A Collaborative Community Creation
​ A Network for Community Mentoring at Transition and Beyond

The Disability Champions Project will enhance Special Education transition programming for underserved youth with disabilities (student champions) and support empowerment through the development of specialized mentors (mentor champions) to help create an authentic community of support (network champions).

Vision

The project will reduce the stigma that people with disabilities have one pathway to their future by promoting inclusion, self-advocacy, cultural competency, and the self-determination of outcomes so individuals can create the future they desire. The goal of the Disability Champions Project is twofold; to support individuals and families’ access to service system information and navigation, and develop a sustainable Special Education transition framework with interagency collaboration to  prepare youth with disabilities to plan for and live the lives they want, “one champion, one mentor, many pathways at a time.”

Connecting through Collaboration

University at Albany School of Education

Regional Centers for Workforce Transformation (RCWT)
Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD)
Self-Advocacy Association of NYS (SAANYS)
Disability Empowered Consulting 
Ms. Wheelchair NYS
SLQ Management and Consultant Services
New York Association of Emerging and 
Multicultural Providers (NYAEMP)
SUNY Empire State College, Center for Autism Inclusivity
Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD)
RespectAbility
Positive Exposure
Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE)
Sinergia Inc.
Positive Exposure
NYC schools
Youth Power
Capital Region BOCES
Bring on the Spectrum
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