"Given a chance, young people with disabilities will make wonderful employees, and job-shadowing on DMD allows them to actually see what they would have to do to perform on a particular job." Mary Coody, DMD Local Coordinator, Florida.

Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) activities around the country are coordinated locally by our trained grassroots volunteers called Disability Mentoring Coordinators. AAPD recruits, trains, and supports hundreds of DMD Coordinators in every U.S. State and Territory and we are always looking for more talent. You need only work in a position connected to the employment of people with disabilities. Once approved and trained as a DMD Coordinator, you gain access to all of the National Employer Sponsors connected to DMD each year, the national AAPD DMD Programming Staff, national trainings including monthly Coordinator Conference Calls, and all national materials and media.

Want to join the DMD team? Become a Disability Mentoring Day Local Coordinator today!

What is a DMD Coordinator?

Who Can I Serve As a DMD Coordinator?

What Type of DMD Activities Will I Help Coordinate?

What Type of Support Is Available to DMD Coordinators?

Is There a Cost for me or my Organization to Participate in DMD?

How Do Communities Get Involved?

What is the Difference Between a DMD State Coordinator and a DMD Local Coordinator?

What is a DMD Coordinator?

AAPD recruits DMD Coordinators on both the local and state level. State DMD Coordinators serve as a liaison between the national AAPD DMD Programming Staff and the Local Coordinators in various communities around the country. Many State DMD Coordinators support local DMD efforts in their state by connecting employers, participants, and Local Coordinators on a State DMD Committee. For more information about forming a State DMD Committee, contact the AAPD DMD Staff at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Local Coordinators facilitate the actual DMD activities on the ground in their communities, matching students and job seekers with disabilities to local employers interested in mentoring them. These activities include: one-on-one job shadowing, hosting a career fair, hosting a career day, or hosting a DMD Passport to Employment Career Fair. We center these DMD activities around the third Wednesday in each October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, However, there are many different kinds of DMD activities around the country taking place at various times throughout the year to suit local and community calendars.

There is no required size or timing for a successful event -- it could involve just a handful of students or several dozen, one employer or ten-- and can take place at any point during the year. Making an impact in just one person's life makes a difference and lays a foundation for subsequent years.

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Get Involved with DMD?

In order to serve as a DMD Coordinator, you must be affiliated with a local organization that supports the employment of individuals with disabilities. If you and your organization serves and supports individuals with disabilities and you would like to serve as a DMD Coordinator, please complete the 2008 DMD Coordinator Proposal Application.

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What Type of DMD Activities Will I Help Coordinate?

Plan a Career Day
DMD Coordinators invite local employers and professionals to share information about their career areas with students and job seekers with disabilities at schools, universities, or local Centers for Independent Living

Plan a Field Trip
DMD Coordinators organize visits to local employers' job sites where DMD participants tour the businesses, learn about the workplaces, and connect with workplace employees.

Plan On-Site Job Shadowing
DMD Coordinators individually match students and job seekers with disabilities to those professionals serving in careers that interest them.

Host a DMD Passport to Employment Career Fair
This unique event allows students and job seekers to explore career opportunities during a coordinated Job Fair. Using "The DMD Passport," job seekers are encouraged to visit employer booths organized by key career clusters. Using their "Passports," DMD participants can stay connected with employers they meet for ongoing mentoring relationships.

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What Type of Support is Available to Local Coordinators?

The National DMD Team, located at the AAPD national headquarters in Washington, D.C., serves as a support to all local coordinators throughout the country. The National DMD staff provides resources, tools, information, and support to all coordinators to assist them in hosting a successful DMD event and activity. The National DMD staff also connects DMD Coordinators with National Employer Sponsors who serve as mentors and, in many cases, financial, in-kind, or participating employer sponsors of local activities as well. The National DMD staff also trains all new Coordinators via monthly Coordinator Conference Calls and by publication of training materials like the DMD Toolkit.

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Is There a Cost for me or my Organization to Participate in DMD?

There is no fee to participate in Disability Mentoring Day. However, as a DMD Coordinator, certain DMD activities will require specific funding sources. When you become a DMD Coordinator, you should decide what event you would like to organize and whether or not you will need financial support. To learn how to effectively fundraise, take a moment to review the 2008 Conference Call training on Fundraising, located in the DMD Toolkit.

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What is the Difference Between a DMD State Coordinator and a DMD Local Coordinator?

DMD Local Coordinators work directly with students and jobseekers with disabilities to connect them with local employers for Disability Mentoring activities each year. DMD State Coordinators connect DMD Local Coordinators across the state, coordinate the use of resources around a state, and serve as the primary contact and liaison between AAPD and the DMD Coordinators in each community.

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How Do Communities Get Involved?

DMD Coordinators, who play a matchmaking role between students/job-seekers and local employers, are the key to Disability Mentoring Day. Communities wishing to participate in any capacity - as an employer, organization, educator, job-seeker, or student - should review the DMD Coordinators list on DMD Get Involved Webpage to see if there is already someone coordinating in that community.

If you are interested in serving as a DMD Coordinator, please complete the DMD Proposal Form For questions, please contact David Hale, DMD National Program Manager, at 1-800-840-8844 (v/tty).

Upcoming Events:

October 2: DMD Local Coordinator National Conference Call.

October 14th: 2008 DMD National Kick-off, Pittsburg, PA

October 15th: 2008 Disability Mentoring Day!

November 6th: DMD Local Coordinator National Conference Call.

For more information about the 2008 DMD events, please contact the DMD National Team, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 1-800-840-8844, x22. For more information about the Disability Mentoring Day conference calls, resources, and tools please visit Local Coordinator Resources webpage.