The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) held a series of events for Disability Mentoring Day, a part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
The eighth annual event linked jobs seekers who have disabilities with potential employers and provided opportunities for networking, mentoring and work experience in the job seekers’ preferred fields.
The main event took place October 19 when job seekers were able to shadow professionals to gain knowledge about their day-to-day work and how to prepare for their careers. The employers learned about the value that people with disabilities bring to their professions.
The American Association for People with Disabilities and the Office of Disability Employment Policy started the annual event in 1991. There are now 85,000 people with disabilities who participate annually in all 50 states.
MOPD Commissioner Matthew Sapolin said, “For the eighth year in a row, I am proud once again that our office is hosting Disability Mentoring Day. Year round, we seek to ensure that employers recognize that people with disabilities are an invaluable resource to the city’s workforce, as well as our city’s civic, economic and cultural life. By bringing disabled students and job-seekers together with potential employers, we can strive for greater inclusion of this often overlooked population.”
More than 400 mentees participated in New York City and 264 matches were made with more than 65 companies in careers including mailroom services, social work, technology, human resources, business and finance, education, communications, graphic design, customer service, retail, law enforcement, food services, maintenance, office management, public policy and theater.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the NYC Department of Education, the NYC Department for the Aging, the NYC Department of Finance and the NYC Department of Probation participated in the event.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “With the passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, we have made great strides in fulfilling our founding promise of equality for all – but there is so much more we can do. Disability Mentoring Day is a unique opportunity that allows New Yorkers with disabilities to show job-seekers first-hand how they can help businesses across the city meet their goals.”
Events also included a fashion show on October 11 where people with disabilities displayed their business clothes, a job readiness workshop, a customer service industry panel with the help of Time Warner Cable, a social media training with the NYU Wasserman Center for Career Development and the NYU Langone Medical Center Rusk Institute, and a disability etiquette training session run by Nancy Miller, executive director of VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Christina Curry, executive director of the Harlem Independent Living Center.
Sapolin thanked Mkada Beach, the event’s program coordinator and Eric Jackier, who chaired the event, along with everyone else who contributed.
This article was published in the November 2011 issue of Able News.
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