JenTen Productions

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Focusing on Employers, Employment and Futures

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As usual, our Hearts of Glass events involved a variety of partners from across the nation including a school district in Washington State, a center for mental health and intellectual disabilities in Texas, and the largest employer in Minnesota.

For our event in Washington with the Washougal School District, our conversation focused on employment and futures. There was a similar focus to our lively conversation with a group of self-advocates in Texas who use services provided by the Transition Support Team at the Nueces Center for Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities.

The Mayo Clinic and its disability-focused employee resource group MaxAbility have an incredible commitment to disability inclusion. For their event, they rallied amazing partners — The Arc Minnesota, Region 10 Quality Council, Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, and Workforce Development, Inc. It was exciting to have Dr. Anjali Bhagra, Director of Mayo Clinic’s Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, on the panel.

Earth Day, Autism Acceptance and Bilingual Programming!

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April was a terrific month for many reasons:

  • We had the pleasure of working with one of the best University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities in the nation, The Nisonger Center at The Ohio State University. Dr. Marc Tassé, Director of the Nisonger Center, said “A great film and a thoughtful discussion.”
  • We held two Hearts of Glass virtual events in our home community — one in English and one in Spanish. This was our first Spanish language event! The programming attracted a wide range of participants from middle and high school students and their parents and teachers to parents and educators of younger children with disabilities. The events were free and open to the entire Teton County Wyoming and Idaho communities thanks to support from First Republic Bank.
  • We held our first Earth Day event. We worked with various groups at Wellesley College including Accessibility and Disability Resources, the Botanic Gardens, the Committee on Lectures and Cultural Events and the Frost Center for the Environment.

A Busy, Busy March

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March is always a busy month for us because of the Hearts of Glass programming tie-in with Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. Our lineup illustrates the diverse range of entities that we work with. Here’s a quick recap of highlights:

  • Syracuse University – an honor to be a part of a highly interdisciplinary discussion hosted by an academic institution leading the way in disability inclusion.
  • PayPal – amazing synergy between our programming and their corporate commitment to disability inclusion, innovation and accessibility; a joy to work with their disability-focused employee resource group, Thrive.
  • Taft College – programming in honor of the 25th anniversary of their Transition to Independent Living Program.
  • New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Planning Council – free-wheeling, fun and engaging conversation with lots of self-advocates.
  • University of Tennessee Health Science Center – multi-faceted conversation engaging the next generation of health care professionals.

Working with the Carolinas

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February presented terrific opportunities to engage groups interested in sustainable, local food production and disability inclusion in both Carolinas. We partnered with the Flagler-Kenan Net Impact Chapter to kick off this year’s FoodCon — Resilience, Creativity, and the Future of Food. Megan Ramage, an MBA student and Net Impact Member at UNC, loved being able to offer a unique experience to conference participants. FoodCon was hosted by her Net Impact Club in collaboration with Duke’s Fuqua’s MBA Food and Agriculture Club and the NC State Net Impact Club. Our other event was spearheaded by some amazing partners — the Center for Disability Resources at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Able South Carolina, Hire Me SC, IMPACT SC, the South Carolina Developmental Disabilities Council and Thrive Upstate. We enjoy seeing all the creative ways that organizations collaborate on our Hearts of Glass events and use them to highlight the amazing things going on in their states.

Finishing the Year Strong – Go, Michigan!

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We ended 2020 on a high note working with the staff of Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) and the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP). The turnout for the virtual event was amazing with almost 300 attending.

Bill Robinson, Director of the BSBP said, “The message I love about Hearts of Glass is summed up by ‘intentional.’ To create a workforce strategy involving partnership, collaboration, trust and community inclusion, you have to be intentional to begin with.” Tina Fullerton, Director of MRS, added “It demonstrates the work that we are all striving to do together — to create inclusive workforce strategies, strategic partnerships and community inclusion.”

A November to Remember — Both Coasts & Alaska

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Another busy month for virtual events! Our Alaska event was a terrific collaboration between five groups with the Mental Health Trust Authority and Vocational Rehabilitation leading the charge. Vertical Harvest’s Crocker Stickney, a relatively recent hire, was a featured panelist. Our west coast event was with USC’s Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab. We love doing events that engage the next generation of entrepreneurs. We did two east coast events — one with the Swearer Center at Brown University in Rhode Island and the other with the Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. Carrie Burkin, Family Experience Coordinator at Strong and parent of a teen with a disability, shared this with us:

I am sometimes skeptical when I hear about documentaries that include people with disabilities. I get concerned that either abilities will be downplayed or played up as  inspiration. I found this film to be an honest portrayal of the struggles and successes of a startup business that is dedicated to being an authentic inclusive workplace. I walked away from the film having a greater understanding of running a business, a new collection of knowledge about hydroponics, a renewed belief that community support is vital, and a restored faith that it may take a village but true inclusive employment can be done.