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Disability Inclusive Grantmaking is the mission of DFN: inclusion of disability in grantmaking programs and inclusion of people with disabilities in grantmaking organizations.

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Vol. 7, No. 5: August 2008

In This Issue

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NEWS

AAPD‘S HEARNE LEADERSHIP AWARD COMPETITION OPENS: The American Association of People with Disabilities recently announced that they are accepting applications for the 2009 Hearne Leadership Awards that recognize outstanding individuals who are emerging as leaders in the cross-disability civil rights movement. Applications are due Sept. 30, 2008. For information on the nomination process, go to www.aapd.com.

NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH (NDEAM): NDEAM is celebrated in October, and the 2008 theme is America’s People. America’s Talent. America’s Strength! The 2008 commemorative poster can be viewed and ordered from the ODEP Web site at www.dol.gov/odep/programs/ndeam.htm.

NEW INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSAL DESIGN COMMISSION: Peter Blanck, chair of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, recently was named chairman of the board of directors for the new Global Universal Design Commission Inc. For more information, visit www.globaluniversaldesign.org.

GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS, INTERNSHIPS AND OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

ART CONTEST: The sixth annual Expressions of Courage national art contest is open to children and adults with epilepsy and is sponsored by the Ortho-McNeil Neurologics Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation. The deadline for submittals is Aug. 29, 2008. For more information, visit www.expressionsofcourage.com.

DISNEY MINNIE GRANTS: Youth Service America and Disney recently launched a second round of Disney Minnie Grants to engage children and youth ages 5-14 as community volunteers. The selected applications will receive $500 to support their youth-led service projects. The deadline is August 30, and projects must take place from October 15 through November 15, 2008. Grantees from the first round of Disney awards of 2008 are eligible to apply. Visit www.ysa.org/awards for more information and application materials. You can review past award recipients from all over the world at http://ysa.org/AwardsGrants/DisneyMinnieGrants/DisneyMinnieGrantees2008/tabid/292/Default.aspx.

CDRF QUALITY OF LIFE GRANTS: The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (CDRF) awards grants in 13 categories, including health promotion, employment, sports and recreation, and advocacy, to fund programs across the globe that help people with paralysis become more fully integrated members of society. Grants that focus on improving the health of individuals are funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information, go to www.christopherreeve.org.

THE WASHINGTON CENTER FOR INTERNSHIPS AND ACADEMIC SEMINARS (TWC): This prestigious educational nonprofit organization, entering its 30th year, offers an academic program combined with internships in Washington, D.C. They offer a fully inclusive program, including accessible housing. To learn more about the program, visit www.twc.edu.

AAPD-ADMINISTERED SUMMER INTERNSHIPS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: AAPD administers two prestigious internships. One is funded by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and places students in congressional offices in Washington, D.C. The second, funded by Microsoft, is for students majoring in information technology and accepted candidates will work in various agencies in the executive branch of the federal government. For details visit AAPD’s Web site at www.aapd.com.

AAAS SPONSORS ENTRY POINT! ENTRY POINT!, a program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, offers internship opportunities for college students with disabilities in science, engineering, mathematics, computer science and some fields of business. To learn more about this program, visit http://ehrweb.aaas.org/entrypoint/.

EMERGING LEADERS INTERNSHIPS: This program, launched and funded by the international consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, is administered by the National Business & Disability Council and provides internships for college students with disabilities. These internships are located in several geographic locations and with a wide range of companies. For details, visit their site at www.emerging-leaders.com.

FRED FAY ADVANCED LEADERSHIP FORUM: Sponsored by the Boston Center for Independent Living and members of the Leadership Forum Advisory Council. Go to www.bostoncil.org/fredfayleadership for more information.

WORKFORCE RECRUITMENT PROGRAM: The WRP‘s stellar database of individually interviewed and prescreened college and university students with disabilities is available to meet your summer or permanent workforce needs. This pipeline program is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Defense. If you are affiliated with a federal agency, go to www.wrp.gov. If you are not, you may request a search by contacting the Employer Assistance and Recruiting Network (EARN) at www.earnworks.com.

CAREER GATEWAY: A Web-based service of Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) for employers and graduating college and university students where students can post their resumes and employers can search for qualified candidates. For information, go to www.cosdonline.org.

SCHOLARSHIP FOR GRADUATING SENIORS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES: The National Center for Learning Disabilities annual awards the Ann Ford Scholarship of $10,000 to an outstanding high school senior with a learning disability who is committed to completing a college degree. For information, visit www.ncld.org.

PUBLICATIONS, MEDIA RESOURCES AND RELEASES

A GUIDE FOR LIVING: SPINAL CORD INJURY (2ND EDITION): A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book by Sara Palmer, Kay Harris Kriegsman, & Jeffrey Palmer. The authors illustrate this informational guide to living with a spinal cord injury with summary interviews conducted with individuals with spinal cord injuries and their families who are living and working in their communities. For more information, go to www.press.jhu.edu.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN IN HIGHER EDUCATION: Co-edited by Sheryl Burgstahler, this is a guide to creating fully accessible college and university programs. For more information, go to www.harvardeducationpress.org.

CONFERENCES, EVENTS, MEETINGS AND COURSES

UNIVERSAL DESIGN SUMMIT III: Creating Livable Homes & Communities, Sept. 21- 23, 2008, St Louis University, St. Louis, MO. For more information, write to udsummit@starkloff.org.

2008 SCI HALL OF FAME: The 4th annual SCI Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Gala will be held in New Orleans on September 25 at the Contemporary Art Center Warehouse. This year’s SCI Hall of Fame is sponsored in part by the Medtronic Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, Motorola and Acorda Therapeutics. Formed by NSCIA in 2005, the SCI Hall of Fame was created to celebrate and honor individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to quality of life and advancements toward a better future for all individuals with spinal cord injury. For more information, go to www.spinalcord.org.

FLORIDA DMD KICKOFF & CAREER FAIR: The Able Trust and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation will hold its annual Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) Statewide Kickoff Celebration and Career Fair for students with disabilities. This signature event will take place on Oct. 2 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando. For details visit their Web site at www.abletrust.org.

WHERE IS THE JAN ANNUAL CONFERENCE: Looking for information about the annual Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Conference? 2008 brings about a change in the type of conference training JAN will offer. JAN is joining forces with the U.S. Business Leadership Network (USBLN) to offer a JAN SuperTrack at the USBLN’s 2008 conference in Portland, OR, October 5-8.. Conference details and information about how to register will be available on the JAN Web site in the near future at www.jan.wvu.org.

USBLN® ANNUAL CONFERENCE: The USBLN Annual Conference & Career Fair will be held at the Marriott Portland October 5-8, in Portland, OR. Additional information will be on their Web site at www.usbln.org.

VIRTUAL ONLINE JOB FAIR: disABLEDperson, Inc. is sponsoring a virtual online job fair for college students with disabilities in California on October 15. For information, visit http://www.disabledperson.com/articles/cal08jobfair.asp.

WID‘S 25TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT: The World Institute on Disability will hold its Ever Widening Circle event on November 7 in the ballroom of the downtown Oakland, CA, Marriott. The evening will feature entertainment by The Blind Boys of Alabama. Corporate sponsorship information can be found at www.wid.org/ever-widening-circle/2008CorporateSponsorshipForm.doc /view. Visit www.wid.org/ever-widening-circle for information on purchasing individual tickets.

ADAP ADVOCACY ASSOCIATION “2008 ACCESS TO CARE AIDS INITIATIVE” CONFERENCE:  Dec. 3-5, 2008. For more information, go to www.adapadvocacyassociation.org.

JAN/USBLN WEBCAST SERIES: The Job Accommodation Network and USBLN have teamed up for the 2008 series. These educational sessions are held the second Tuesday of the month at 2 p.m. Eastern (with the exception of May.) For details, go to www.jan.wvu.edu/webcast.

ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES: Online courses from experts in Disability, Workplace & Employment Support Practice are now available from the Employment and Disability Institute (EDI) at Cornell University’s ILR School. These are online professional development courses and certificate programs in Disability, Workplace & Employment Support Practice. Each course consists of interactive multimedia presentations and downloadable PowerPoint course materials: www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi.

WINDMILLS: The nationally recognized training program WINDMILLS has recently been updated and is distributed exclusively by Damon Brooks Associates. For information, visit their Web site at www.DamonBrooks.com.

DOJ ON-LINE COURSE ON REACHING THE DISABILITY MARKET: The U.S. Department of Justice’s Disability Rights Section’s has an online course for businesses, “Reaching Out to Customers with Disabilities.” The course explains how the ADA applies to businesses in ten short lessons. Putting these lessons into practice enables businesses to both comply with the ADA and attract the disability market. The course is at www.ada.gov/reachingout/intro1.htm.

SPORTS & RECREATION: Disabled Sports USA offers sports and recreation opportunities to people with disabilities at 85 chapters throughout the United States. This includes the “Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project”, a program for service men and women injured in recent conflicts overseas. For more information, a chapter listing and calendar of events, visit www.disabledsportsusa.org.

AT YOUR SERVICE: WELCOMING CUSTOMERS WITH DISABILITIES: A free, accessible, self-paced Web course for people interested in discovering best practices for working with customers who have disabilities. This course has recently been revised and expanded in response to requests from more than 10,000 participants who have taken the course. It was funded with federal dollars for training local public customer service representatives, but has been found to be a valuable training tool for the private sector. Check it out at www.wiawebcourse.org.

JOB DEVELOPMENT WEB COURSE: TRN, Inc. offers Web training covering key principles and hands-on tools for job development for youth and adults with disabilities. The course includes applying marketing principles, creating various job-seeking tools, and developing business partnerships. For information, go to www.trninc.com/entry/welcome2.asp.

WEB SITES

See DFN’s comprehensive list of online resources at www.disabilityfunders.org/disability_links. We welcome your additions! Submit appropriate links to khutchinson@disabilityfunders.org.

SPEAKERS

SOURCE FOR PROFESSIONAL SPEAKERS/TRAINERS WITH DISABILITIES: For businesses and organizations seeking well-known, professional presenters and trainers, including the well-respected “Windmills” training, on disability, visit the Web site for the Damon Brooks Agency at www.damonbrooks.com

RESOLVING ISSUES

AIRLINE TRAVEL: To resolve issues on the spot as they occur or in advance of travel, call the DOT‘s hotline at (800) 778-4838 (voice) or (800) 455-9880 (TTY) from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern time. To have a complaint investigated by DOT, submit complaints by e-mail to airconsumer@ost.dot.gov or by mail to: Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590.