2016 Employment First Summit  Trailblazing:  Charting Our Employment Path

Business Advisory Committees:  How to Engage Businesses
Erin Riehle- Project SEARCH co-founder

Community involvement and networking are key strategies to develop relationships with employers that lead to job opportunities for people with disabilities.  Erin will explain how to create and structure a business advisory committee to help develop jobs in your community.

Erin Riehle, RN, MSN  Erin is a recognized authority and national leader in promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. She is a founder and Senior Director of Project SEARCH, an employment and transition program that has received national recognition for innovative practices pioneered under Ms. Riehle's guidance. She is regularly invited to present at national and regional conferences, and has co-authored numerous publications and book chapters. She has served on many national committees, such as the Virginia Commonwealth University Business Leadership Roundtable and the Youth to Work Coalition. She is a past board member for the Association for Persons in Supported Employment (APSE). She is also a past member of the Ohio Governor's Council on People with Disabilities. She has gained over $3 million dollars in foundation and agency support for Project SEARCH programs, and has won numerous awards for her work. Notably, Project SEARCH received the U.S. Department of Labor's 2004 New Freedom Initiative Award and was the Inaugural recipient of Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s 2010 James W. Varnum National Quality Award.