American Association of People with Disabilities

AAPD'S Disability Mentoring Day Program to Happen in Regions Around The Country on October 18

Program Held during National Disability Employment Awareness Month

WASHINGTON, DC — This Wednesday, October 18, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) will host the eighth-annual Disability Mentoring Day. This national AAPD program is officially commemorated during the month of October, which is National Disability Employment Awareness Month; activities continue year-round.

AAPD is honored to partner with Darden Restaurants, Inc., the lead sponsor, and the Social Security Administration (SSA), lead public sponsor.

Disability Mentoring Day is designed to provide students and job- seekers with disabilities a firsthand experience in learning about career opportunities in a variety of their chosen fields. Disability Mentoring Day helps to promote the importance of encouraging these students and job-seekers to develop the necessary skills and experiences to compete in today's competitive workforce. For many people with disabilities, their past participation in Disability Mentoring Day has resulted in ongoing relationships, internships, and firm job offers.

Disability Mentoring Day has expanded from a small DC-based event for three dozen students, when it was a program conducted by The White House in 1999, to a national event now hosted by AAPD. This year, more than 14,000 mentees are expected to participate in Disability Mentoring Day in communities in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and many international locations, including Brazil, Germany, and Kosovo.

"Employers say that their own lack of exposure to people with disabilities is one of the biggest barriers to hiring qualified disabled employees," said AAPD President and CEO Andrew J. Imparato. "AAPD's Disability Mentoring Day program connects disabled students and job seekers with employers who are working in a field of interest. This informal exposure is leading to a stronger connection between employers and potential employees with disabilities, and ultimately, this leads to a more diverse workforce, and more directed and motivated students and job seekers with disabilities.”

In addition to the support provided by Darden and SSA, AAPD is also proud to partner with the U.S. Department of Education, the Verizon Foundation, and the following national corporate sponsors: Hewlett Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Pitney Bowes, and SunTrust Banks, Inc. Additionally, SAP is the founder and sponsor of the AAPD/SAP High Technology Disability Mentoring Program and of AAPD's first-ever Disability MentoringLink program, a premiere online mentoring program for people with disabilities. All of these partners are playing significant roles in making Disability Mentoring Day an effective public-private partnership and helping to tackle the longstanding problem of unemployment and underemployment among people with disabilities.

For further information regarding Disability Mentoring, contact AAPD at 800-840-8844 (V/TTY), by email or visit the AAPD website.

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The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the country's largest cross-disability membership organization, promotes the economic and political empowerment of the more than 50 million children and adults with disabilities in the U.S. AAPD was founded in 1995 to help unite the diverse community of people with disabilities, including their family, friends and supporters, and to be a national voice for change in implementing the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For additional information and to learn about AAPD member benefits, advocacy efforts and programs, visit the AAPD website.

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American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
1629 K Street NW, Suite 503; Washington, DC 20006
VOICE: 202-457-0046 (V/TTY) * FAX: 202-457-0473 * www.aapd.com
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