Alumni, Graduate Student, & Partner Leadership Advancing Deaf and Disability Talent and Inclusion
Program Welcome
MOJO #17 celebrates the transformative action of IDMA alumni, graduate students, and partners in advancing deaf leadership in the International Development field, and expanding the talent pool within the ID and broader workforce. In this issue you will meet ID practitioners at the forefront of innovation on deaf- and disability-centered initiatives including: project design and implementation, development and dissemination of vital information resources, advancing frameworks for establishing an industry standard on funding initiatives for inclusion, and activities aimed at growing the number of international service positions led by deaf practitioners. We hope you enjoy MOJO #17!
MORE HERE
Audrey Cooper (Associate Professor & Program Director)
Sonia Holzman (IDMA Program Specialist & Outreach Liaison)
Neha Balachandran (Graduate Assistant)
IDMA Alumnus & Partner Spotlight
InterAction Forum 2.1 Awards for Outstanding Leaders
InterAction CEO Sam Worthington Image:
Congratulations to FHI360 for being the co-recipients of the 2021 InterAction Award for Outstanding Leaders in Disability Inclusion (with MADRE)!
In the award remarks, InterAction CEO Sam Worthington highlighted the following FHI360 achievements:
“FHI360 has created multiple resources to support disability inclusion, and these include: A ‘Disability Inclusion 101’ training for staff and partners; a disability inclusion toolkit for project design and a reasonable accommodation budgeting process, and a Disability Inclusion Technical Officer lodged in their headquarters. FHI360 has also supported disability inclusion across multiple projects in creating a new tool for USAID on the advancement of economic empowerment of women with disabilities, supporting a center for parents and information resources, and advancing disability inclusion with multiple disabled people’s organizations in the USAID Civil Society and Media Project in Myanmar. InterAction congratulates Habtamu Buli, Disability Inclusion Technical Officer, and Elise Young, Senior Technical Advisor in Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, and all of you at FHI360.”
The award for FHI360 begins around 8:35 minute mark, and includes statements by Habtamu Buli and Elise Young.
Habtamu Buli (G ’19, IDMA) conducted his graduate internship with FHI360 under the mentorship of Elsie Young, and has since become the organization’s first Disability Inclusion Technical Officer.
InterAction “is the largest US alliance of international nongovernmental organizations focused on people around the world." See InterAction website: https://www.interaction.org
Upcoming Event - May 4, 2021
IDMA Graduate Internship Panel
IMAGE: Title slide shows an image of earth taken from outer space, with North America in the foreground (land mass represented in greens and browns), blue oceans on all sides, and stars in the background. Title slide reads "IDMA Student-Event Announcement!" in white lettering, and displays the Youtube red PLAY button with white arrow.
In March 2020, IDMA graduate students joined tens of thousands of students worldwide to quickly transition from physical to remote internships. Despite the demands of the remote platform and loss of direct interaction in organization sites, IDMA students adapted to new structures, guided their organizations in creating more inclusive platforms for field placements and beyond, and carried out projects in their various specializations and project sectors. They also generated insights and lessons learned for expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion in all working environments.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Chrissie:
Hello all! The IDMA students will host a panel soon. What is this panel about? Internship panel!
We will explain our challenges, experiences, and overcoming barriers, especially during the COVID pandemic.
Now, this is a good opportunity for all of you to come and learn about what internships in international development are all about!
Hanna:
When is the panel happening? On Tuesday, May 4 2021 at 12-1:30 pm EST.
We will provide automatic captioning and ASL interpretation.
The Zoom meeting ID is 822 0264 0140.
If you have any questions or need more accommodations, please contact Dr. Audrey Cooper by Friday, April 30th.
For questions and accommodations, please contact IDMA Program Director Dr. Audrey Cooper by April 30, 2021 at audrey.cooper@gallaudet.edu.
Dark blue flyer with event information text along the right side and to the left has column of four circular images of graduate student headshots with their names and internship sites listed to the right of each photo. Text at the top: JOIN US and learn more about graduate internship experiences this semester! International Development Internship Panel. Date: May 4th, 2021. Time: 12pm-1:30pm EST. Accessibility: auto-generated captioning and ASL interpreters included. Zoom Meeting ID: 82202650140. For questions and accommodations, please contact Dr. Audrey Cooper by Friday, April 30, 2021 at audrey.cooper@gallaudet.edu. Gallaudet logo in bottom right corner. Student photos in order: Nageena Ahmadzai, FHI360. Image: Nageena Ahmadzai stands on white background, smiling towards the camera. She has shoulder-length caramel hair and wears a navy-blue crewneck T-shirt with “Gallaudet/University” displayed on the chest. Paul Kozak, Discovering Deaf Worlds. Image: White man with medium curly black hair. He is wearing a blue plaid flannel shirt. He is standing behind the rock walls on a cloudy, fall day. Gallaudet's College Hall and Chapel Hall can be seen in the background. The background shifts out of focus. Chrissie Marshall, InterAction. Image: There are yellow flowers blossoming all over distinctly in the blurry background. Chrissie, a white blond-haired woman with glasses is smiling directly at camera with blurry background. The photo is black and white. Hanna Royer, The Arc Oregon. IMAGE: White woman with long brown hair an eyeglasses, smiling, wearing light grey cowl-neck sweater and standing with arms crossed against a backdrop of trees (trees out of focus).
IDMA Graduate Internship Panelist Bios
Nageena Ahmadzai
Nageena is currently pursuing a dual master’s degree in International Development and Sign Language Education. She strives to advocate for human rights, emphasizing Sign Language rights, Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI), inclusive education, and disability rights. She conducted her practicum with Chemonics International, and is currently conducting an internship with FHI360.
IMAGE: Nageena Ahmadzai stands on white background, smiling towards the camera. She has shoulder-length caramel hair and wears a navy-blue crewneck T-shirt with “Gallaudet/University” displayed on the chest.
Paul Kozak Paul Kozak is a third year International Development student. During his time in the IDMA program, he did his practicum at Chemonics International with ChemABLE and Executive Team and is currently doing his internship with Discovering Deaf Worlds. He strives to continue his international development and social services career working with families and youth. He would like to see that the families and youth have access to the best resources and information possible to thrive anywhere.
IMAGE: White man with medium curly black hair. He is wearing a blue plaid flannel shirt. He is standing behind the rock walls on a cloudy, fall day. Gallaudet's College Hall and Chapel Hall can be seen in the background. The background shifts out of focus.
Christine Marshall (she, hers)
Raised in Vancouver, Canada, now a dual transplant in Washington, D.C. She has a bachelor's in International Studies and a minor in Deaf Studies from Gallaudet University. She is graduating this May 2021 with a Masters's in International Development. Her career interests are human rights-based approaches in reducing social inequality with an emphasis on disability justice, humanitarian responses, and quality of education.
IMAGE: There are yellow flowers blossoming all over distinctly in the blurry background. Chrissie, a white blond-haired woman with blue glasses is smiling directly. She is wearing a forest green blouse and a handmade yin-yang necklace.
Hanna Royer
Hanna Royer is a second year International Development student with passions for advocating for human rights and disability rights, conflict resolution/peacekeeping in the Middle East region, refugees, and have interests in monitoring and evaluation, project management, and policy development. During Hanna’s time in IDMA program, she did her practicum at Chemonics International in the Global Health Supply Chain Office and is currently doing her internship at The Arc Oregon as their Public Policy and Advocacy intern.
IMAGE: White woman with long brown hair an eyeglasses, smiling, wearing light grey cowl-neck sweater and standing with arms crossed against a backdrop of trees (trees out of focus).
RECENT EVENTS
Department of State - Foreign Service Recruitment Panel
[hosted April 15, 2021]
IMAGE: Flyer with white background and black, dark-blue, and teal print. Title of flyer: Foreign Service Recruitment for Deaf and Deaf-Disabled Individuals Panel discussion. Flyer includes photographs of three panelists: Chris Brown, Reasonable Accommodation Analyst [white man-appearing with short hair, and wearing dark suit with white shirt and diagonally-striped tie]; Tanya Rogers, Foreign Service recruiter [white woman-appearing with long hair wrapped back and short-sleeve red dress with pattern at neckline]; and Doug Surette, Foreign Service Specialist [white man-appearing with short cropped hair and eyeglasses, and wearing dark suit with white shirt and dark tie], Text reads: Explore exciting career opportunity overseas with the Department of State, April 15, 2021 at 1pm EST; Provide with captions and ASL interpreters, Zoom link. Bottom of flyer reads: Department of State partners with Gallaudet University.
On April 15, 2021 the Department of State hosted a panel discussion in collaboration with various academic departments and service units at Gallaudet University. The panel event invited three guest presenters to share vital information about the process of applying to become a Foreign Service Officer and experiences from working in the field.
Panelists included:
Chris Brown, Reasonable Accommodation Analyst
Tanya Rogers, Foreign Service Recruiter
Doug Surette, Foreign Service Specialist
Moderated by:
Angela Cannella, Special Emphasis Program Manager, Diversity and Management Outreach (DMO), Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
There are a number of ways to gain experience and to pursue a career in the foreign and civil service! The following links were provided at this session and can be used to guide your career plans.
https://tinyurl.com/yzbsztu6 = Please use this link to register with us (Department of State) and keep informed on student internship application dates, career event information, and job openings.
ReasonableAccommodations@state.gov = Contact for Disability and Reasonable Accommodations Division (DRAD) for specific questions regarding accommodations the State Department can provide employees or applicants.
SelectivePlacement@state.gov = Selective Placement Program Coordinator (SPPC) acts as a liaison between HR personnel, hiring managers, and applicants with disabilities.
https://careers.state.gov/connect/contact-us/ = Click on this link to follow us on Twitter, converse with us on Facebook, network with us on LinkedIn, or post questions in our forums. If you would like another way to make an inquiry about a specific topic, please click on this link to see email addresses for various offices involved in the hiring process.
IDMA Information Session
[hosted April 2, 2021]
IMAGE: Flyer with white background, medium-blue borders at top and bottom of image. Text at top of page: The International Development Master of Arts Degree Program (IDMA) prepares students to advocate, design, implement, monitor and evaluate social change activities in collaboration with Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard-of-Hearing people, and people with disabilities, at local, national, and international levels. Text in middle of page: IDMA coursework provides practical experience examining legal and social policy frameworks, political and economic conditions, sociocultural and language-centered values and rights, and other features of contemporary life that contribute to or impede social participation and social justice. Curriculum components center on antiracist and intersectional critical development studies with theoretical foundations examining race, gender, sexuality, disability, language, and other social variables. Program Highlights: 2 years/47 credits; Development of a professional portfolio demonstrating mastery of ID frameworks and approaches; Practicum experience with a DC-based organization (one semester, part-time); International internship (one semester, full time). Bottom of page provides contact information; Learn more at gu.live/idmagrad and Contact us at idma@gallaudet.edu
On Friday, April 2, 2021, the IDMA Program hosted an information session with the aim of expanding outreach to undergraduate students considering international service fields and those eager to learn about international service. The session described the broad range of specializations available in International Development, and the broad range of social science, life science, and technical backgrounds that form the foundation of ID practice. The session shared video and program content highlighting the experiences and career interests of IDMA students/alums, and engaged an excellent conversation with participants.
If you are interested in joining an information session, or would like us to host an information session at your institution, please contact Sonia Holzman, IDMA Program Specialist & Outreach Liaison at sonia.holzman@gallaudet.edu.
Interested in applying to the International Development Master of Arts Program at Gallaudet University?
To learn more about the IDMA Program mission, curriculum, and sampling of academic, professional, alumni, and research activities, click here: IDMA Program Webpage.
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