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The Florida Grantor, Summer 2005

Florida to Host the National Disability Mentoring Day Kickoff Event

Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) will be celebrated nationally on October 19 expanding the career opportunities for people with disabilities. Last year in Florida, over 600 students and job seekers with disabilities and 300 employers participated in DMD. As a result of Florida’s tremendous participation in the last two years, the state has been chosen to be the official launch site of the program. Governor Bush will join the national effort as the honorary chair of Florida DMD and host of the national kickoff event.

DMD is designed to promote career development for students and job seekers with disabilities through hands-on career exploration, job shadowing and internships.

Community Liaisons are setup throughout the state to help coordinate job shadowing opportunities. The liaisons match up students and job seekers with employers who work in the field that interests the mentee. The employers’ role in DMD is to foster a knowledge base of their career field to the individuals they mentor.

Mentees will be able to network with individuals who have successfully pursued the career that interests them. Past experiences of DMD participants have resulted in mentees securing an internship or a full-time job from the employer they shadowed.

DMD occurs once a year on the third Wednesday in October in conjunction with National Disability Employment Awareness Month. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, mentee or community liaison, visit www.floridadmd.org for more details. Be sure to keep checking the DMD website for national kickoff event information.