Working People with Disabilities Share Success with Georgia Business Leaders Making a Difference Discovery Day: Sept. 27th
ATLANTA, GA (September 19, 2007) — Georgia business leaders will be introduced to professionals who will provide insight about the benefits of hiring people with disabilities through first-person accounts, project demonstrations, panel discussions, audience interaction, video highlights and keynote speakers at the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities' (GCDD) seventh annual Making A Difference Discovery Day. Professionals with disabilities and corporate diversity officers will bring important issues to light.
"After graduation, a very difficult job search made me acutely aware that as an African American woman with cerebral palsy I was a 'triple-minority'," said Tameeka Hunter. "Today, after six years in the workforce, first in the Mayor's office and now at Georgia Tech, I am encouraged that more and more employers are seeing the value in hiring beyond disabilities," concluded Hunter, who works full-time as the disability services specialist and testing manager for Georgia Institute of Technology and has a Masters degree in rehabilitation counseling at Georgia State University. On Discovery Day, Hunter will serve on a panel entitled, "Living and Working Together," a panel comprised of individuals whose expertise in the field of disability is derived from both professional and personal experience. Hunter will deliver a message entitled, "You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover."
One hundred corporate executives and business owners are expected for a special announcement concerning the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Freedom to Compete Award, followed by a half-day of interactive multi-media presentations on September 27th, 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM, at The Home Depot corporate headquarters, 2455 Paces Ferry Road. Moderated by former CNN Anchor Bobbie Battista, who has first-hand experience with a developmental disability through a family member, this annual event helps corporate executives and human resource managers discover the gifts, talents, and skills that people with disabilities can contribute to the workplace. 75% of working age Americans with disabilities are overlooked for employment, yet they comprise a $3 trillion consumer market.
Discovery Day corporate partners are The Home Depot, Southern Company, SunTrust Banks Inc. and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).
The event's featured speakers include US EEOC Regional Director Bernice Williams-Kimbrough, Emory Crawford Long COO Albert Blackwelder, SunTrust Banks Vice President Katherine McCary, and Booz Allen Hamilton Senior Manager of Community Relations Barbara Haight. Participating organizations include Employment First of Georgia; the Institute of Human Development and Disability (IHDD); The Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO); Georgia Tech University; Briggs and Associates; the Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI) and The Edge Connection of Kennesaw State University.
"The Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities is proud that Georgia is becoming a national leader by implementing innovative partnerships that work successfully to place people with disabilities," said GCDD Executive Director Eric Jacobson. "As we work together with corporations and other members of the business community, the true value of Georgia's entire workforce can eventually be realized," concluded Jacobson.
One very successful Georgia initiative, Project Search, developed under the leadership of Emory Crawford Long COO Albert Blackwelder, has recently been nominated as a finalist to receive a prestigious national award.
GCDD is a Federally-funded state agency that promotes independence, inclusion, integration, self-determination and productivity for Georgians with developmental disabilities so they can live, learn, work, play and worship where and how they choose by engaging community and business leaders, lawmakers and the general public. A Developmental Disability is a chronic mental and/or physical disability that occurs before age 22 and is expected to last a lifetime. It may require supports in three or more of the following life activities: self-care, language, learning, mobility, self-direction, independent living and economic self-sufficiency.
