Earlier this year, I was in the Andes mountains in a remote village in Peru. I was there to take a plunge in the freezing but healing waters of the Sacred Black Lagoon. Later that day, I spent some time with a local shaman who was an elderly man who didn't speak english. We sat in a dark, old room with a shrine. He began reciting his prayers and after a long pause began to tell me about my life. I tried to keep up using google translate on my phone. He said many things to me about my life that were accurate. He described my work and said 'You are a professor? You teach'. He followed it up with, 'There are more out there and they are coming'. I didn't know how to react. More? Where? How?
My team and I had kicked off 2024 feeling optimistic about new opportunities and doors opening for us. But for reasons outside of our control, many of these opportunities did not materialize. I was on the verge of hopelessness when I went on this trip. In a way, I was looking for some answers. I needed a break to think about what I needed to do differently to keep the wheels of this work turning.
Today, I am beyond excited to tell you that the shaman in the mountains was right. There are more and they are here! In addition to nurturing and growing the talented individuals on my team today, I have been working diligently and eagerly to connect with new disabled talent and their families to expand the impact of our work.
The Accidental Ally is dedicated to creating career pathways for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Our work has two main focuses: training these individuals to develop marketable skills and collaborating with employers to create work opportunities where they can learn and grow. We are not a nonprofit, recruiting or staffing agency, or disability services provider. Instead, we operate as a cost-neutral business, funded by employers who partner with us to establish work programs specifically designed for these individuals. We have successfully executed several impactful work programs with various tech companies.
Each summer, we invite new individuals with disabilities to join our team through an internship program. This program allows us to grow our team and explore ways to expand the impact of our work. This year, we are thrilled to have a groundbreaking internship with a record number of interns. The interns will engage in team projects across four tracks: Gen AI in Retail, Animation, Filmmaking, and Digital Marketing.
We thank everyone for your ongoing support and please stay tuned for updates as we embark on this exciting ride!
Please enjoy this 'Coming Soon' video.
Video description - A coming soon video with music, a gold confetti background. Video description in the comments.
Coming Soon. Creating career pathways for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Bridging the gap with training and opportunities for an inclusive workforce, a groundbreaking summer internship to nurture and grow disabled talent and expand their horizons, real skills, real impact with team projects in Gen AI, Digital Marketing, Animation and Filmmaking. We are welcoming 7 interns this summer. We are unleashing the shift from disability to discovering ability. Are you ready? July 8 to August 10, 2024. Accidental Ally logo.
11 сен 2024