Nearly $1 million in funding has been awarded by the Kessler Foundation to assist activities that encourage persons with disabilities in the workplace. The Foundation has set aside funds for two types of grants in 2021: Foundation-directed and Community Employment grants.
Since 2005, the Foundation’s Center for Grantmaking has given more than $50 million to nonprofit organizations that aim to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, diversify American workplaces, and increase productivity.
According to Elaine E. Katz, senior vice president of Awards and Communications, three organizations received more than $200,000 in Foundation-directed grants. Foundation-directed grants fund projects that address unemployment and other disability concerns recognized by the Foundation and collaborating agencies, and they are distinguished by Foundation staff involvement.
IN ALEXANDRIA, VA, the SHRM Foundation, Inc., the nonprofit arm of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), received the largest Foundation-directed grant to establish its Employing Abilities @Work certificate programme.
This programme aims to improve the skills of human resource professionals so that they can more successfully recruit qualified persons with disabilities for their businesses.
Katz remarked that companies, particularly HR professionals, frequently lack the required skills, tools, resources, and competencies to hire, train, and retain specially challenged persons. She added that they would ensure that job seeker with impairments is considered among the contenders for open positions with this award. Organizations that support National Trends in Education were financed through two Foundation-directed grants.
National Trends in Disability Employment, a custom study comparing employment information for persons with and without disabilities published semi-monthly by the Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire, was supported by two Foundation-directed grants (UNH).
The Foundation also awarded 21 nonprofit groups serving New Jersey residents with disabilities $750,000 in Community Employment Grants.
The Community Employment Grants for 2021 will pay for various employment-related services, including youth transition programmes, benefits counselling, and skills training for both service providers and job seekers, including those in need of housing.
About Kessler Foundation
The Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit in disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that aims to improve cognition, mobility, and long-term outcomes for people with neurological disabilities caused by brain and spinal cord employment diseases.
For more information, visit https://kesslerfoundation.org
