More than 100 members of the business community Thursday came to College of the Canyons for the Santa Clarita Valley Mayor’s Committee Spring Brunch, which celebrated successes in supporting developmentally disabled individuals with job training and opportunities.
“Our focus is really just sharing success stories of what preparation for employment and employment for individuals with disabilities looks like in Santa Clarita,” said Tony Pennay, chief program and innovation officer for New Horizons, and a co-chair of the coalition that works to support that goal, the SCV Mayor’s Committee. 4
The group has 18 members, including organizations like New Horizons, a nonprofit that offers job training and placement, education, counseling and residential services, among others, and Carousel Ranch, run by co-chair and co-founder Denise Redmond. The local nonprofit offers therapeutic horseback riding for special needs children among its services.
Pennay mentioned some of the traditional obstacles faced by members of the developmentally disabled community, such as discrimination over concern, and how the event can help change that narrative.
“I think some employers can sometimes be hesitant; they worry about what it might mean to have someone with a disability, because they oftentimes will focus on what they might not be able to do, as opposed to what they can do,” Pennay said. “And so bringing together people in an environment like this gives an opportunity to show just the amazing contributions that people can make that make sense, not just from, you know, kind of the heart of doing the right thing, but actually a business perspective, too.”
Jenny Lane, a district manager for Starbucks — whose introduction from Redmond included a humblebrag that Lane has been with Starbucks out here since when there was only one — talked about how the work has benefitted her company’s professional development.
Lane, who also has served as national and regional co-chair for Starbucks’ Pan-Asian Partner Network, an employee resource group for the Fortune 500 brewer, said it taught listening, as well as leadership style for some that they didn’t know they had.
“It taught them a lot of patience, and long and short of it — it taught them a lot of leadership skills that were really untapped,” Lane said, adding that some of the members of her team have been diagnosed with autism as adults. “And some of them, because of the program and the skills that my managers learned, they were able to actually support development in a different way within their own coffee houses.”
She said that’s led to promotional opportunities that might not have been there, including supervisory roles, had Starbucks not participated in Ready to Work Academy at College of the Canyons, a partnership with Carousel Ranch that provides vocational training.
“When we create opportunities for these individuals of all abilities, we strengthen not only our workforce, but we strengthen our society, our community,” said Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste, during her comments at the brunch. “I want to extend my gratitude to the job developers. They make a difference.”
