About Selwyn
Selwyn Cook enjoyed a career as a Shell and then Z retailer in the Waikato owning and operating a multiple service station business for 27 years. His discovery of the talent pool that identified with disability had a significant impact on the positive performance of his business.
He has worked with organisations such as Workbridge, Enrich+, Idea Services and Blind & Low Vision New Zealand to recruit people with physical, mental and intellectual disabilities, In the last three years in business he employed over seventy job seekers through Workbridge alone.
Selwyn has won a number of awards for his work including the Attitude ACC Employer Award 2014, Diversity Works Diversability award in 2015, a City of Hamilton Civic award for Community, People and Wellbeing and was the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Local Hero winner for 2016.
This led to Selwyn to take up a new challenge as the Workbridge Employer Ambassador. He has always been committed to reflecting diversity in the workplace and ensuring businesses become more inclusive of those living with a disability or illness.
Now as an independent facilitator of Disability Employment this allows him to continue to promote the benefits to employers so to consider the disability talent pool. He is now also very much involved in supporting young disabled job seekers on their employment journey.
His work with providers, the wider disability community and with employers not just supports the building of more inclusive workplaces but also a more inclusive New Zealand.