Proyecto Vision’s three reporters (Maria Guma-Diaz, Shanti Nair and Erika Villafane) conducted a series of interviews at the Bridges to Employment Conference. Each presenter interviewed was asked the 3 questions:

1. What is the value of this conference to you and your work?
2. What have you learned during the conference?
3. What, if anything, will you do differently as a result of your participation in this meeting?

Following are interviewees’ responses along with some background information about their lives and work:

Eladio Amores

By Marie Guma-Diaz

Eladio Amores (right) with Josefina Duran (left) of Counterparts, Inc.Eladio Amores, who was born in Cuba, came to this country in 1968. He works as a consultant in the division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Florida Department of Education. During the conference, Amores served as moderator for the Vocational Rehabilitation Workshop and hosted the closing session, which called on local people and organizations to identify what they planned to do as "next steps.”

This is the second time that I have participated in a Bridges to Employment Conference. It is a valuable experience for me personally and for my work, because my job requires that I consult to businesses and industries to promote the employment of people with disabilities. This year, the number of companies participating in the conference was a lot larger than in the previous conference I attended. That is fantastic. However, as Hispanics we still have a great distance to travel to reach the levels of participation in the work world that our American counterparts have.

The Hispanic population suffers two layers of discrimination. First, they don’t apply to get benefits and services because they don’t know what is available. Then, once they apply, they don’t demand the services they are entitled to because in many cases they don’t know the language or understand their rights.

Working as a moderator at this meeting was a new and learning experience for me. I was pleased to be able to participate in the workshop in Spanish.

In my job, I can influence policies and procedures so I can implement some of the ideas I have learned in this conference like using the mass media in Spanish to promote our services, since the Latino population uses those mediums the most.

Mauricio Arroyo Chalco

By Marie Guma-Diaz

Mauricio Arroyo Chalco, a medical doctor and resident of Peru who flew to Miami specifically to attend the Bridges meeting, has been living with a disability since he contracted polio as a child. He is a founding member of the Asociacion de Vivienda, Discapacidad y Familia, an advocacy group for people with disabilities, in Lima, Peru. The association was formed by a group of professionals with disabilities to help people with disabilities find jobs and homes in their country.

During the workshop on new research about Latinos with disabilities and employment, Arroyo Chalco participated as a member of the audience and shared his personal experience with the panel and the addressees.

This conference is very important at a personal level, as well as for the association I work for, because I have learned that the problems faced by people with disabilities in this country are not as severe as the ones in my country. In Peru, there is a terrible problem of abandonment of people with disabilities. Often in my country disabled people are protected by their parents, but when the parents die they are left abandoned in their homes without any skills to do anything at all for themselves. Many of them have to live from the charity of friends, family or neighbors. Especially in the most remote areas of the country, once parents are gone, they are left to fend for themselves. Some don’t even have a walking cane or crutches and have to creep on the floor just to cook themselves some food.

I have also learned about the job-promotion and educational organizations in the U.S. that work to support people with disabilities. We will try to fight to get at least a little of what you have here. In Peru, everything is politics; it is very difficult to be heard and get things done.

I will share this experience and what I have learned at this conference with the members of my association. I will tell them that in the U.S. people with a disability are much better off in every aspect of life. I will use my new knowledge to try and improve the quality of life of disabled people, especially those that live in the remote areas of the country.

Beth Butler

Beth ButlerBeth Butler is a vice president in Wachovia Bank’s Employment Compliance Division. She recently relocated to the bank’s headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she will serve as Disability and Accommodations Consultant for the entire company. Until recently, she worked as a senior litigation consultant, managing charges of employment discrimination.

In April 2006, the Council of State Administrators for vocational rehabilitation presented Beth with an Inaugural Leadership Award at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. She has served as vice chairman of the Alabama State Rehabilitation Council and chairman of the state’s Employment Subcommittee since 2004, and is board member of the U.S. Business Leadership Network.

As a wife, mother, and attorney with a disability, she brings a unique perspective to the dialogue on employment of people with disabilities. Legally blind since birth, she uses Zoom Text software and other assistive technology to achieve her success at Wachovia.

In her presentation, Butler addressed the need for cultural awareness within communities and businesses to better understand the needs of individuals with disabilities

My main interest has been to promote diversity by focusing on the cultural dimension of the meeting. Multicultural training teaches us to respect each other’s differences as well as similarities.I was particularly amazed by the story I heard during the conference of a lady who came all the way from Peru. This lady, who is mobility impaired, had difficulty getting her visa and had to travel for long hours to attend the conference. This did not dim her spirit and perseverance in coming, even if it meant only being able to attend a few hours of the meeting due to travel delays. Personally, it was truly inspirational that nothing stopped her from being here today.

In the short time that I have been here, I have been reminded of the importance of networking and sharing of ideas. I plan to use the valuable tool of networking to build communities open to people of ALL abilities.

Berthy De La Rosa Aponte

By Marie Guma-Diaz

Berthy de la Rosa Aponte (speaking) with Jill Houghton (left) and Frank Torano (seated)De La Rosa Aponte is chair of the National Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel, which provides recommendations to the President, Congress and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration on how to implement the national Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act. The Act focuses on bringing people with disabilities into the work world.

De La Rosa Aponte was born in Colombia, South America. The youngest of her three children, Lucy, has significant developmental disabilities. She has been the motivation for Berthy and her husband Milton Aponte to work as advocates for people with disabilities for over 20 years. During the conference, De La Rosa Aponte gave a comprehensive presentation about the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Advisory Panel.

When you go to a conference, it is not only what you learn at the conference, but also the people that you meet. Networking is very important, because one single person does not have all the information that he or she needs. Coming to a meeting like this one, you meet people who know about many specific issues.

I have learned from this conference that people with disabilities do not want to be poor. They want to participate in the American dream. In my role as chair of the advisory panel, I will bring back to the panel the issues that the Latino participants have presented during this conference.

Kendra Duckworth

By Erika Villafane

Kendra Duckworth (standing) and Julie Reby Waas (seated)Kendra Duckworth is a Human Factors Consultant for the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a free national consulting service designed to increase the employability of persons with disabilities. As a JAN consultant, Duckworth specializes in providing accommodation information for individuals with psychiatric disabilities, cognitive, and neurological impairments. Duckworth is a graduate of West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s in rehabilitation counseling. She began her career as a rehabilitation counselor for the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services.

We are here to provide information about the Job Accommodation Network, encouraging people to call us when they have any questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act, whether at the workplace, schools or homes. It is really good and encouraging to hear how some corporations are creating new policies for hiring and retaining employees with disabilities. After this conference, we hope people will get in touch with us. Our services are free, so we hope they take advantage of it.

Eleanor Gil-Kashiwabara

By Marie Guma-Diaz

Eleanor Gil-KashiwarabaEleanor Gil-Kashiwabara is a psychologist and assistant professor of social work and social research at Portland State University as well as a principal investigator of the project “Helping All Latinas Achieve” (HALA). She is a Latina with a hearing impairment, which motivates her to conduct research that is significant for Latinos with disabilities.

Kashiwabara also serves as principal investigator for the Circles of Care Project, which addresses Native American children’s mental health. During the conference, Kashiwabara presented the results of her recent studies about Latina girls with disabilities and their transition into adulthood.

Personally, I feel like at this conference I’m around people who “get it.” They understand, and that is a very comfortable feeling. If I tell someone that I can’t hear, they don’t react negatively, they accommodate very nicely. It is also a very empowering experience for me because sometimes you feel isolated, but in the conference you are reminded that others are also doing this kind or work and you can access each other for support and collaboration.

In terms of my research, this conference is the best place to present my results, because it is specifically geared to what I do. Through this conference I have had the opportunity to reach other professionals and individuals who are dealing with these transitional issues. And I have learned a lot about things happening in Florida—how they focus efforts and advocate and promote issues for people with disabilities. I also learned about the Ticket to Work, which is a national program. I made some important contacts related to that initiative.

I’m taking back contacts for my research, to build on what we’ve done and to connect our work to people in other parts of the country. The conference really got me thinking about a possible program to implement in schools with collaboration from others who already have that experience.

Andres Gonzalez

By Marie Guma-Diaz

Andres GonzalezAndres Gonzalez is blind, but that has never held him back from achieving his goals. He graduated in 1991 from the School of Mathematics at the University of Havana in his native Cuba, and he received an M.S. in applied mathematics from Descartes University in Paris in 1995. Gonzalez then came to the U.S., and now works as a computer scientist with Adobe Systems, where he specializes in accessibility. He published and presented a paper on new accessible technologies at the 2005 World Wide Web Consortium Conference.

Before joining Adobe he worked for seven years in the development of JAWS for Windows, a popular screen reader software for blind users, as well as the PacMate, a talking personal digital assistant (PDA). He started his career in Cuba as a researcher in the field of neurophysiology and he published several papers on the modeling of the brain’s electrical activity and its underlying cognitive mechanisms.

During the conference, Gonzalez shared his personal story of working in Cuba, coming to this country, and starting his career anew as a minority, not knowing the language, and with a disability. He told the audience about the difficult transition, the frustrations, and the people he met along the way that have helped him get to a better place in his life.

This conference has enormous value to me, because although my work is technical in nature, there has to be a human component. Adobe is greatly committed to supporting people with disabilities both by employment and by the products they make. This conference has been very educational and instructive to me as to how other businesses are dealing with disabled employees. It is a good thing to be reminded often of how others were empowered to do things differently and how they have been rewarded for their success. This is a good message to take back to my workplace.

At the personal level, I am grateful for the opportunity to give back a little, so I see it as a duty of my own to do what little I can to encourage other people and Latinos with disabilities.

Kelly Greene

By Shanti Nair

Kelly Greene (speaking) with Bob Bromberg (left) and ASL interpreter (right)Kelly Greene is executive director of South Florida Center for Independent Living (SOFLACIL) She has wide experience in advocating for the rights of individuals with disabilities. In her presentation, Greene emphasized the importance of partnership among individuals and organizations in creating awareness on the needs of individuals with disabilities.

Partnering with the World Institute on Disability to plan and run this Bridges meeting has helped us become more familiar with the needs of the disabled community.

At this meeting I have learned through networking with potential employers more about the needs of individuals with disabilities. By sharing ideas, we all learn ways of creating awareness about individuals with disabilities. I plan to use the contacts that I have established during this meeting to promote job placements. My goal is to recruit individuals with disabilities to become systems advocates. They should be encouraged “to have a voice” in promoting their rights. They should be helped to take charge of their own lives.

Peggy Martinez

By Erika Villafane

Peggy Martinez (standing)Peggy Martinez, blind since birth, is self-employed as an assistive technology (AT) consultant and trainer specializing in technology for people who are blind or have low vision. She has worked in the AT industry since 1995.

In 1998, after working in the public and private sectors, Martinez started Eureka Assistive Technologies, which provides consultation, evaluation, training and Braille transcription services to individuals, private businesses, educators, non-profits and government agencies. Martinez operates her business from the north coast of California.

I’m at this conference to help facilitate and organize the assistive technology display room, so people can come in and get a hands-on look and feel for the different technologies we have available to support people with disabilities.

I’m learning more stories about people who have disabilities who are employed, and what they have done in order to get their jobs. I’m also learning how the disability community in Miami works and functions, as this is a very dynamic and very diverse disability community that includes many Latinos.

Katherine McCary

By Shanti Nair

Katherine McCaryKatherine McCary reports to the CEO of SunTrust Bank’s mid-atlantic region. She is responsible for leading SunTrust’s Accessing Community Talent program, which seeks to increase employment of people with disabilities in SunTrust’s workforce and also to increase awareness of marketing opportunities to customers with disabilities. She manages her organization’s Disability Resource Center, which provides disability information internally. In her 17 years with SunTrust, McCary’s contributions to SunTrust’s disability efforts have resulted in national recognition, including an Innovative Practice Award, the 2002 U.S. Business Leadership Network’s Exceptional Leadership Award, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2004 New Freedom Initiative Award.

McCary is president of the U.S. Business Leadership Network, a national organization representing 5,000 businesses that educates employers on the business imperative of disability. In her presentation, McCary focused on employers needing to have a cultural understanding of the disabled community when considering employment.

I wanted to learn about the barriers individuals with disabilities are facing. I also feel it is important to understand cultural issues when focusing on diversity. Lack of an understanding of cultural issues prevents employers from making jobs available to this special population. At the same time, people with disabilities are hesitant to avail themselves of services that help them find jobs. Role models both of employers with cultural understanding and of people with disabilities fully using the job-related tools and supports available to them are needed to overcome this problem.

Matt Myrick

By Erika Villafane

Matt MyrickMatt Myrick, who is deaf, graduated from Gallaudet University in 2001 with a B.S. in human biology. Since 2004, he has worked as the AT&T Channel Manager for AT&T’s Relay Services for people who are deaf. Myrick develops materials for outreach programs to deaf people across the states, conducts training exercises for AT&T employees and relay consumers, attends statewide events, and connects with business communities to educate them on the benefits of Relay Services and other current technology for the deaf, hard-of-hearing, late-deafened and deaf-blind communities.

I’m at this conference to communicate to all able and disabled people about AT&T and its services for the deaf. I’m here to show the progress made in assistive technology during the last years.

I have learned that the disabled Hispanic population in the U.S. is a very important segment, and cannot be cataloged as just a “minority.” It also is a very important and influential group in our society. I have realized that help and resources are available to this population, but that people are not getting to know about useful services because of a lack of communication or marketing of these services.

Attending this meeting has been a great experience, and I will continue to work hard for the disabled community around the country. Something that amazes me is how resourceful a person with a disability can be, and I want to help that person to make his or her life better.

Janet Perales

By Erika Villafane

Janet Perales (far right) with (second from right to left) Erica Villafane, Doris Yanet Saurino Angulo and Cappie Morgan of Counterparts, Inc.Janet Perales, born in Puerto Rico, came to the United States in 1980 to attend Cornell University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biology/sociology. Perales currently serves as Community Relations Manager for Jobing.com, a local employment website whose mission is to connect local companies with local people, including people with disabilities, and help them build valuable relationships aimed at recruiting and hiring future employees.

One of the most important things about my job is that we have to learn from and listen to the community: those who are looking for a job, and what companies are expecting from their employees. By attending this conference, we have gained great exposure to the local community, their needs and expectations.I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of people and organizations that provide valuable information to those looking for better jobs. I realize that there are many resources available to the community, but people are not informed about them.

After this experience, I have more information to share with the different companies that are looking to hire people with disabilities. I have a list of projects in mind, and I would like to invite all the different companies to workshops like this in order to educate and inform them about people with disabilities.

Colin Petheram

By Erika Villafane

Colin PetheramColin Petheram is director of regulatory & constituency relations for AT&T California. He started at AT&T 20 years ago and now works on customer relations for people with disabilities, making sure AT&T complies with accessibility standards. He leads the company’s efforts to produce accessible products for people with disabilities.

Our goal here is to understand how AT&T’s services can be successful for people with disabilities and the aging population. We need to realize that working with disabled people is not something you “have to do” because you feel sorry for that person. What we see is a huge market that needs to be covered, so that we can help people live better lives.

This conference has brought together many kinds of people and organizations. The key issue is job opportunities for disabled Latinos; one of the topics the conference offers is an understanding of the resources available. If you have listened to the various sessions you will see that people like Andres from Adobe Systems has something valuable to offer that makes him different from the competition.

I will continue to work very closely with the business community. I want them to understand that just because an individual is disabled, that doesn’t mean he or she can’t perform a job in a satisfactory way. I want to break the existing resistance in the work place and society in general about people with disabilities.

Kara Sheridan

By Shanti Nair

Kara Sheridan (center) with Richard Keeling (left) and Ramon Canellada (right)Kara Sheridan is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Nova Southeastern University in the Miami area. Sheridan was born with Ontogenesis Imperfecta. She has been dedicated to the Disability Movement since becoming involved with the National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN). Sheridan is a former Paralympian and uses adapted sports as an avenue to reach other young people with disabilities who want to take the lead in their lives. Drawing on her own employment, practicum, and internship opportunities, she shared her experiences in the transition process from the classroom to the professional workforce in the Bridges workshop focused on youth.

In my workshop I wanted to share the experiences of youth with disabilities seeking employment. Networking with people from different backgrounds has been interesting. It has been a learning process to share each other’s experiences.

Celestine Willis

By Shanti Nair

Celestine WillisCelestine Willis is the training director for the Center for Capacity Building on Minorities with Disabilities Research (CCBMDR) in the Department of Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is one of the developers of the CCBMDR’s cultural competence training model. Willis travels around the country conducting training on cultural competence for VR counselors and community-based organizations. Her cultural competence training and research concentrates on Latinos, African Americans, and Asians with disabilities.

In her presentation, Willis discussed how to build, sustain, and evaluate cultural competence in organizations that serve minority individuals with disabilities.

I find that this conference concentrates on addressing the disability needs of the Latino community, which interests me. I am impressed with the minority scholars who have disabilities and who are doing great work in their areas of expertise.

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