Business diversity consultant draws from personal experience
Organization consultant Peter Altschul lives a diverse life.
He helps businesses address diversity-related conflicts. He composes music, plays percussion and advocates for the arts. And he is writing a book.
As principal of Columbia-based Stealth Consulting Group, Altschul, 54, has worked with national clients such as Catholic Charities, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Reuters America, National Disability Rights Network, Search for Common Ground and The World Bank. Blind since birth, he’s also a leader in organizations for the blind and advocates for better workplace situations for those with limited sight.
Altschul is mentioned prominently in the book Perfectly Able: How to Attract and Hire Talented People with Disabilities, which came about after he and author Jim Hasse exchanged messages on an eSight online forum about disability issues in the workplace.
Altschul also helped various employers and universities diversify their recruiting, trained New York City taxi drivers to improve their customer-service skills and worked in Arizona to address teen pregnancy issues.
During his years living in Washington, D.C., Altschul worked with Reuters to improve the diversity of the news media company. He managed a role-switching “reverse mentoring program” to promote diversity, where, for example, a salesperson mentored the company’s CEO.
Altschul feels strongly that diversity isn’t just about different races or ethnicities, but different abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds and diversity of thought.
The name for his company came from the realization of how change occurs. “When you’re trying to change behavior, the factors that make it work or not work often happen under the radar, and you may not be aware of them,” he said.
Altschul grew up in suburban New York and earned his bachelor’s degree at Princeton University. His first job was working for the Internal Revenue Service. He said the work force was quite diverse, but “the relationship between men and women, blacks and whites was awful.” He said he thought there “must be a better way to run an organization,” so he went back to school and earned his master’s degree at Columbia University and specialized in organizational psychology.
Altschul met his wife, Lisa, a Columbia native, at a conference in Las Vegas. He moved from Washington, D.C. to Columbia, where Lisa is raising three children and pursuing a doctorate in biomedical engineering at the University of Missouri.
Although he was on a panel about disability issues at MU, he hasn’t worked for the university. “If I had the chance, I’d love to work there,” he said.
Most of his clients are on the East Coast, where he thinks diversity is easier to achieve than in the Midwest. “Most people, most of the time, want to do the right thing, but people on the East Coast are more exposed to different people doing different things,” he said. “It’s more common, for example, for a blind person on the East Coast to work in middle management, but here people just aren’t as exposed to disabled folks in the workplace.”
Altschul views diversity through the lens of conflict resolution. He said he does a workshop that uses the idea of conflict resolution that addresses the issues “in a way where people feel heard and supported.” And if dealt with well, he said, it can make the workplace “a better place but if not dealt with well can end up disastrously.”
Altschul believes that a diverse and understanding workplace doesn’t happen overnight. “It’s a long process, and there are certain things corporate leaders can do to help,” he said. “There is progress and backtracks, and then hopefully you get to where you want. It takes time and a lot of effort, but the journey can be lots of fun.”
Altschul is now on his fifth Guiding Eyes for the Blind dog, a black Lab named Jules, who’s been with him since 2005. He and his wife enjoy raising standard poodles and going to jazz and other concerts.
Diversity message similar to MU goals
Barb Hammer, director of the University of Missouri Office of Disability Services, met Peter Altschul through a friendship with Altschul’s wife, Lisa. She asked him to be a panelist at MU’s first Employer Summer in 2010.
Hammer said she believes Altschul has a strong message, one that aligns with what MU’s Disability Services is trying to achieve. “While our role on campus is not specifically related to career development — our primary responsibility is to ensure equal access — we believe that our support of students as they pursue a successful academic career can help them as they prepare to move into the work force,” she said.
Although MU does employ many people of differing abilities, Hammer said she believes the university can be more diverse. The MU Committee on Persons with Disabilities, on which Hammer serves, has established as one of its strategic goals to increase recruitment and retention of staff and faculty with disabilities.
Hammer said about 2 percent of MU students register with Disability Services. “What that means is that they self-identified as having a disability and requested some type of accommodation in order to ensure access,” she said.
What businesses can learn from MU is that many accommodations that help a person with disabilities to succeed actually cost very little in time or money.
Employers are often daunted and believe that accommodating a disability is expensive or will be a challenge to arrange, Hammer said, but in most situations, “it can be very simple to accomplish and costs very little.”
He helps businesses address diversity-related conflicts. He composes music, plays percussion and advocates for the arts. And he is writing a book.
As principal of Columbia-based Stealth Consulting Group, Altschul, 54, has worked with national clients such as Catholic Charities, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Reuters America, National Disability Rights Network, Search for Common Ground and The World Bank. Blind since birth, he’s also a leader in organizations for the blind and advocates for better workplace situations for those with limited sight.
Altschul is mentioned prominently in the book Perfectly Able: How to Attract and Hire Talented People with Disabilities, which came about after he and author Jim Hasse exchanged messages on an eSight online forum about disability issues in the workplace.
Altschul also helped various employers and universities diversify their recruiting, trained New York City taxi drivers to improve their customer-service skills and worked in Arizona to address teen pregnancy issues.
During his years living in Washington, D.C., Altschul worked with Reuters to improve the diversity of the news media company. He managed a role-switching “reverse mentoring program” to promote diversity, where, for example, a salesperson mentored the company’s CEO.
Altschul feels strongly that diversity isn’t just about different races or ethnicities, but different abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds and diversity of thought.
The name for his company came from the realization of how change occurs. “When you’re trying to change behavior, the factors that make it work or not work often happen under the radar, and you may not be aware of them,” he said.
Altschul grew up in suburban New York and earned his bachelor’s degree at Princeton University. His first job was working for the Internal Revenue Service. He said the work force was quite diverse, but “the relationship between men and women, blacks and whites was awful.” He said he thought there “must be a better way to run an organization,” so he went back to school and earned his master’s degree at Columbia University and specialized in organizational psychology.
Altschul met his wife, Lisa, a Columbia native, at a conference in Las Vegas. He moved from Washington, D.C. to Columbia, where Lisa is raising three children and pursuing a doctorate in biomedical engineering at the University of Missouri.
Although he was on a panel about disability issues at MU, he hasn’t worked for the university. “If I had the chance, I’d love to work there,” he said.
Most of his clients are on the East Coast, where he thinks diversity is easier to achieve than in the Midwest. “Most people, most of the time, want to do the right thing, but people on the East Coast are more exposed to different people doing different things,” he said. “It’s more common, for example, for a blind person on the East Coast to work in middle management, but here people just aren’t as exposed to disabled folks in the workplace.”
Altschul views diversity through the lens of conflict resolution. He said he does a workshop that uses the idea of conflict resolution that addresses the issues “in a way where people feel heard and supported.” And if dealt with well, he said, it can make the workplace “a better place but if not dealt with well can end up disastrously.”
Altschul believes that a diverse and understanding workplace doesn’t happen overnight. “It’s a long process, and there are certain things corporate leaders can do to help,” he said. “There is progress and backtracks, and then hopefully you get to where you want. It takes time and a lot of effort, but the journey can be lots of fun.”
Altschul is now on his fifth Guiding Eyes for the Blind dog, a black Lab named Jules, who’s been with him since 2005. He and his wife enjoy raising standard poodles and going to jazz and other concerts.
Diversity message similar to MU goals
Barb Hammer, director of the University of Missouri Office of Disability Services, met Peter Altschul through a friendship with Altschul’s wife, Lisa. She asked him to be a panelist at MU’s first Employer Summer in 2010.
Hammer said she believes Altschul has a strong message, one that aligns with what MU’s Disability Services is trying to achieve. “While our role on campus is not specifically related to career development — our primary responsibility is to ensure equal access — we believe that our support of students as they pursue a successful academic career can help them as they prepare to move into the work force,” she said.
Although MU does employ many people of differing abilities, Hammer said she believes the university can be more diverse. The MU Committee on Persons with Disabilities, on which Hammer serves, has established as one of its strategic goals to increase recruitment and retention of staff and faculty with disabilities.
Hammer said about 2 percent of MU students register with Disability Services. “What that means is that they self-identified as having a disability and requested some type of accommodation in order to ensure access,” she said.
What businesses can learn from MU is that many accommodations that help a person with disabilities to succeed actually cost very little in time or money.
Employers are often daunted and believe that accommodating a disability is expensive or will be a challenge to arrange, Hammer said, but in most situations, “it can be very simple to accomplish and costs very little.”