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The Florida Grantor, Fall 2006

FGA Update

Two National Conferences Coming to Florida

The Able Trust will play host to two national conferences coming to Florida in 2007. In April, the Foundation will host a joint meeting of the National Association of Governor's Committees for Persons with Disabilities (NAGC), the American Association of People with Disabilities and the Association of Youth Leadership Forums. The meeting will be held in Orlando and will feature best practice sessions on projects initiated under the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), including High School/High Tech, Disability Mentoring Day, Business Leadership Network and the Youth Leadership Forum. The Able Trust President, Sharon Griffith, is currently serving her second term as chair of NAGC and will oversee the planning for this event.

The US Business Leadership Network has chosen Orlando as the site for its 2007 annual conference. The event will be held September 19-21 at the Disney Contemporary and will feature workshops for employers seeking information and resources on hiring people with disabilities.

The Able Trust will partner with the US BLN to promote the conference and develop employer workshops through its Florida BLN activities.

In addition, The Able Trust will host a career fair for students with disabilities as a kickoff opportunity for Florida Disability Mentoring Day activities. For more information about the conference, visit www.usbln.com

Brand New BLN Website

The Able Trust has redesigned a more interactive and user friendly Florida Business Leadership Network website. The website will feature a new FBLN section on local chapter events and a "members only" chapter resource section designed to provide tools and resources created by fellow chapter leaders. Visit the re-launch of the new FBLN website, in January, at www.floridabln.org!

US Department of Labor Forms Alliance with SHRM

The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) recently established an alliance to encourage and promote the employment of people with disabilities.

The formal alliance, a first for ODEP with a major organization, will ensure that SHRM and ODEP stakeholders collaborate in this national effort by providing information, guidance & access to resources.

The new relationship between SHRM and ODEP will target areas in training and education, outreach and communication and technical assistance, and it will promote a national dialogue on the employment of persons with disabilities. The partnership will also provide recruitment, hiring and advancement information.

SHRM is the world's largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 205,000 individual members, the society's mission is to serve the needs of HR professionals by providing the most essential and comprehensive resources available.

ODEP was authorized by Congress in the year of 2001.

For more information, visit ODEP online at www.dol.gov/odep under Circle of Champions.