Award for Outstanding Employment Service Professional

Award Description

This award recognizes individual employment service professionals who demonstrate excellence in providing disability employment services and working with job seekers who have a disability by increasing their employment opportunities.

The award recipient shows passion, commitment and determination to work with job seekers, while at the same time empowering them in their choices, in eliminating employment barriers.

The application process is open until July 31, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

For accommodation or further enquiries, please contact us at info@odenetwork.com. 

Ways to apply

• MS Forms application
• Accessible application form (Microsoft^® Word format)

Eligibility criteria

• The employment service professional must be associated with an ODEN member in good standing and currently providing disability employment services to people who have a disability.

• The professional has demonstrated excellence and dedication in delivering services and/or program(s) to increase employment opportunities for people who have a disability.

• The professional will be asked to provide two letters of support from businesses, community or other service provider outside employment who can comment on the professional’s contribution to the disability employment sector and the community.

• The professional will be asked to provide a 500-word impact statement stating how the nominee is the ideal recipient of the award. The statement should highlight the following areas:

• • The individual’s accomplishments in the disability employment service sector

• • The individual’s impact on clients, the disability community, service provider, and disability employment service sector

• • The individual’s leadership and determination to advocate for inclusive hiring practices for people who have a disability

• Self-nomination is encouraged.

Application review process

Each application will be reviewed by members of the Award Committee and ranked based on the overall quality of the submission and using the rubric detailed in Table 1. The rubric shows categories and the associated metrics for the selection process. The nominator should describe how the nominated employment service professional fits the award metrics and provide evidence to demonstrate it.

Description of evaluation metrics

• Service Impact and Quality: This is a measure of the nominee’s contribution to increasing employment opportunities for people who have a disability. The nominee works as a role model in the field of disability employment promoting innovation and promising practices. Examples of measures include the extent of satisfaction of service users, any innovation in service that this professional has brough to their organization, etc.

• Driving Inclusion in Workplaces: This is a measure of the nominee’s contribution to drive inclusion in the workplace with a focus on diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility. This can be measured by the professional’s contribution to curating information to clients that is accessible, any specific approaches they have taken to create an inclusive environment for any underserved equity-seeking groups, etc.

• Leadership and Advocacy: The nominee’s efforts and commitment to go beyond their role to minimize and eliminate employment barriers for job seekers who have a disability. For example, do they seek to connect with stakeholders outside their workplace ecosystem, perhaps via board of directors’ positions or volunteering, to influence and demonstrate the value of hiring people who have a disability.

• Stakeholder Engagement: The nominee’s ability and capacity to build sustainable connections and engage with stakeholders not typically found in the employment service sector, to eliminate employment barriers for job seekers who have a disability. For example, consider diversity of partnership and collaborations as a result of the work of this professional.