Press Releases
November 15, 2004
Florida Selected As 2005 National Kick-Off Site For Disability Mentoring Day
Tallahassee - The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the country's largest national cross-disability membership organization, has selected Florida to host the 2005 National Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) Kick-off event. Governor Jeb Bush will serve as Honorary Chair to coincide with Florida's festivities as part of the national endeavor. The Able Trust, also known as the Florida Governor's Alliance for the Employment of People with Disabilities, has been tapped to chair the statewide DMD planning committee that will host the event.
Disability Mentoring Day is a nationally coordinated job shadowing opportunity for students and jobseekers with disabilities. Participants are matched with professionals based on their career interests and spend the day with mentors observing job responsibilities and getting a better understanding of the work place environment. Disability Mentoring Day gives participants a chance to learn about the day-to-day responsibilities required of a desired occupation and the skills and education requirements specific to a job in that career field.
"It is a great honor for our program to be recognized nationally and we are thrilled to have been selected to host the national kick-off event," stated Kristen Knapp, APR, Vice President of Public Relations for The Able Trust. "We have received tremendous support from disability agencies and the business community across our state and we look forward to working with them in the coming year to make the 2005 national kick-off event an enormous success."
Employers or organizations wishing to participate in a job shadowing experience for students with disabilities or interested in sponsoring the national kick-off event can contact Kristen Knapp, APR, at (888) 838-2253 or Kristen@abletrust.org for more information.
Disability Mentoring Day is a national initiative of the American Association of People with Disabilities. It is organized in Florida by a collaborative partnership of The Able Trust, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Volunteer Florida, the Florida Mentoring Partnership and other statewide organizations. For more information visit www.floridadmd.org.