IT Staffing Leveraging Professionals with Disabilities

50 for the Future Award!

I had a great opportunity recently to facilitate  our Breaking Down Barriers forum between a panel of professionals with disabilities working in the technology field and the Illinois Technology Foundation (ITF) board. I also serve on ITF’s board. The Foundation’s mission is “to develop an ample supply of professional talent with the requisite business and technology skills to make significant contributions to the success of Illinois businesses.” This high-level mission is followed by specific, tactical efforts that support the mission such as establishing a robust mentoring program for students, supporting the seamless integration of technology into education, and assuring that business leaders in the region are prepared to hire and engage this pipeline of talent. Fifty for the Future , now accepting submission for qualified students, is a great example of an ITF program that honors students in the Chicago area as future leaders of our technology-centric businesses. Several students associated with the nAblement channel have been honored as 50 for the Future recipients in past years. It’s a great evening for the students being honored, their professors, family and other key supporters, as well as the ITF and the 50 for the Future chairs and committee.

Breaking Down Barriers to Support Technology Education

Breaking Down Barriers (BDB) is a highly participative program that we designed and first conducted in 2005 with the mission of supporting the business community to better “know” the state of disability and its impact on career - from those who do know, professionals with disabilities. Further, the BDB forum is designed to establish enough trust with the audience that they can feel free to ask any questions of the panel members, without the need to be overly sensitive, concerned about the ADA or Title I restrictions, or otherwise reluctant. Having lowered the walls of propriety, appropriateness or political correctness – in this forum for this brief window – it’s amazing how much knowledge transfer takes place,  and how much common ground is identified between audience and panel.

At our ITF program the panel members’ challenges related to vision loss, hearing loss, mobility and communication restrictions, and non-evident disabilities.  Their careers related to application development, application training, quality assurance and technical analysis in a range of industries.  

 The conference room at TechNexus, a multi-purpose “clubhouse” for the Illinois technology community and home to the Illinois Technology Association,  was packed for the program, and our panel and board engaged in a lively, insightful, and heartfelt dialogue focused on the panel members’ educational foundation, the impact of their disabilities – or educators’ perceptions of their disabilities - during their education,  and preparation for careers around technology. The discussion reflected great respect by the board for the hard work and success of these professionals, as well as great insight by the board in posing provocative questions tied to the panel’s educational experiences with keen interest in how the ITF might help to strengthen that experience for current and future students.

The ITF board is comprised of a wide range of senior level executives and educators at the forefront of this mission, including academic and industry CIO’s, educators, private sector principals, and others. Several board members approached the panel following BDB and continued with the give and take after the formal program ended. It was an uplifting Breaking Down Barriers program for me, the panel of professionals and the ITF board, and I am hopeful that it will promote our board’s efforts to help assure that all students, with or without disabilities, are supported and encouraged throughout the educational continuum to strengthen critical technology skills that could lead to a brighter future for all of them.

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