MEDIA ADVISORY

Federal disability official to meet with WVU’s Job Accommodation Network

WHO: Kathleen Martinez, the assistant secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy in the U.S. Department of Labor (brief bio below); Job Accommodation Network officials

WHAT: The Job Accommodation Network, a West Virginia University-based agency that provides technical assistance on workplace accommodations and the Americans with Disabilities Act, is hosting Martinez. She and JAN officials will offer brief remarks. During her visit to Morgantown, Martinez will meet with JAN staffers and WVU officials, tour JAN offices and participate in a discussion with students and Office of Disability Services staff.

WHEN: Friday, Sept. 11, 1:20-1:40 p.m.

WHERE: 224 Spruce St.

PARKING: Park in the public lot at the corner of Pleasant and Spruce streets.

MARTINEZ BIO: President Barack Obama nominated Martinez to head the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. As the assistant secretary, she advises the secretary of labor and works with all Department of Labor agencies to lead a comprehensive and coordinated national policy regarding the employment of people with disabilities.

Blind since birth, Martinez is an internationally recognized disability rights leader specializing in employment, asset building, independent living, international development, diversity and gender issues.

She was appointed a member of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Congressionally created agency dedicated to research and projects in conflict management, in 2007. In 2005, Martinez was named executive director of the World Institute on Disability and appointed a public member of the State Department advisory committee on disability and foreign policy.

In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed her to the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency advising the president and Congress on disability policy.

(Photo of Martinez available at http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/)

JOB ACCOMMODATION NETWORK: JAN, a national program housed within the WVU College of Human Resources and Education’s International Center for Disability Information, is one of several Office of Disability Employment Policy programs. For 26 years, JAN has greatly enhanced the job opportunities of people with disabilities by providing information on workplace accommodations and disability-related legislation.

The network’s mission is to facilitate the employment and retention of workers with disabilities by providing employers, employment providers, people with disabilities, their family members and other interested parties with technical assistance on job accommodations, the Americans with Disabilities Act and self-employment opportunities. JAN consultants provide individualized work site accommodation consultation and training.

JAN is a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. For more information, go to http://www.jan.wvu.edu/.

ODEP on the Net: http://www.dol.gov/odep/

-WVU-

jc/9/10/09

WVU News on the Web – http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/

CONTACT: Janey Cink, College of Human Resources and Education
304-293-0224, 304-290-8861, janey.cink@mail.wvu.edu