National Disability Mentoring Day was initiated at the White House in 1999 to increase the profile of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (October). Designed as an activity to help individuals transition from school to work, the day-long professional shadowing program provided an opportunity for students and job seekers to get a glimpse into a variety of professions. During the first year, 36 individuals participated.

Just two short years later, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) began administrating National Disability Mentoring Day. In 2001, participation exploded to include more than 1,500 students and jobseekers, and hundreds of public and private employers in 32 states.

The following year, the program included four international locations in addition to 41 US states. In 2003, “national” was dropped from the title, due to considerable international participation. Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) – as it is known today – has been growing ever since. In 2004, more than 9,000 mentees participated worldwide. In the United States, 250 coordinators paired mentees with more than 2,500 employer mentors. New York City was the official kickoff site for the year ‘round national effort.

Objectives & Benefits of Mentoring
Mentoring is a beneficial opportunity for many people with disabilities as, unfortunately, individuals often focus on what people with disabilities cannot do instead of the opposite. Latino job seekers with disabilities may face additional challenges such as discrimination or language difficulties. Often times – due to limited contact with role models with disabilities and to the skewed portrayal of people with disabilities in the media – students may incorrectly believe their career possibilities are limited or that success is unattainable. Mentoring works to combat these trends.

During DMD, working professionals have a chance to interact with job seekers with disabilities and learn about their skills and interests. Participation in this program creates an incredible opportunity to for employers to recruit new talent. DMD works to broaden the career aspirations of students with disabilities and to dispel the misconceptions and myths that employers sometimes hold true.

DMD enables students and job seekers to spend part of a day visiting a business or government agency and have one-to-one time to interact with mentors. Mentees have the chance to evaluate personal goals, target skills for improvement, explore possible career paths, and network to develop professional relationships. The success and popularity of the program illustrates that students’ and job-seekers’ participation in DMD can result in an internship opportunity with the host employer, function as a first interview, or even result in an on-the-spot job offer.

City Liaison Supports Mentoring
In 2002, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Matthew Sapolin to head up the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. Sapolin participates in a number of initiatives to connect jobseekers to employment including DMD. He reiterated the Office’s effort to do outreach about DMD to diverse communities. Sapolin is not able to quantify Latino participation in the program because information about participants’ ethnicity is not collected.

Sapolin feels that, regardless of ethnicity or disability, jobseekers’ vocational readiness and qualifications are of utmost importance. Mentoring is one way to enhance these. Sapolin commented, “In New York the workforce is very competitive, so job seekers should prepare themselves as best they can using mentoring and other opportunities.” He urged jobseekers to use mentoring to explore their areas of interest. “Disabled people should not limit the scope of things we try to pursue. If entertainment, visual and performing arts interest us, we should pursue our vocational dream,” Sapolin continued.  

DMD at Verizon in NYC
Parimal Santiago, director of the Verizon’s Education & Technology Center, works to inform the public on advances in communications and information services. Verizon has a variety of internship opportunities for emerging professionals interested in technical careers and is also very involved in DMD. Santiago has been facilitating DMD at Verizon’s Center for three years.

During DMD, mentees at Verizon have the opportunity to interact with Santiago and other employees about their careers. Santiago recalled one young man who wanted to be an executive assistant. On DMD Santiago worked with him to evaluate his skills. She gave him an introduction to Microsoft Office programs including Power Point that he will likely need to pursue his vocation. She also invited him back to refine his administrative skills another day, and to apply for an internship at Verizon.

Santiago explained her motivation for participating in mentoring programs including DMD, “I am just helping another human being. I have skills that may help others. That is how I live my life. People should not get hung-up on the disability part. All mentees with and without disabilities are seeking guidance and need help.”

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