AbilITy Connection Helps Disabled Workers Enter IT Industry

Program works with employers to place qualified workers in IT jobs

by Casey Murray

For many people, suffering a major injury can mean not only the loss of independence but the loss of a job. A truck driver who gets into an accident and loses his leg not only has to get used to moving about on one leg, but also has to find another form of employment.

That's where AbilITy Connection, a cooperative effort between employers, Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and the State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation that helps people with disabilities find jobs in the information technology field, comes in.

"The idea is to work together with companies to try and get disabled individuals who might be interested into the IT field," said Michael Jones, chair of the Business Advisory Council for AbilITy Connection and vice president and CIO of Children's Health System, Inc. "We want to get them back into the workforce."

AbilITy Connection tries to help people with disabilities get the wealth of jobs available in the information technology field, according to Lori Grassel, AbilITy Connection coordinator. (Note: the coordinator position is now held by Peggy Dooley.)

"The mission of AbilITy Connection is to provide a connection and advocacy to people with disabilities for entry into a career in the information services and/or information technology fields," Grassel said. "We do this by providing mentoring programs and guidance for job opportunities or internships."

AbilITy Connection evolved in 1996 from an IBM concept program. After it evolved into what it is today, it became a prototype for similar programs throughout the country, according to Grassel.

"Our program has been a model for other programs all over the nation," Grassel said. "In 1996, the Rehabilitation Program for Wisconsin gave us the Outstanding Rehabilitation Program Award."

The program works because of the connections it has with companies and the way in which it helps the disabled people/students. They assign each student to a mentor who will help the student through school. Each student typically completes a two or four-year program in some area of information technology. The mentor helps out with everything from school work to job adjustment, according to Charlotte Reed, chair for the Mentoring Council and Vice President of Information Services at Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC).

"We try to provide a mentor and other experiences that would be helpful to our students for practical aspects of getting into the business world," Reed said. "The mentor's job is just to get to know the student and share information with them, answering questions. The students are not sure what it's like out in the business world or if that's what they want to do, and the mentors can help them adjust to that."

Many of the students are people who can no longer work at their old jobs because of disabling injury. Because the information technology field has so many job openings and because there is very little physical labor involved, it is considered a perfect area for disabled people to enter, according to Jones.

The students are helped by individual mentors, who are there not just to help the students find a job, but also to try to help the students adjust to the information technology field and to the business world in general, according to Grassel.

"The mentoring team puts together an event every month," Grassel said. "Things like employee panels on trends for the future, interviewing techniques, job seeking skills and mock interviews with employees, just to name a few."

Besides the Mentoring Committee, the Business Advisory Council plays a key role in the success of AbilITy Connection, according to Grassel.

"The business advisory council is responsible for our success," Grassel said. "They are an incredibly dedicated group of employers. They put together things like our videotape and they have even put together a financial assistance program. Last year we gave out seven $500

 

s to qualified individuals, and it's all through their effort."

Besides the Business Advisory Council and the Mentoring Council, AbilITy Connection has four other councils to help the students. The Recruitment Council helps to enlist new students, the Marketing Council gets the word out about AbilITy Connection, the Placement Council helps finds internships, co-ops and full-time work for the students and the Resource Development Council helps with fundraising, according to Grassel. All in all, over 30 companies are involved with the program, Jones said.

"At AbilITy Connection, we try to make a connection between people with disabilities and companies looking for qualified individuals, not just people with disabilities," Grassel said.

This article appeared in "Employment Times" on May 6, 1999.