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October is the US Department of Labor's National Disability Employment Awareness Month.  Dating back to around 1945 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) has evolved into a nationwide campaign celebrating the skills and talents of workers with disabilities and what they bring to our workplaces.

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebrated its 26^th anniversary on July 26^th.  While there has certainly been progress, there is undeniably more work to be done.  Several weeks ago, something happened that catapulted this issue into the global spotlight.

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My Facebook newsfeed is full of people sharing this Business Insider article, titled "This regional grocery chain just beat out Trader Joe's to be named best in America." 

The article is about Wegmans, one of my favorite stores, favorite places to be, and alltime favorite brands. The article talks about what a great employer the 88-store company is - mentioning college scholarships, healthcare, and customer service training - but they neglect one very important fact. Wegmans is a model employer when it comes to being inclusive and hiring people with disabilities. 

In fact, just yesterday I received an event notification for a local Employment First Conference happening here at Rochester at the end of the month. I wasn't at all surprised to see that it's being presented by Wegmans. 

The workshops look as if they will be incredibly valuable, with the following topics and titles being presented: 

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Last May, I wrote this blog post about Google's (then) new Impact Challenge - which offered grant money to organizations who wanted to use technology to make the world more accessible for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. 

They've just announced the thirty organization who will collectively receive more than $20 million. 

The winners are located throughout thirteen countries, with the largest grant going to our dear friends and partners at The Arc of the United States.  The 1.4 million they're receiving will be used to create an online tool that will help people with cognitive disabilities find the best apps and assistive technologies to meet their own individual goals.

To check out all of the organizations and projects that received grants and learn more about the initiative, check out the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities page. 
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