Serving high-quality, creative desserts isn’t enough for Francis Reyes—it’s more about who’s behind the aprons. Seeing that deaf people were disadvantaged in employment, he built his mall-based businesses around employing them. He staffed his branches of Overdoughs (doughnuts) and Elait! (rolled ice cream) with more than 70 deaf partners, and is now hiring employees with autism and Down’s syndrome, offering not only jobs but also training programmes and leadership opportunities.