Event Details
October Meeting
| Date: | October 8, 2015, 11:30am – 12:30pm |
| Organizer: | ICHRMA |
| Location: | Harlequin 501 W College St, Lake Charles, LA 70605 |
| Price: | $13.95 |
| Event Type: | Meeting |
| iCal link | Add to Calendar |
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Topic: Diversity Matters – Recruiting, Hiring & Retaining Persons with Disabilities and other Barriers to Employment
Presenter: Catherine D. Thomas
Presentation will cover the services of the Business and Career Solutions Center as it relates to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and these populations. It will identify and briefly discuss sources and resources available to businesses seeking to diversify their workforce in response to the requirements of this Act. Materials will also be shared regarding local service providers, state and national sources that can support those responsible for hiring and retaining employees with disabilities and other barriers to employment.
Presenter Bio
Catherine Thomas is currently the Disability Resource Coordinator with the Calcasieu Business and Career Solutions Center. In that role she assists local employers who wish to diversify their workforce and jobseekers with disabilities to connect with one another. She is also the local representative for the coordination of the Ticket to Work Program for SSI/SSDI recipients made possible in SWLA from a grant to the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
Mrs. Thomas has over 20 years experience in community mobilization, organizational development, strategic planning, program management and disaster recovery. She has presented information and materials to audiences large and small in more than 15 states. She is also the owner and primary consultant with Solutions 360, a local business serving the organizational and training needs of non-profit and faith-based organizations.
She is a native of Lake Charles and resides here with her husband of 38 years. They have three daughters, two granddaughters and one grandson. She believes in the value and benefit of community service and has served on a number of local boards and committees. Through the years she has been the recipient of numerous awards and achievements and she most cherishes being the 1st Runner Up of the Miss Black Lake Charles Pageant of 1969, receiving the Family Volunteering Award from the Points of Light Foundation and being the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc.
