October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)!
Employment is an essential part of life. It provides dignity that can only be earned through a hard day’s work. It provides independence built through challenge and contribution. The sooner young people start seeing themselves as future wage earners the better. But that’s only the first step.
Join Corey Grant and Jeff Lafata-Hernandez from Triangle, Inc. Disability Services to share their tips on what students and young adults need to get ready and to be ready for meaningful careers.

Jeff Lafata-Hernandez (he/him/his), Executive Director and Founder of Empowering People for Inclusive Communities (EPIC)
Jeff founded EPIC in 2011 to address the unmet needs of transition-aged youth with disabilities. In addition to building EPIC’s youth leadership programs, Jeff utilizes over two decades of experience in disability services, along with his lived experience as a person with a disability, to provide disability justice, inclusion, and anti-ableism expertise through EPIC Training & Consulting.

Corey Grant (he/him/his), Chief of Workforce Initiatives, Triangle Inc.Corey Grant has been with Triangle for 11 years, and has held many positions, including Community Coordinator, Employment Specialist, and Director of Workforce Development. Among many other responsibilities as Chief of Workforce Initiatives, Corey and his team work to provide high school students training and exposure so they can move on from high school and join the workforce as part of their Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) program. Through the department’s Competitive Integrative Employment Services (CIES) work, the team connects adults to jobs, supports adults in advancing in their careers, and helps adults to maintain employment.