Are you ready to participate this October?

Come join us!  Last year we had 35 locations hosting over 200 job seekers!!

·       Become a job mentoring site

·       Suggest possible job seekers from your agency

·       Support us as a sponsor

·       Join our committee

·       Add our link to your website

·       Get to know us! Host a meeting!

The possibilities are endless,

and we welcome you with open arms!!

TELL US HOW YOU WANT TO HELP!

Contact Maria Gumina or Sandra Sroka

For general information and facts visit:

www.dmd-aapd.org

Hillsborough County Local Coordinators:

Sandra G. Sroka, ADA Liaison

Hillsborough County

813.276.2742

srokas@hillsboroughcounty.org

Maria Gumina, Program Manager

Enable America, Inc.

813.222.3284

maria.gumina@enableamerica.org

What Is Disability Mentoring Day?

Disability Mentoring Day promotes career development for students and job-seekers with disabilities through job shadowing and hands-on career exploration. With leadership, coordination and resource materials from AAPD, local communities around the country organize their own activities to bring students and employers together for informational sessions about career opportunities and one-on-one mentoring with volunteers at public and private places of employment. 

What Happens on Disability Mentoring Day?

Disability Mentoring Day is officially commemorated on the third Wednesday of every October and is implemented in locations around the country and internationally throughout the year. It is designed to benefit from local creativity, with each community planning activities to best suit the interests and abilities of its students, job-seekers and local employers. Although the core experience is one-on-one job shadowing, event planners may choose to open with a meeting for a group of students and job-seekers featuring several presentations and/or close with a reception where students, job-seekers and mentors can share their experiences. The type of mentoring experience will largely depend on the participants’ interests, education level, and work experience. Job-seekers can focus on specific career advice and discuss potential internships and job openings.

How Will Students and Job-Seekers with Disabilities Benefit from Disability Mentoring Day?

Disability Mentoring Day is an opportunity to underscore the connection between school and work, evaluate personal goals, target career skills for improvement, explore possible career paths, and develop lasting mentor relationships. The program’s history shows that students’ and job seekers’ participation in Disability Mentoring Day can result in an internship opportunity with the host employer; function as a first interview on the way to a part-time or full-time employment offer; or even a firm on-the-spot job offer.

How Will Employers Benefit from Disability Mentoring Day?

Disability Mentoring Day provides public and private employers with an opportunity to recruit interns; tap a pool of potential future employees; learn more about the experience of disability; develop lasting relationships with disability community leaders; demonstrate positive leadership in their communities; and attract positive media attention. In addition, employers can get involved by enabling employees to serve as volunteer mentors, functioning as a Local Coordinator for a community, and sponsoring Disability Mentoring Day at the national or local level.

How Do Communities Get Involved?

Local Coordinators, who play a match-making role between students/job-seekers and local employers, are the key to Disability Mentoring Day. Communities wishing to participate in any capacity – as an employer, organization, educator, job-seeker or student – should review the following Local Coordinators list to see if there is already someone coordinating in that community.