To celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Mayor’s Committee hosted a brunch at the Canyon Country Community Center with the theme “Celebrating Value and Talent,” to celebrate those with disabilities in the workplace and provide an opportunity for them to network.
Many attended last week’s brunch, including employers, nonprofit organizers and various entrepreneurs. Attendees were able to eat, network and visit the entrepreneurs’ tables and chat and even be able to buy from them.
“This campaign highlights the why is this type of hiring so important,” said Mayor’s Committee Co-Chair Denise Redmond. “And in a time where businesses find it hard to fill positions and retention being challenging, this is an opportunity to learn and open the door to finding dedicated long-term employees with increased retention rates.”
The event’s speakers told of their own experiences with hiring someone with a disability, and how that helped them in the workplace. They advocated that employers should be more willing to give others a chance.
Carmen Bowen, executive director of the Poxy Parent Foundation, went to the brunch the year before, and in her speech she talked about how it inspired her to hire her intern, Jacob Nakashima. She spoke about how much he influenced her as a person and how beneficial he is to the workplace.
“Jacob is one of those people that asks a lot of questions … We have all of these different things that we have to do to make sure all the pieces work together and he found some things that we needed to fix and needed to fix that day,” said Bowen. “I was so proud of him, because without Jacob asking those questions and recognizing that there was an issue, we couldn’t have gotten them fixed.”
The event recognized the various people working the buffet, the vendors and employees with disabilities who helped make this event come together, with approximately 200 people attending the brunch.
“I started this committee in 2001 and we started with a handful of people, with a dream. And you are fulfilling a dream,” said Mayor Laurene Weste. “Not just for the mayor’s committee, but for all the hearts that you are touching, all the lives you are helping reshape all the people that now have a dream to have a job. And nothing’s more important to those people than being able to have a job and be part of making their community fulfilled with everyone’s hopes and dreams.”
