six hours a day — preventing her from being able to work in a traditional office.

“I had to constantly choose between my health and the work that I was really passionate about,” Olson says. “It really made me wonder if there’s a place for people with illness and disability in the workplace.”

In March 2020, Olson launched Chronically Capable, a job platform that connects workers with chronic illness (who account for 60% of the population) to employers who offer remote opportunities. The timing was serendipitous: as offices shut down and remote work became the norm, Olson and Chronically Capable were perfectly positioned to help employers finally understand the value and talent of the chronically-ill community.

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Nearly 50,000 job seekers have joined the Chronically Capable platform, which partners with employers including Postmates, Wikimedia Foundation and Horizon Therapeutics. Hundreds of workers have been placed in jobs with a 100% retention rate.

Now, as offices reopen and a return to “normal” is on the horizon, Olson and her team are working to maintain their momentum and help employers understand the value of supporting chronically ill and disabled workers — whether in the office or working remotely. EBN spoke with the founder and CEO to learn more about her path forward.

When it comes to capitalizing on the talent of chronically ill workers, have you seen a mindset shift among employers?
Productivity and accessibility are not mutually exclusive. Employers have learned that we can have both flexible and inclusive workplaces and productive employees. That was a really hard mindset shift prior to COVID — but now, flexible work is the norm. And that means employers want to talk to organizations like ours. They’re more eager to learn. And they really want to roll up their sleeves and do the work.

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What does that really look like from your perspective?
They’re not just coming to us and saying, ‘We’d like to check a box and post jobs here.’ They want to do more than that, and train their employees, have lunch-and-learn sessions, really be a part of this community. It’s become quite evident that the chronically ill and disabled is a population they need to learn more about — and they want to. I do think we’re at a tipping point for change.

You recently introduced Club Capable, an online space for your community to connect. What does that look like?
Club Capable is a digital platform — like Slack mixed with Facebook — to get advice, seek help navigating jobs, access exclusive events and resources. It started as a pretty broad community, but now members have started micro groups. For example, there’s one call Chronically Sleepy for people with narcolepsy. All these groups of intersectionality, all these members are creating their own spaces. Through that, we’re starting to understand our population a lot more. It’s the kind of community and understanding that will take our platform from an Indeed to a LinkedIn, which is a community that you continue to be a part of after you’ve gotten the job.

What are some of the biggest challenges that remain in connecting the dots between workers and employers?
The first piece is disclosure. Folks on our platform want to connect with employers, but then when they get to that organization, they don’t disclose their illness or disability. Sixty percent of our population lives with one chronic illness or more, but just 3.2% disclose. They’re scared to do so due to fear, shame or stigma, so we’re working to solve that. We can be the hand-holders on both sides of the equation, and educate people on the benefits of disclosure and how it really helps companies reallocate resources and benefits to support you as an employee.

Read more: Disabled employees are reaping the benefits of remote work

And from there, you can help employers actually extend that support?
It’s all about striking a balance and education. Disclosure is really terrible among leadership, so we’re really trying to explain to employers that this community should be hired across all departments and all levels. Sixty-two percent of our community actually has 10-plus years of experience. These aren’t entry level skills. So we’re focused on getting key hires into leadership positions to help tell that story.