NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing CEO to Receive Award

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Oct. 20, 2014 - PRLog -- October 21^st, 2014

Sacramento, CA – NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing CEO Sheri Ann Farinha to receive an award and speak at the 2014 Disability Resources Fair and Awards Ceremony held by the California Department of Social Services. The Fair and Awards Ceremony is held in celebration of National Disability Employment and Awareness Month (NDEAM) this October. It will be held on October 21, 2014 at the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), 744 P Street in Sacramento on the 2nd floor in the Auditorium. The fair will run from 10:00AM to 1:30PM while the awards ceremony will be held from 12:00-1:00PM.

“I am so honored to receive this award and speak on behalf of NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing,” said Sheri Ann Farinha “As CEO it is very important to me that we get the message out to employers that individuals should be seen for their own unique abilities and work skills. This National Disability Employment and Awareness Month I would like to thank the California Department of Social Services and its committees for putting together this event and spreading awareness of this year’s NDEAM theme – ‘Expect. Employ. Empower.’ ”

Sheri Ann Farinha has been an active member of and an advocate for the Deaf community for several years while influencing change in deaf telecommunication rights, civil rights, and American Sign Language access for deaf children. She started her career as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness (GLAD). From there she became the CEO interim of GLAD while simultaneously functioning as the CEO of NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing. She was responsible for successfully leading both nonprofits through the economic decline of the early 2000’s. In 2003 she dedicated all of her time to being the CEO of NorCal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing. There she oversees programs that impacts a community of 45,000 deaf and hard of hearing individuals in Northern California.

The Disability Resources Fair and Awards Ceremony will host several booths for assistive services, rehabilitation, and access rights groups. Also receiving an Award this year will be Richard Devylder the Senior Advisor on accessibility to U.S. Department of Transportation until 2013 as well as the Chief of the Office for Access and Functional Needs.

The event this year has been coordinated since April through the CDSS’s Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee’s subcommittees the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) and the Employee Support Services Committee (ESSC). This year the DAC and ESSC are glad to see the extended support network that has been developing for disability advocacy groups as friends, family, and coworkers become more interested in employment rights.

NorCal Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing has been providing services for the Deaf community for 37 years. Their mission is to empower, educate, and advocate for the Deaf and hard of hearing community through several programs.

Employers and employees in all industries can learn more about how to participate in National Disability Employment Awareness Month and ways they can promote its messages — during October and throughout the year — by visiting the Office of Disability Employment Policy website at www.dol.gov/odep/

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