Diversity Partners
Overview
Diversity Partners helped professionals find better employment opportunities for people with disabilities through improved business relationships.
Job developers, employment specialists, workforce development staff, and others in the public and private sector who connect people with disabilities to jobs are the “bridge” between labor supply and demand. To be an effective bridge, these professionals must form meaningful partnerships with employers. A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance mutual interests. Ideally, the approach to employers should not just be about making a single placement, it should also be about understanding and meeting the needs of the employer in order to establish a long-term partnership. Universally designed programs help ensure representation of people with disabilities in every partnership with employers, even if the service system also supports other populations.
Project activities
- Combined in-person training, online “toolkits” and on-demand technical assistance to provide meaningful and needed information.
- Created modules to aid direct service personnel to build skills and confidence necessary to improve business acumen, evaluate and leverage labor market demands, and effectively serve job seekers with disabilities.
- Offered templates that organization leaders could use to promote and sustain organizational changes to improve business relationships and to build more cross-sector partnerships.
Contact information
Diversity Partners
Cornell University
201 Dolgen Hall Ithaca NY 14853
Voice: 1-888-296-3202
TTY: 607-255-2891
Funding agencies
Principal investigator
Collaborating partners
The Diversity Partners advisory panel included a diverse team of professionals from employers, disability organizations, disability service agencies, and workforce development agencies.