2007 NOD Annual Report

National EmployAbility Partnership (NEP)

The National EmployAbility Partnership (NEP) acts as a catalyst for change, fostering innovative strategies that seek to ensure free, full, and equal access to the workplace. Prompted by the employment rate for working age Americans with disabilities—which continues to hover around 35 percent, virtually unchanged since World War II—NOD launched the EmployAbility Partnership in 2006. Through NEP, NOD collaborates with the business, government, and job training sectors to transform this workforce reality for the more than 35 million working-age Americans living with disabilities. The EmployAbility strategy is grounded in three key components:

• Programs: on-the-ground program experience informs our efforts to create changes in policy, practice, and perception about the positive contribution that people with disabilities can make to the workforce.
• Communications: sharing what works with employers, jobseekers, public agencies, service providers and, over time, the American public.
• Policy: advocating for supportive public policies that reward—rather than disincentivize—work for people with disabilities.

Wounded Warrior Careers Project

In January 2007, NOD and the U.S. Army signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch Army Wounded Warrior (AW2) Careers. This national demonstration project is a privately funded collaboration designed to facilitate career paths for some of America's most profoundly injured men and women returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these veterans are young men and women, fresh out of high school, with little labor market experience outside the military. The careers they envisioned must be remade at the same time as they remake their lives in general and acquire a host of new life skills to accommodate their disabilities.

The AW2 Careers demonstration aims to identify and develop effective ways of helping severely-injured veterans and their family members acquire the education and skills, support services, and access to employment opportunities needed to resume or embark on new careers. In addition, NOD will use lessons from the pilot to help the Army and its allies improve career services for wounded veterans throughout the nation. In 2007, to support the Army's broader careers initiative, NOD produced a careers-focused field manual for use by Army caseworkers serving 2,500 severely injured soldiers and their families nationwide. Since executing our Memorandum of Understanding with the Army, NOD has secured more than $3 million in private funds for the demonstration project.

Informed by interviews with over 200 recent veterans and family members, NOD completed the design of the program and established evaluation systems, including a new management information system to gather and collect vital soldier data. The Dallas Metroplex was selected as the first demonstration site and began operations in 2007, with the remaining demonstration sites planned for launch in Colorado and North Carolina in 2008.

Building Bridges to Employment

One of the major findings of NOD's initial reconnaissance of employment issues was that both sides of the labor market for people with disabilities—that is, employers and providers of disability employment services—report dissatisfaction with their relationship. Over the long-term, NOD is committed to creating programs and initiatives to address this disconnect in the labor market for people with disabilities. Building Bridges to Employment aims to cement a better relationship between the supply and demand sides of the labor market, bringing workforce-development specialists together with employers to improve coordination and find ways of filling significantly more job vacancies from the pool of well-qualified applicants with disabilities.

In November 2007, NOD took a first step on this front by convening a small group of leading employers and providers of employment services to people with disabilities to discuss proactive measures aimed at bridging this disconnect. At the overbooked conference, corporate representatives (from Wal-Mart Stores, Walgreens, Wachovia Corporation, Bear Stearns, Home Depot, Marriott) and service providers surfaced a number of promising program opportunities that NOD will pursue in the next phase of work.

The Start on Success Program

In 1994, NOD launched the Start on Success program (SOS) to help prepare special education students—particularly those from racial or ethnic minorities and low-income, urban families—for competitive employment. Through SOS, NOD partners with school systems and private employers to provide paid work experience, mentorship, and career preparation for high school students with disabilities.

Under the direction of NOD Vice Chair Charles Dey, SOS has served more than 2,000 students over the past 14 years. SOS boasts an 85 percent success rate—compared with 30 percent job placement for other inner-city, mostly minority, high school student with disabilities. Currently, over 315 students participate in the SOS program at 50 worksites in 11 cities involving 31 schools.

With the close of the 2006-2007 academic year in New Orleans, NOD performed the first evaluation of students' in-school outcomes. The evaluation showed renewed interest in classes among SOS participants, evidenced by increased attendance from the first to second semester (when attendance usually drops) of between 30 and 50 percent. Program participants also demonstrated improved grade point averages and a decrease in suspensions from thirteen in the first semester to only one in the second.

In 2007, NOD laid the foundation for major program growth, raising over $500,000 for program expansion, which enabled the hiring of the first full-time SOS National Program Director in early 2008. Major plans are underway to expand current SOS programs, launch new sites in several major cities, and implement an outcome-tracking system to document this innovative program's ongoing success.

OUR SPONSORS

National EmployAbility Partnership:

Mr. Stephen Feinberg & Ms. Susan Foote

Henry H. Kessler Foundation, Inc.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Queenan, Jr. and Friends

Mr. Jeffrey P. Reich

Mr. & Mrs. John and Pat Rosenwald

UPS

Mr. Frederick Whittemore

Army Wounded Warrior Careers Project:

Dartmouth College Class of 1952

El Pomar Foundation

Herbert J. Feinzig and Kathleen W. McGinniss-Feinzig Advised Fund at Aspen Community Foundation

Ford Foundation

Mark and Robyn Hudgens Advised Fund of Aspen Community Foundation

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation

Krat Family Advised Fund at Aspen Community Foundation

Mascotte Family Fund at Aspen Community Foundation

The Meadows Foundation, Inc.

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Joyce and Donald Rumsfeld Foundation

TRIAD Fund of the Dallas Foundation

Wallace Family Advised Fund at Aspen Community Foundation

Start on Success Program:

Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund

Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey

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Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI)

Continued Leadership and Presence

The Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI), organized immediately after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, helps communities, emergency planners and responders and people with disabilities properly prepare for all man-made and natural disasters. The Emergency Preparedness Initiative has taken a leadership role at the national policy level in Washington, DC. Highlights of this program’s accomplishments for 2007 include: Director appointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Advisory Council, expanding the EPI Technical Assistance and Outreach Center, integrating NOD’s Religion and Disability program into EPI via “Congregations Who Care-Prepare”, delivering personal preparedness training to the Gulf coast, establishing an expanded role with Wal-Mart and its efforts to prepare citizens with disabilities, and co-hosted the second annual emergency preparedness conference with Homeland Defense Journal.

FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison and EPI Director Hilary Styron at the inaugural meeting and swearing-in ceremony of the FEMA National Advisory Council, October 11, 2007. Ms. Styron was appointed to represent preparedness issues for people with disabilities and special needs. National Recognition

National Recognition

In June, FEMA announced the EPI director Hilary Styron had been appointed to serve on the agency's National Advisory Council (NAC). The Council advises the Administrator of FEMA on all aspects of preparedness and emergency management in an effort to ensure close coordination with its partners across the country. Ms. Styron serves on the NAC representing the issues surrounding disabilities and special-needs.

Coordinating with NOD Programs

EPI Director Hilary Styron accepts a third place media award for the "Congregations Who Care-Prepare" project at the International Association of Emergency Managers Annual Conference from Beth Armstrong, Executive Director. This project is produced jointly by EPI and NOD's Religion and Disability Program.The Emergency Preparedness Initiative coordinates with the Community Partnership Program and National Partnership Program through dissemination of emergency preparedness information via these networks. The Accessible America Award now includes a component specific to emergency preparedness efforts by the community and how they are geared towards people with disabilities.

The Emergency Preparedness Initiative also works with NOD’s Religion and Disability Program (R&DP) on a project entitled “Congregations Who Care - Prepare.” Faith-based organizations play a critical role in disaster response and in reaching their local communities. Providing preparedness information through the R&DP will help faith-based groups protect their members and community and provide them with specific steps that can and should be taken before, during and after an emergency.

This year the “Congregations Who Care-Prepare” project was awarded a 3rd place media award at the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Annual Conference held in Reno, Nevada.

Meeting the Need for Personal Preparedness for People with Disabilities

Through a grant from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, the Emergency Preparedness Initiative will be conducting on-the-ground training in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama to educate people with disabilities on personal preparedness, and to educate emergency management personnel on the unique needs of people with disabilities during disasters.

While much of the groundwork for this project was completed in early 2007, the field delivery of training for people with disabilities began in the fall of 2007 and continued into early 2008. By March 2008, over 100 instructors had been trained across all three states. By the end of July 2008, over 2,000 individuals with disabilities will have received personal preparedness training. This remains the only disability-specific emergency preparedness training being conducted anywhere in the United States.

Technical Assistance and Outreach Center Expands Role

Through funding from Alcoa Foundation, American International Group, and the J.C. Penney Fund, EPI launched the Technical Assistance and Outreach Center to serve as a national resource for responders, planners and government officials at all levels and for the disability community. In 2007, the project was expanded to provide outreach as well, and received over 5,000 email requests for assistance and outreach.

The Emergency Preparedness Initiative staff provides technical assistance to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Congress, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Department of Defense, the White House, the American Red Cross, and other organizations, and has made over 250 public appearances during 2007 alone.

In May, Director Styron traveled to Amsterdam to deliver an address to the World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine. This five-day conference brought together international leaders in disaster response to discuss issues and reach common resolution on issues each nation is faced with turning disasters. Ms. Styron spoke on response and recovery issues for people with disabilities and vulnerable populations.

Collaborating to Get Out the Message on Preparedness

EPI Director Hilary Styron with Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. and employees of the Department of Public Health and Environment launch the statewide "What If Colorado" preparedness campaign. At the end of 2007, EPI collaborated with Wal-Mart and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to distributed personal preparedness kits from all Wal-Mart and Sam's Club locations across the state to people with disabilities. From March 1-9, 2008, local public health departments staffed display tables and handed out preparedness materials to shoppers and answered questions. This project was viewed by federal agencies as a potential model for future efforts nationwide.

Throughout 2007 EPI worked with the American National Standards Institute and the National Fire Protection Association to develop a framework that will be used to set standards for planning in the emergency management field and how the industry serves people with disabilities and special needs. EPI and the National Fire Protection Association will lead the charge on this effort and create a blue-ribbon panel of experts who will deal with such issues as functional and medical support sheltering, alert and notification, and transportation and evacuation. The first meeting of experts will take place in the fall of 2008.

EPI held its second conference with Homeland Defense Journal in January 2008. This conference titled “The Disability and Special Needs Technical Assistance Conference” was held in Washington, DC, and was standing room only with over 300 people in attendance. The conference brought together federal, state, local, and private sector experts to discuss day-to-day challenges in planning for their vulnerable populations. Information provided was applicable to the workplace, and will be of value to private businesses as well as large corporations interested in implementing effective preparedness plans that meet the needs of their employees.

SPONSORS

Alcoa Foundation

American International Group

Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund

Citigroup

J.C. Penney Fund

Wal-Mart

UPS

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World Committee on Disability

FDR International Disability Award

Polish President Lech Kaczynski (left) receives the 2006 FDR International Disability Award from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, granddaughter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.Since 1995, NOD’s international arm, the World Committee on Disability, has partnered with the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute to present the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award to a member nation of the United Nations. The winning country is selected for achievements in promoting and implementing the spirit and intent of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In 2006, the World Committee on Disability and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute presented the ninth Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award to President Lech Kaczynski on behalf of his nation of Poland.

At the FDR Award ceremony, which was held at the UN, President Kaczynski accepted a bust of President Roosevelt created by the noted sculptor Jo Davidson, and $50,000 for a non-governmental disability organization in Poland. In addition, the World Committee and Roosevelt Institute presented UN Secretary General Kofi Annan with a gift of thanks for his unwavering support of the FDR Award program.

In 2007, New Zealand was selected as the 10th recipient of the FDR Award. The UN ceremony to honor New Zealand will take place May 6, 2008.

Past FDR Award Winners

Republic of Poland

Kingdom of Jordan

Republic of Italy

Republic of Ecuador

Kingdom of Thailand

Republic of Hungary

Ireland

Canada

Republic of South Korea

SPONSOR

American International Group

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Community Partnership Program (CPP)

Local Officials Stimulate Change

The Community Partnership Program (CPP) has worked with more than 4,000 mayors and chief elected officials in cities towns and counties since the program’s formation in 1982. It is in the communities that elected leaders can direct the local agenda to include programs and services that enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Many mayors take justifiable pride in creating what they believe to be the most livable, dynamic and desirable cities in the nation. Local government leaders must act as a responsive force that makes possible the pursuit of prosperity and opportunity for all citizens, including those with disabilities.

Accessible America Award Recognizes Innovations in Inclusive Communities

The Accessible America Award is an annual awards competition open to communities of all sizes across the nation. The Award identifies best practices that advance the economic, cultural and social vitality that people with disabilities represent. NOD promotes the replication of these best practices through the Community Partnership Program.

The 2007 winner, Houston, Texas has created innovative programs and policies illustrating their beliefs that their communities are better places for all when people with disabilities are included and universal design principles are emphasized. Houston’s comprehensive approach to inclusion encompasses transportation, with efforts to increase accessible taxi services and preserve and promote accessible parking,

As part of its increasing focus on increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities, Houston was also commended for its efforts, as evidenced by the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities’ Business Partnership Breakfast which brought together employers and citizens with disabilities to make the business case for increasing employment opportunities. Houston was also cited for its inclusive approach to emergency planning. Houston provides excellent examples of true access for all and have created strategies that other communities can replicate.

Accessible America Award winners include: Berkeley, California, Chicago, Illinois (2006); Cambridge, Massachusetts (2005); West Hollywood, California (2005); Austin, Texas (2005); Pasadena, California (2004); Phoenix, Arizona (2003); Irvine, California (2002); and Venice, Florida (20 01).

SPONSORS

Accessible America:

AARP

UPS

The Chrysler Foundation

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National Partnership Program (NPP)

National Partners Commit to Full Participation for All

The National Partnership Program (NPP) includes 40 influential non-disability organizations. NPP members are offered a variety of project options that include the possibility of enlisting their communities in the Community Partnership Program, or engaging the unique expertise of the Emergency Preparedness Initiative. National Partners conduct a good deal of advocacy work and can use Religion & Disability Program evaluation tools in congregations in communities where they operate and their members live.

NOD supports the recognition of the work of NPP member chapters to include people with disabilities in their programs, employment efforts and volunteer opportunities. In 2007, thanks to the generous support of Prudential Financial, NPP member organizations were able to compete for five $2,000 prizes in recognition of their disability-related programming. Winning organizations and chapters were:

Camp Fire USA: Puget Sound Council

Girl Scouts of the USA: Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital

National Catholic Partnership on Disability: The Archdiocese of Dubuque

Telecom Pioneers: Qwest Pioneers: Denver, Colorado

National Partner Organizations

American Association of Retired Persons

American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging

American Association of Museums

American Association of University Women

American Bar Association

American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees

American Institute of Architects

American Lawyers Auxiliary

American Legion Auxiliary

American Library Association

American Red Cross

American Society of Association Executives

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Boy Scouts of America

Boys and Girls Clubs of America

Camp Fire USA

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

General Federation of Women’s Clubs

Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.

League of Women Voters of the United States

National 4-H Council

National Association of Secondary School Principals

National Association of Counties

National Association of Elementary School Principals

National Association of Home Builders

National Association of Towns and Townships

National Catholic Partnership on Disability

National Foundation for Women Legislators

National School Boards Association

Older Women’s League

Pilot International Foundation

Sister Cities International

Telecom Pioneers of America

The American Legion

The Child Welfare League of America

The United States Conference of Mayors

Travelers Aid International

Women in Community Service

YMCA of the USA

YWCA of the USA

SPONSOR

Prudential Financial, Inc.

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Religion & Disability Program

“Advocacy is the fine art of nudging people forward on a path they may not have considered.” -Ginny Thornburgh, founder and director of the NOD Religion and Disability Program

Leadership to Ensure a Full Life of Faith for All

For 19 years, the Religion and Disability Program (R&DP) has been a leading force in the United States, working with congregations to ensure inclusion of people with all types of disabilities. Architecture and long-held attitudes often prevent people with disabilities from feeling part of the religious community and sharing their gifts and talents.

The Religion and Disability Program coordinates “That All May Worship” conferences focused on inclusion (27 conferences held in 2007) and offers “how to” guides including That All May Worship, Loving Justice, and From Barriers to Bridges. Through the Accessible Congregations Campaign, congregations commit to removing barriers that exclude people with disabilities from full and active participation. The more than 2,250 congregations enrolled in the campaign are listed at http://www.nod.org/religion. In 2007, the Religion and Disability Program debuted a quarterly newsletter containing useful resources and information that is now being placed directly in the hands of advocates for religious access across the country.

New Program Initiatives that Address New Challenges

In recent years, the R&DP has added new program elements to further promote the understanding of disability issues in the religious community. The NOD Interfaith Directory of Religious Leaders with Disabilities, available on the NOD website, fosters communication between the religious community and the disability community. The Seminary Project helps seminaries welcome people with disabilities and better equip future religious leaders to serve, and serve with, children and adults with disabilities. The Congregations Who Care – Prepare project, a partnership with NOD’s Emergency Preparedness Initiative, advises congregations on how to assist people with disabilities in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.

SPONSORS

Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

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Supporters

New Millenium Leaders

Dallas Foundation

Bruce & Lueza Gelb

C. Boyden Gray

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The Henry H. Kessler Foundation

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Frederick B. Whittemore

Patrons

Alcoa Foundation

American International Group, Inc.

The Charles Engelhard Foundation

El Pomar Foundation

Stephen L. Feinberg

Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Jeffrey P. Reich

John & Pat Rosenwald

Charles J. & Jo Ann Queenan, Jr.

UPS

Benefactors

AARP

American Red Cross

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Dartmouth College Class of 1952 Alan Reich Legacy Fund

The Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation

Eastman Kodak Company

The Llura and Gordon Gund Foundation

Stephen & Ellie Hammerman

Michael & Helen Hughes

JC Penney Company Fund, Inc.

The McGraw-Hill Companies

New England Patriots Foundation

PRIMEDIA/MotorTrend

Kenneth & Ellen Roman

The McGraw-Hill Companies

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Sponsors

Altria Group, Inc.

Baker Botts L.L.P

Robert D. Brace

The Chrysler Foundation

Citigroup, Inc.

Michael & Jane Deland

Ernst & Young LLP

Ted Frankenbach

Johnson & Johnson

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Laurie & Michael Paternoster

Pepco Holdings, Inc.

Prudential Financial

Thomas J. Ridge

Sodexho, Inc. & Affiliates

Well Point/Anthem Blue Cross BlueShield

John C. Whitehead

Partners

Joseph A. Baute, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Burns

John & Linda Derrick

Gregory Hughes

Greater Phoenix Foundation

Pitney Bowes

XEROX

Associates

The Anheuser-Busch Companies

The Aspen Community Foundation

Philip E. Beekman

The Blanck Family Foundation

CIT Group, Inc.

W.R. Grace Foundation, Inc.

Mr. & Mrs. Robert D. Hall

KeySpan Corporation

Ingrid Kirkland

William P. Kupper, Jr.

Glen and Diane Meakem Foundation

Ingrid Kirkland

David & Kimberly Roosevelt

Rockwell Collins

Nancy Starnes

Humphrey Taylor

W. Reid Thompson

Lucy R. Waletzky

Betty Willingham

Zischeke Stonewall Fund

Friends

Arlene & Philip Anns

Henry Betts

Robert & Renae Cohen

Frank S. Deland, III

Charles and Phoebe Dey

Marcel & Charlotte Durot

John D. Firestone

Daniel T. Krabill

Gay Forsythe Reich

Alan & Elizabeth Rubin

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Board of Directors

HONORARY CHAIRMAN

President George H.W. Bush

DIRECTORS

Governor Tom Ridge -- Chairman

Michael R. Deland -- President

Arlene E. Anns -- Former Publisher, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Philip E. Beekman -- Retired CEO, Hook SupeRx, Inc.

Henry B. Betts, M.D. -- Past President/Medical Director, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

Peter D. Blanck, Ph. D. -- Chairman, Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University

Bertram S. Brown, M.D. -- Forensic Medical Advisory Services

John M. Derrick, Jr. -- Former Chairman and CEO, Potomac Electric Power Company

Richard M. DeVos --NOD Founding Chairman, Retired President, Amway Corp.

Charles F. Dey -- Chairman, NOD National, EmployAbility Partnership

Brooke Ellison -- Author and Disability Advocate

Stephen L. Feinberg -- Chairman and CEO, Dorsar Industries

John D. Firestone -- Partner, Secor Group

Hon. Bruce Gelb -- Former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium

Hon. Dan Glickman -- President and CEO, The Motion Picture Association of America

Robert David Hall -- Actor and Disability Advocate

Stephen L. Hammerman -- Retired Deputy Commissioner, New York City Police Department

I. King Jordan, Ph. D. -- Retired President, Gallaudet University

William P. Kupper, Jr. -- President, BusinessWeek Group

Harold McGraw, III -- Chairman, President and CEO, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Sue Oliver -- Senior Vice President of People, Wal-Mart Stores, USA

Jeffrey P. Reich -- President and CEO, Bridge Street Capital Management

Gay Forsythe Reich -- NOD Honorary Founder

Kenneth Roman -- Former Chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather

David A. Roosevelt -- Morgan Stanley

E. John Rosenwald, Jr. -- Vice Chairman, Bear Stearns & Co. Inc.

Alan Rubin -- Former President, National Park Foundation

Richard J. Salem, Esq. -- Chairman, Enable America, PA

Humphrey Taylor -- Chairman, The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive, Inc.

Robert J. Saner II Esq., Counsel -- Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville, P.C.

CONGRESSIONAL SPONSORS

Sen. Judd Gregg, NH

Sen. Tom Harkin, IA

Sen. Daniel Inouye, HI

Sen. Edward Kennedy, MA

Rep. Michael N. Castle, DE

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, MD

Rep. Dale Kildee, MI

Rep. James R. Langevin, RI

Rep. Tom Lantos, CA

Rep. Henry Waxman, CA