From the White House: “U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) Chair Jenny Yang spoke on Tuesday at a White House event celebrating ‘Champions of Change‘ who are doing extraordinary work to hire, retain, and promote people with disabilities in their local communities and throughout the nation. The event was held in conjunction with National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which is held each October to renew the nation’s commitment to an American workforce that extends opportunities to all, including people with disabilities. The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature individuals who are nominated by their communities for making a difference on a particular issue.
‘There are many qualified people with disabilities who want to contribute their talents, but they can’t get a job or advance in their career,’ said EEOC Chair Yang. ‘To change this, we need to engage more people to become as passionate about employing people with disabilities as are the champions we recognize today. This afternoon, each of us has seen the tremendous impact that one individual, one company or one government agency can have to eliminate barriers to employment for people with disabilities.’
Among those who were honored was New York’s John Robinson. According to the White House website, “John Robinson is Managing Partner and CEO of Our Ability, a company owned and operated by people with disabilities to support people with disabilities. John has made it his life’s work to ensure that individuals with disabilities receive equal employment benefits and opportunities. Over the past five years, Our Ability has worked with individuals, non-profits, and large corporations to facilitate better employment outcomes for those with disabilities. Now, John is helping build a unique web portal that will help individuals with disabilities find employment.”
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