AAPD CONGRESSIONAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
June 2002
AAPD launched its first-ever AAPD Congressional Internship Program this summer. The program is made possible by a generous grant from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF).
The primary purpose of this eight-week summer program is to afford university students with disabilities the opportunity to obtain first-hand knowledge of the legislative and political process. The interns are currently working in Congressional offices and have been participating in seminars co-sponsored by AAPD and The Washington Center. During the course of the program, they are also being introduced to members of the Washington disability policy community and disability leaders around the country.
AAPD Congressional Internship Program recipients are selected through a recruitment process based on a written application and personal interview. The first year's interns are Sophie-Shifra Gold from Seattle, Washington, and Jovita Douglas from Mount Rainier, Maryland. Both are students at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.
Gold is interning in the office of Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN). An International Relations major also pursuing a minor in Philosophy, she will enter her junior year at Gallaudet this fall.
For two summers, Gold was a counselor for girls and a teacher aide for young children at Camp Kesher in Lake Como, PA. She has also been a Sunday school teacher's aide, and a Deaf-Blind Interpreter using American Sign Language. In high school, Gold was Vice President of the SSB, which later became the Student Body Government; she was also Secretary of her junior and senior classes. For two years, Gold was involved in a deaf and Jewish organization originally from New York, Our Way-NCSY. Since entering Gallaudet University, she has been an historian of Hillel; recipient of a First Year Student Award and a President's Scholar Certificate; participated in the Gymnastics Club; and been on the Dean's List.
Explained Gold as a reason for pursuing this internship opportunity, "I believe working as an intern in a congressional office would expand my options in job positions in the future and my future work with different people who have different needs. Washington is a unique place to work. And as an intern, I will learn new things about how the government functions and understand how the processes really work. This internship will be a challenge for me, because I will be dealing with controversial issues that the community must deal with; and with a hearing loss, I will get to work with the adults who work for Congress and see how hard they work to get through all of the disability issues."
Gold went on to say that, not just Gallaudet University, but all college campuses must deal with disability issues daily; discrimination must not be allowed on campus, but equal access to places must be required for disabled students; and disabled and non-disabled college students have to listen to and respect each other.
Douglas, who will graduate from Gallaudet in May 2003, is splitting her internship between the offices of Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Congressman James Langevin (D-RI). An Education major whose career goal is to become a teacher, she previously received an Associate Degree in Applied Science from the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf/Howard College Junior College District.
Douglas has previously worked as a Certification Interpreter for the Killeen Independent School District, Texas, as well as served as a counselor and teacher's assistant. For three years, she has been a member of the Community Support Services for the Deaf, and was previously a Daycare Assistant, also in Killeen, Texas. Douglas has also been a Counselor and Teacher Aide at YMCA, was a House-Tech for the Community Support Service for the Deaf, and has been a Human Service Tech at the Community Support Services for the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland since 1998.
Since entering Gallaudet University, Douglas has been on the Dean's List (2000 and 2001), and was a recipient of a Who's Who Award and an Outstanding Student Award. For two years, she has been an Office Assistant in the Career Center, and previously was an Office Assistant in the university's Psychology Department.
Douglas explained that she hoped participation through this internship would give her the opportunity to demonstrate to Members of Congress, their staffs and other interns, the talents that individuals with disabilities can bring to a professional work environment. She stated, "One of the greatest challenges that disabled students face when leaving college is trying to find jobs that will hire them, regardless of their disability, which I found myself is not easy. All people should be treated the same, regardless of disabilities. People with disabilities know what they are capable of doing-- they do not need someone (at a workplace) to put them down. What people with disabilities need is to be given a chance to prove themselves and show that they are important to society like everyone is. And, companies must understand that there are some people who may be deaf, blind, or have another type of disability, but that does not mean these people cannot perform on the job; it just means that the job site needs to accommodate for the worker's needs."
Says Andrew Imparato, AAPD's President and CEO, "We are proud to partner with the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation on the formation of the first-ever AAPD Congressional Internship Program. This is an important and relevant addition to AAPD's programs and will enable young people with disabilities to obtain a 'behind the scenes' perspective on the U.S. government. We are pleased that the inaugural year's selected interns are so highly qualified, and look forward to continuing to work closely with them throughout this summer and beyond."
The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) is a non-profit foundation jointly funded by the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan and its American affiliates, with the mission of contributing to a better world for us all by helping young people with disabilities, through technology, to maximize their potential and participation in society.
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