American Association of People with Disabilities

AAPD to Host Disability Mentoring Day
Around the Country on October 19, 2005

Program Commemorated During National Disability Employment Awareness Month

(WASHINGTON, DC) October 1, 2005 — On Wednesday, October 19, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) will host the seventh-annual Disability Mentoring Day (DMD). This national AAPD program is officially commemorated on the third Wednesday of every October, which is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and activities continue year-round.

AAPD is honored to partner with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, the 2005 Disability Mentoring Day major 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 translated into 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, to a national event now hosted by AAPD. In 2004, more than 9,000 mentees participated in Disability Mentoring Day in communities nationally as well as in many international locations.

"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 for 2005 Disability Mentoring Day by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, AAPD is also proud to partner with the Social Security Administration. 2005 Disability Mentoring Day corporate partners include SAP, founder and sponsor of the AAPD/SAP High Technology Disability Mentoring Program and of AAPD's first-ever Disability MentorNet program; Verizon, as Lead Corporate Sponsor; and the following companies, all of whom are participating as National Corporate Sponsors:

• BellSouth
• Comcast
• Darden Restaurants
• Hewlett-Packard
• IBM
• Independence Technology
• Microsoft
• Pitney Bowes
• SunTrust

AAPD's corporate 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. Each is actively participating in Disability Mentoring Day 2005 at many of their sites and facilities around the country.

For further information regarding DMD, contact AAPD at 800-840-8844 (V/TTY), by email at dmdaapd@aol.com or visit the AAPD website.

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 56 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.